Dir. Evelyn’s Steamboat Willie-Style Animation Lends Charm To Tie-Dye Shirts :30.
CLIENT
The Gap/Old Navy.
PRODUCTION CO.
(Colossal) Pictures, San Francisco. George Evelyn, director; Jana Canellos, executive producer; Velvy
Appleton, producer; Tom Rubalcava, animation director; Kevin Coffey, Ricardo Barahona and Catherine
Margerin, animators; Alan Lau, Debra Armstrong, Miguel Angel Castanon, Matt Grinnel, Joe Sloan,
Vaughn Ross, Kathy McVey and Chris Carter, assistant animators; Siri Margerin, illustrator/backgrounds;
Christine Bohn, production coordinator.
AGENCY
Old Navy Marketing, San Francisco. Alan Disparte, creative director/art director; Jeffrey Olsen,
copywriter; Connie Bang, producer; Anne Buhl, director of editorial.
POST
Western Images, San Francisco. Scott Harris, Flame artist; Gary Coates, colorist. Mike Cavanaugh,
freelance post supervisor.
VISUAL EFFECTS
Cha-Pow!, Jackson, N.J. Kris Tercek and Ed Mironiuk, digital ink and paint artists.
MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN/AUDIO POST
Michael Boyd Music, San Francisco. Michael Boyd, composer/sound designer/audio mixer.
BY KATHY DeSALVO
Clothing retailer Old Navy, a division of Gap Inc., has a fondness for all things retro. The new animated
spot "Pool Party" introducing a new line of kids tie-dye shirts (a style born in the ’60s) includes a sequence
reminiscent of the great water musicals of the ’40s and ’50s, and features the so-called "rubber hose"-style
animation of the ’20s.
Created by Old Navy Marketing, San Francisco, the client’s in-house agency, the :30 "Pool Party" was
directed by George Evelyn of (Colossal) Pictures, San Francisco, which produced the hand-drawn 2-D
animation in-house; Jackson, N.J.-based Cha-Pow! completed the digital ink and paint. The spot opens with
a black-and-white scene (the film has a vintage scratched look) depicting kids and animals moping around
a deflated backyard pool. The spot begins shifting to color with the arrival of two neighborhood kids
wearing Old Navy tie-dye shirts. With help from Old Navy’s mascot, Magic the dog, the kids transform the
lifeless party into a spectacular aquacade.
As the children swim to a choreographed routine, an infectious musical score composed by Michael Boyd
of Michael Boyd Music, San Francisco, adds to the lighthearted tone. The track has a psychedelic subtext,
and is complemented by catchy lyrical refrain sung repeatedly by the children: "It’s got colors like no
others/And no two are alike."
Evelyn related that he had worked on several Coca-Cola spots, including "Delivery Truck" and "Factory"
out of Edge Creative, Santa Monica, that also employed animation harkening back to the style of
Steamboat Willie (the title of the first cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse). Old Navy had seen the Coke spots
and came to (Colossal) seeking similar animation for this project.
Old Navy creative director Alan Disparte said that he has always been drawn to that animation style. "For
me as a kid, that stuff seemed really old and it just seemed fun. Anything that has that style, I kind of
respond to. And I thought that would be a good direction for us to go for summer."
In addition to the animated look, music was the other major element of "Pool Party," observed Disparte. He
said that Old Navy had previously done several live-action spots promoting its drawstring pants (directed
by John Huba of bicoastal Original Film). "People really related to the musical aspect of those spots," said
Disparte. "We thought it would be fun to do that for kids; to include some singsong music, and rubber hose
[animation] seemed typical of that style. Everything is bouncing to the beat; the sun and trees are
bouncing…it couldn’t really be any happier."
The in-house creative team included Disparte, who also functioned as the job’s art director; copywriter
Jeffrey Olsen and producer Connie Bang. The group was rounded out by Anne Buehl, who actually serves
as Old Navy Marketing’s director of editorial, but who contributed conceptually to the spot.
Disparte said that they approached Boyd with the song’s lyrics (penned by Olsen) and identified for him a
list of musical influences from different eras that they wanted incorporated—from psychedelic to ragtime.
"[Boyd] nailed it on the first try," said Disparte.
Evelyn related that the team at (Colossal) helped the client come up with some characters and scenarios for
the spot. "It kind of evolved, as opposed to ‘Here’s the written script,’" said Evelyn. "It’s this happy, goofy,
upbeat spot that repeats that lyric about four or five times. And because they wanted to repeat it over and
over again, we thought let’s have it turn into a musical—which it does a third of the way into the spot."
And to that end, Evelyn also collaborated closely with Boyd, with whom he had previously worked on the
aforementioned Coca-Cola spots. "While I was designing the characters, they were writing the jingle;
they’d fax me lyrics," related Evelyn. "And Michael and I had agreed on a double-bounce beat, with a
strong beat every other second, so we could get a handle on how the animation would feel."
