Animated characters save the day-or at least the lunch and dinner menu-for live-action folk in this intentionally campy installment of a McDonald’s campaign conceived by Leo Burnett Co., Chicago, for the agency’s Singapore office (Leo Burnett PTE Ltd.).
The protagonists are a pair of animated heroes, Fast Fry and Steam Marinade, who protect the universe from an unusual enemy: dried-out fried chicken. Our two muscle-flexing, caped crusaders sport the requisite tights and masks. And for them, nirvana is McDonald’s Chicken McCrispy, a chicken entree that’s crispy yet juicy because it’s fast-fried and steam marinated. The Chicken McCrispy is currently being tested in Singapore.
In the :30 entitled "Napkin," Fast and Steam soar through the air to the top of a high-rise building, answering a live-action woman’s call for help. Our damsel in distress has had her napkins blown away by a gust of wind, napkins that she desperately needs after eating a juicy Chicken McCrispy. Fast and Steam come to the rescue, retrieving the napkins to the delight of the woman.
Darrell Van Citters, co-founder of Renegade Animation, Burbank, Calif., and Brian Belefant of bicoastal WildLife Management were, respectively, the animation and live-action directors who teamed to introduce McCrispy in "My Hero" and "Napkin." Mandarin and English-language versions were done of both spots.
Visually, Fast Fry and Steam Marinade-characters created by Renegade Animation-are as offbeat as their cause. Steam’s chest is emblazoned with a large water drop insignia that surrounds a pictured piece of fried chicken. His utility belt is a spice rack, filled with bottles of various spices. A constant stream of steam spouts out of this boy wonder’s head. Meanwhile, Fast Fry’s head is topped by a rooster comb.
Everything Steam touches gets wet because he’s always steamy. "And if you look closely," said Van Citters, "you’ll notice that his cape is shorter than his partner’s. We figured if he’s always wet, it must have shrunk."
Van Citters explained that the agency and client "wanted hero characters but they wanted them to be just a little "off" because they’re selling chicken after all. Everything is delivered with the utmost seriousness, which makes the spot funnier."
Leo Burnett Co., Chicago’s core team consisted of copywriter Steve Simoncic, art director Anne Pazen and producer Glant Cohen.
Belefant’s support team at WildLife included executive producer Brian Donnelly, producer Dona Shine and production manager Adrianne Victory. Live action was shot in Vancouver, B.C., by DP Kevin McKnight.
Teaming with Van Citters on the cel animation was exec. producer Ashley Postlewaite. Ink and paint was done at VirtualMagic, North Hollywood, Calif., by technical director Andy Jolliff and producer Brant Hawes.
The campaign was cut by Deb Schimmel at Optimus, Chicago. Optimus’ Craig Leffel served as colorist, with effects done by a facility contingent comprised of compositors Glen Noren, Mike Ciacciarelli and Marko Markewycz. Optimus was also the audio post house, with Bruce Lash the engineer/ mixer.
Music composer/arranger was John Ferreira of Genuine Sound Design & Music, Chicago.
-Millie Takaki
“Smile 2” Tops Weekend Box Office; “Anora” Glitters In Limited Release
Horror movies topped the domestic box office charts and an Oscar contender got off to a sparkling start this weekend. "Smile 2," in its first weekend, and "Terrifier 3" in its second proved to be the big draws for general movie audiences in North America, while the Palme d'Or winner"Anora" got the best per-theater average in over a year.
"Smile 2" was the big newcomer, taking first place with a better than expected $23 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Parker Finn returned to write and direct the sequel to the supernatural horror "Smile," his debut. Originally intended for streaming, Paramount pivoted and sent the movie to theaters in the fall of 2022. "Smile" became a sleeper hit at the box office, earning some $217 million against a $17 million budget.
The sequel, starring Naomi Scott as a pop star, was rewarded with a bit of a bigger budget, and a theatrical commitment from the start. Playing on 3,619 screens, it opened slightly higher than the first's $22 million.
Second place went to Universal and DreamWorks Animation's "The Wild Robot" in its fourth weekend with $10.1 million, bumping it past $100 million in North America. Family films often have long lives in theaters, particularly ones as well reviewed as "The Wild Robot," and some have speculated that it got a bump this weekend from teenagers buying tickets for the PG-rated family film and then sneaking into "Terrifier 3," which is not rated, instead. Either way, Damien Leone's demon clown movie, which cost only $2 million to produce, is doing more than fine with legitimate ticket buyers. It added an estimated $9.3 million, bringing its total to $36.2 million.
"Rumors like that are PR gold," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "There's... Read More