By A SHOOT Staff Report

One act of kindness spawns another and then another in this touching pay-it-forward Xmas ad from retailer John Lewis & Partners and groceries/wine chain Waitrose out of agency adam&eveDDB, London.

Titled “Give A Little Love,” the spot deployed the talents of different animators, illustrators and makers. The different styles of animation were blended and brought together by British director Oscar Hudson of Pulse Films in a series of vignettes. Hudson directed live-action scenes which were also part of the mix. 

Animators who brought their talent and artistry to the piece–which earned the number one position in SHOOT’s latest quarterly VFX/Animation Top Ten Chart–included famed French director Sylvain Chomet via HUSH London, stop-motion maestro Anthony Farquhar-Smith of Not To Scale in London, Chris Hopewell with Black Dog/Jacknifefilms, London, Swedish helmer Anna Mantzaris and French collective MegaComputeur, both of Passion Animation Studios in London, illustrator/designer Casper Franken of London studio Shotopop, puppet creator Andy Gent of Arch Model Studio, London, and Zurich-based illustrator and filmmaker Anete Melece. VFX house was Untold Studios, London, which deployed a Toolbox consisting of Flame, Nuke, Photoshop, Houdini, Maya, ZBrush, Mari, Substance and Arnold.

The commercial starts with a girl helping a boy to get his lost ball out of a tree with her umbrella, and a domino effect is set in motion. The boy comes to the rescue of a melting snowman, who then lends a hand replacing the tire of a broken-down car whose passengers deliver a bag of Waitrose goodies to a needy person. The recipient connects with his lonely neighbor, a barber, who in turn gives a boy an extra-special heart-shaped haircut. The boy passes a symbolic heart to his little brother while a flock of pigeons watch through a window. Touched by the boy’s act of kindness the pigeons help a hedgehog fly (he just wants to be in their gang!). The heart-shaped trail from the hedgehog plane is spotted by a nurse–who, inspired by the symbol of love–helps a little girl (the one we saw at the start of the film) to fix her eyeglasses.

The acts of kindness are fitting for the yuletide, particularly in a tumultuous year ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Relative to how the different animation disciplines were applied, Hopewell for example created the clay animation scenes where we see the boy save the clay snowman. Chomet created the 2D snow world illustration where the snowman helps the family change the car tire. MegaComputeur created the barber who gives the boy a heart-shaped haircut. Melece created the scene where the Waitrose bag is dropped off. Farquhar-Smith and Gent are responsible for the puppetry scenes with the pigeons and the hedgehog who just wants to be a part of their flock. And Mantzaris created the felt animation scenes where the nurse fixes the girl’s glasses.

Farquhar-Smith said, “The whole ad is made up from different styles of animation, but it’s joined together in the narrative of giving a little love.”

Gent added, “This particular campaign needed a really lovely collection of characters”

The action unfolds to a music track, “A Little Love,” performed by Celeste who also teamed with Jamie Hartman to write the song.

Shooting the live-action scenes in the middle of a pandemic was a challenge. Lensing took place during autumn between the two lockdowns in the U.K. 

A message appears on screen towards the end of the spot. It reads. “Together we can make a big difference,” after which appear the logos for Home Start and FareShare, charities to help those less fortunate. As part of the campaign, John Lewis and Waitrose have put an initiative in place with the goal of raising £5 million by Dec. 25 for those charities.

The quarterly Top Ten VFX & Animation Chart can be viewed here.

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