Chew Mees
Jazwares: Squishmallows
OVERVIEW
Who doesn’t love squeezing a Squishmallow? And why wouldn’t man’s best friend? Exactly. ChewMees lets your furry pals enjoy that same squishy bliss without drooling on your collection. To share their authentic enthusiasm, we got the dogs’ thoughts. Dig in as we break down an ad designed to make viewers sit and stay!
SOCIAL CAMPAIGN
With so many fun toy designs (and photogenic pups eager to perform), we couldn’t pick just one! Each of our three social videos showcased a different ChewMees plush with its own canine actor, representing breeds of every size and personality. To push each dog’s relatability and attitude, we brought in human actors to record voiceovers, offering a peek into the minds of our slightly spoiled stars. Who wouldn’t want to see their own pet express joy this way?!
With so many fun toy designs (and photogenic pups eager to perform), we couldn’t pick just one! Each of our three social videos showcased a different ChewMees plush with its own canine actor, representing breeds of every size and personality. To push each dog’s relatability and attitude, we brought in human actors to record voiceovers, offering a peek into the minds of our slightly spoiled stars. Who wouldn’t want to see their own pet express joy this way?!
VFX PROCESS/BTS
VIGNETTE DESIGN/BACKGROUND
We’d secured the chewers and the chew-ees; now we needed a stage. Inspired by Squishmallows’ bright, cuddly aesthetic, we chose a minimalistic, monochromatic 2D background style to make the live-action elements pop. Low-contrast line art suggested pet-friendly environments, with several variations drawn so we could pair the perfect setting with each vignette. (Fun fact: the colors we used for all three backgrounds fall within the spectrum visible to dogs!)
ANIMATIC TO FINAL
To communicate our vision and build templates for the final videos, we created an animatic for each spot. Knowing our animal performers would be unpredictable, we kept the actions flexible to accommodate whatever the dogs did on set. Even the breeds hadn’t been finalized at this stage. Luckily, a well-planned animatic can prepare a studio for just about anything.
ANIMATIC TO FINAL
To communicate our vision and build templates for the final videos, we created an animatic for each spot. Knowing our animal performers would be unpredictable, we kept the actions flexible to accommodate whatever the dogs did on set. Even the breeds hadn’t been finalized at this stage. Luckily, a well-planned animatic can prepare a studio for just about anything.
Moving down the pipeline, live-action footage had to be integrated with our stylized backgrounds. Bluescreen-keying human hair is tricky enough; now imagine doing it with fur. Perseverance paid off, and we can now enjoy the satisfying comparison between raw camera footage and the vibrant final composites.
Director Danny Robashkin confirmed the "man's best friend" stereotype. "Our canine companions really did everything we asked of them, a testament to their eagerness and their trainer's meticulousness. We'd welcome back the army of cute puppers into our halls any day, they exemplified peak professionalism."
LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY
Alongside our energetic video spots, we created a series of lifestyle images, fun photos with the same style and subjects as their moving counterparts, for use online and in other marketing contexts. Given the challenge of posing dogs, we took full advantage of our footage, scouring it frame by frame to find perfect shots guaranteed to melt hearts.
OUTRO
Helping the Squishmallow brand launch its first just-for-dogs product was as fun for us as it was for the cast. With clean VFX, cheerful design, and subject matter you can’t help but love, our ChewMees project was bound for the highest pedigree.
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