The spot is classic pencil animation "gussied up" in Flame; Evelyn related they added certain stylistic
touches such as experimenting with rack focus—throwing certain foreground and background elements in
and out of focus, and changing colors on the fly.
Such effects weren’t possible to achieve when animation technology was confined to pure cel animation on
acetate cels, observed Evelyn, who added, "These were things that, if the original animators from the ’20s
would have been able to do them, they would have."
Topix/Mad Dog Is
Free With Reactine
CLIENT
Pfizer Canada/Reactine.
PRODUCTION CO.
Topix/Mad Dog, Toronto. Sean Montgomery, director/animator; Bryan Huo, Livio Passera, Dean Warren
and Mark Ainslie, animators; Anne Deslauriers, producer.
AGENCY
Taxi Advertising and Design, Toronto. Paul Lavoie, creative director; Louise Blouin, producer; Dale
Roberts and Peter Ignazi, copywriters; Helen Pak and David Popescu, art directors.
POST
Topix/Mad Dog. Patrick Coffey, Flame artist.
AUDIO POST/SOUND DESIGN
Jungle Music Productions, Toronto. Mark Stafford, engineer/ sound designer.
THE SPOTS
Six ads feature a pictograph that ingests Reactine, resulting in it feeling better and free "to get on with other
pursuits." In the :30 "Picto-Fart," a flatulent figure that has always wanted to be a summer games sports
logo dives into water, then meekly apologizes for his "bubbly" behavior. Another :30, "Haircut," shows an
Italian barber who feels so good after taking Reactine, that he chops off half the head of his customer. The
package also includes the :30 "Highlander," and the :15s "Basketball," "Bathroom" and "Origami."
"Picto-Fart" and "Highlander" broke in April, and "Haircut," "Basketball," "Bathroom" and "Origami"
aired in May.
Curious Trash
Talks At Foot Locker
CLIENT
Foot Locker.
PRODUCTION CO.
Curious Pictures, bicoastal. Mike Bade, director; Richard Winkler and David Starr, executive producers;
Nancy Giandomenico, producer; David Kelly, lead animator; Dana Schecter, 2-D animator.
AGENCY
Deutsch Inc., New York. Kathy Delaney, executive creative director; Bill Tsapalas, associate creative
director/art director; Liz Gumbinner, associate creative director/copywriter; Jennifer Howard, producer,
"Chalk Talk"; Karen Leiper, producer, "Backwards Record."
STOCK FOOTAGE
Action Sports Adventure, New York, "Chalk Talk" and "Backwards Record." The Image Bank, New York,
"Backwards Record." Stills for "Backwards Record" were lensed by photographer Gary Wade, New York.
EDITORIAL/POST
Curious Pictures. David Kelly, offline and online editor/colorist.
AUDIO POST
Howard Schwartz Recording, New York. Steve Rosen, engineer/ mixer.
MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN
Duotone, New York. Peter Nashel and Jack Livesay, composers/ sound designers, "Chalk Talk." Howard
Schwartz Recording. Steve Rosen, sound designer, "Backwards Record."
THE SPOTS
Two :30s feature Foot Locker’s logo as spokescharacter. Logoman, outfitted in referee garb, is
superimposed over footage of a basketball game, as he gives a lesson in the ABCs of trash talk. "There are
four basic things your opponent can get you on: A. Your game; B. Your Mama; C. Your Sister; and D.
Your Shoes." The screen shifts to a graphic product sequence of Foot Locker products "that are sure to
slam shut a trash talker’s trap." "Backwards Record" shows a crowd shot during a stadium chant. Logoman
plays the film in reverse to reveal the audience’s subliminal message—"Go to Foot Locker."
"Chalk Talk" began airing in March. "Backwards Record" broke in April.
Hungry Man Works With monster.com
CLIENT
monster.com.
PRODUCTION CO.
Hungry Man, New York. Bryan Buckley, director; Scott Henriksen, DP; Stephen Orent, executive
producer; Kevin Byrne, producer. Shot on location.
AGENCY
Mullen, Wenham, Mass. Edward Boches, principal/executive creative director; Monica Taylor, senior art
director; Dylan Lee, senior copywriter; Sarah Monaco, senior producer.
EDITORIAL
BUG Editorial, New York. Andre Betz, editor.
POST
Nice Shoes, New York. Scott Burch, colorist; Rich Schreck, online editor.
AUDIO POST
Sound Lounge, New York. Peter Holcomb, mixer; Steve Koch, engineer.
MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN
Elias Associates, bicoastal. Alex Lasarenko, creative director/ composer; Keith Haluska, producer.
THE SPOT
"When I Grow Up" features black-and-white portraits of youngsters who sarcastically spout such phrases
as "I want to be forced into early retirement," "I want to claw my way up to middle management" and "I
wanna have a brown nose." The :30 ends with the super "What did you want to be? monster. com. There’s
a better job out there."
Spot broke Jan. 3
