DUCK Brings Healthy McDonald’s Kids Cast to Life for Leo Burnett

When Leo Burnett created a cast of animal characters to promote the healthy additions to McDonald’s iconic Happy Meals, they knew exactly who could bring the menagerie to life on screen: the design and animation experts at DUCK.

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DUCK Director Monkmus led a crack animation team that transported the energetic troop – a curious dinosaur, a hapless dodo, a super-strong ant, a ravenous goat – from the agency’s drawing board to the screen, hand animating the characters to give the campaign a charming, classic look. The crew mixed this Funky Farm crew with a series of upbeat jams telling the tale of a boy named Ferris and his McDonald’s dining adventures with his animal friends.

Leo Burnett, which has worked with DUCK on several McDonald’s and Kellogg’s campaigns, gave Monkmus tremendous latitude in bringing their concept to life. “Leo Burnett is great to work with,” stated Monkmus. “They gave me a lot of creative freedom to create this special world. At the same time, we worked together at every step to make sure that the spots were not only entertaining, but emphasized the importance of healthy eating.”

The effort united DUCK’s vast expertise in production, edit and post. “We have an unbelievable team here at DUCK,” stated DUCK EP Mark Medernach. “In an era of ever-increasing reliance on high-powered machines, it’s important to retain talent that can still handle classic skills like hand animation. I am very proud of the work we did here and the tremendous range of talent that it showcases.”

Downloads:

Credits:

Client: McDonald’s
Spot Titles: Goat, Dream Big Bounce, Ferris Play Undercover Ant
Air Date:

Agency: Leo Burnett
ECD: John Montgomery
SVP/CD, Copywriter: John Hansa
SVP/CD, Art Director : Tony Katalinic
CD, Art Director: Keith Hughes
ACD, Art Director: Jill Fix
Copywriter: Jonathan Fussell
Sr. Production Manager: Shirley Costa
AE: Meredith Metzl
Exec. Producer: Denis Giroux
Sr. Producer(s): Sean Pinney, Bridget Rose
Sr. AE: Pat Dunneback
Sr. Talent Manager: Linda Yuen
Assoc. Producer: Ross Greenblat

Production Company: DUCK
EP: Mark Medernach
Producer: Dan Ridgers
Director: Monkmus
Production Manager: Lily Shapiro
Clean-Up Supervisor: Kunimi Terada
Editor: Charles Jones
Compositor(s): Ben Lee, Chris Anderson, David Cole
Ink and Paint: Kyle Borth, Joel Trager, Serena Reid
Designer: Craig Simmons
Layout Artist: Jim Alles
Intern: Lynn Murphy
FX Animator: Hock Lian Law
3D Modeler: Dave Vander Pol, Dan Erwin
3D lighter: Huyen Dang

Animators: Johnny LeBlanc, Anna Saunders, Jay Jackson, Tony Bancroft, Frans Vischer, Bruce Smith, Andrea Simonti, Roberto Casale, Larry White, Phil Nibbelink, April Lee, Will Cuna

Clean Up Animators: Mac Spada, Jan Naylor, Debbie Armstrong, Jofy Kooistra, Lynn Walsh

About DUCK:

Los Angeles-based DUCK is a continually evolving creative studio producing commercials, music videos, short films and web content. DUCK offers a wide range of services, including live action and integration, character design, film title design, 2D and 3D animation, digital compositing, digital/traditional ink & paint. In recent years, the studio has expanded, adding an original content division that works with writers and animators on unique ideas for film and TV.