In anticipation of the BBC’s coverage of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 across TV, radio and online, BBC Creative, the broadcaster’s in-house creative agency, teamed up with Nexus Studios and directorial collective Factory Fifteen to create a dynamic trail that magically reimagines the vibrant host city.
In the trail, Tokyo has been taken over by the Olympics with street signs, shops, an arcade, Gashapon parlour, a sport fanatics’ bedroom and a J-Pop music video all jam-packed with references to Olympic sports, athletes and even BBC presenters.
Working with Japanese artist and designer Fantasista Utamaro, the team carefully weaved over 50 “eastereggs moments,” made up of original and authentic artwork and animation, within the :60 trail. The film is set to original music by legendary anime composer Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell, Avalon, Hyakkin).
Factory Fifteen, the directorial collective made up of Kibwe Tavares, Jonathan Gales and Paul Nicholls, shared in a joint statement: “Collaborating with the BBC to reimagine Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic Games has been a dream project. We love bringing places to life with a heightened sense of reality and fantasy, often using the environment as a character. It was amazing to re-interpret evocative Japanese scenes with the world’s biggest sports and athletes woven into the city through authentic design and storytelling.”
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Credits
Client BBC Helen Rhodes, executive creative director; James Wood, head of production; James Cross, Tim Jones, creative directors; Rachel Miles, Michael Yik Xing Tsim, creatives; Sarah Bradbury, producer. Production Nexus Studios Factory Fifteen (Kibwe Tavares, Jonathan Gales, Paul Nicholls), directors; Fantasista Utamaro, creative director; Mike Bell, Judy Hill, exec producers; Isobel Conroy, sr. producer; Alan Traquair, shoot producer; Janine Carter, shoot production manager; Tony Miller, DP, London; Christopher Nicholls, DP, Tokyo; Sean Hogan, production designer, London; Gaku Narita (Indochina Productions), Tokyo line producer. J Pop Sequence–Dylan White, studio 2D lead; Sylvain Magne, Sim Marriott, Chiara Sgatti, 2-D animators (J-Pop); Duane Uba, 2D clean up; Nico Domerego, 3D generalist; Gareth Tredrea, Bethany Levy, additional 2D; David Slade, editor. Music Kenji Kawai, composer. Sound Factory Mark Hills VFX The Mill Mike Chapman, creative director; Fergal Hendrick, VFX supervisor/shoot supervisor/2D lead artist; Gemma Humphries, exec producer; Elle Lockhart, Kirsty Ratcliffe, Tarun Misra, Prithvi Poojari, Sourabh Dharampurikar, Vinay Puranik, producers; Ben Blundell, shoot supervisor/3D lead artist; Declan Andrews, Oscar Tornincasa, Rafael Vormittag, Laique Quraishi, Mohit Garg, Dilipan J, Adam Maynard, Richard Payne, Prajeesh E, Anuj Bhandari, Nikhil K M, AVV Suresh, 2D artists; Wesley Roblett, James Hansell, Paul Autric, Joao Pires, Thomas Craig, Vicky McIntyre, Andreas Graichen, Hannah Bahyan, Kate Gabrielova, Rachel Ward Katie Bates, Amit Das, Anil Sarki, Samarendra Lenka, 3D artists; Holly McLean, Jeanette Eiternes, finish artists; Tomas Muller, matte painting; David Neale, designer; Freya Barnsley, motion graphics; Alex Gregory, colorist; Elle Lockhart, color producer.
Disney invites audiences into a heartwarming original story with A Disney Holiday Short: Best Christmas Ever, directed by Academy Award® winner Taika Waititi via production company Hungry Man. Premiering on Disney+ and online, and featuring the voice of John Goodman as Doodle, the short serves as the creative centerpiece of Disney’s new “Make Someone’s Holiday Magic” campaign.
At the center of the story is a little girl and her doodle who comes to life on Christmas Day after Santa mistakes the drawing for a holiday wish. The short follows the charming story of the friendship between the girl and the animated product of her imagination during this magical season in a uniquely Disney way. The film ends with a call to action for viewers, “Make Someone’s Holiday Magic,” which serves as the tagline for Disney’s holiday campaign this year. Renowned Walt Disney Animation Studios animator Eric Goldberg, the creator of beloved Disney characters such as Genie from Aladdin (1992), acted as an advisor on the animation of the short in collaboration with Untold Studios, Hungry Man and creative agency adam&eveDDB.
This short follows last year’s Emmy®-nominated, A Disney Holiday Short: The Boy & The Octopus, also directed by Waititi, whose numerous Disney credits include Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), and Searchlight Pictures’ Jojo Rabbit (2019), for which he won an Oscar® for Best Adapted Screenplay.
“What makes this story uniquely Disney is the fact that it’s set in the world of a kid. It’s a kid and her new best friend, navigating the complex world together, and doing it just with the power of friendship and imagination,”... Read More
