This cel animation :30 depicts your typical Monday morning commute—but with atypical commuters. The spot opens on a dog resting in a doghouse. A pick-up truck pulls up alongside the house. The dog stands up, carrying a briefcase. He hops into the cab of the truck, joining fellow carpoolers, a hog and a rooster. The dog implores the hog to "slide over" and to "stop hogging the seat." Upon seeing an anthropomorphic fuel gauge that lets out a gasp and rests dangerously close to "E," the rooster, who’s driving the truck, says that he had better "fill up."
The dog and hog then confess that they too are running on empty. A quick stop at convenience store Village Pantry, part of an Indiana-based chain, delivers fuel—in the form of gasoline, food and coffee—for all, including a newspaper-reading horse and two sheep which are revealed to be additional passengers in the bed of the truck.
After pulling out of the Village Pantry parking lot, the truck is motoring along, the carpoolers are smiling and the sun is shining a little brighter in the orange-yellow sky.
Directed by Darrell Van Citters of Renegade Animation, Burbank, Calif., for Ron Foth Advertising, Columbus, Ohio, "Carpool" has a highly stylized look reminiscent of the 1950s. Environments are flat and geometric. Colors are drawn from a palette of soft pastels, with extensive use of line work. Much of the background is rendered only in line or in line over blocks of color. Both characters and objects are painted unnatural colors (i.e. a blue dog, a green sky that later becomes orange-yellow). The spot’s off-center playfulness is advanced by the animal characters, which have the demeanor of middle-management wage slaves. The dog’s eyes sag as he yearns for a cup of coffee. The hog sports a sad-looking toupee. The rooster looks as if he’s been in one too many traffic jams. But a quick pit stop at Village Pantry proves to be a panacea for the carpoolers and their vehicle.
The Ron Foth Advertising ensemble included creative directors Ron Foth, Jr. and David Henthorne, art director Gene Roy, copywriter Susan Mersch and producer Ted Gordon.
Ashley Postlewaite and Craig Kellman of Renegade Animation served as executive producer and production designer, respectively. Visual effects, including computerized inking and painting services, were provided by Virtual Magic, North Hollywood, with a crew of executive producer Andrea Romero, technical director Scott Rossman and assistant technical director Steve Kindernay.
Audio engineer/mixer was Doug Edwards of Platinum Studios, Columbus. Brian Mann of Mann Made Music, Santa Monica, was composer/arranger.
