On the heels of their acclaimed main title sequence work for the Warner Bros. summer blockbuster 300, yU+co, the three-time Emmy nominated creative design studio founded by Creative Director Garson Yu, has created another blockbuster movie main title sequence for DreamWorks Animation's latest release, Bee Movie. yU+co's work on the film actually marks the first time DreamWorks Animation has ever worked with an outside company on a main title sequence. Released on November 2nd, the highly touted animated film stars a high profile cast led by Jerry Seinfeld and Renee Zellweger.
"The goal for us is always to engage the audience and give them a reason to stay in their seats and watch the titles," Yu says. "The fact that DreamWorks Animation came to us to create something that will keep theater-goers watching is a testament to both their desire to acknowledge the craftspeople who worked on the film and in our ability to deliver something special each time."
David Garber, yU+co's Executive Producer, noted that one of the reasons DreamWorks Animation awarded main title sequence duties for Bee Movie to yU+co was because they wanted something special that didn't look like anything else in the film.
"Everyone involved wanted a different look at the end of the film," Garber says. "Since the film features a highly-detailed 3D animation look, our approach for the title sequence was to create a 2D painterly look as a counterpoint to the 3D look of the movie."
yU+co also rounded out the visuals with a story line that the filmmakers loved. "We pitched against several other companies for this and what the client responded to in our pitch was the concept of a day in the life of a bee," Yu explains. "We wanted to follow the bee on the little adventures that he likely goes through every day."
The title sequence begins with gold and orange hued environment inside a beehive where we see a bee's journey from inside the hive into the world outside where he encounters one danger after another, including pesticide spray, the windshield of a speeding taxi and a fast-moving spider. Eventually he returns back to the hive and flies into a stylized honey-producing factory, all the while playfully interacting with the letters and names in the credits. The end result is just over eight minutes of brilliant 2D animation with a clever narrative that will keep audiences watching till the last frame.
For yU+co, Bee Movie is the culmination of a busy few months that also included creating main title sequences for several new films in genres ranging from Ridley Scott's new crime drama American Gangster (Universal Pictures), Ang Lee's award-winning drama Lust, Caution (Focus Features) and the romantic comedies Dan In Real Life (Touchstone Pictures) and Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? (Lions Gate).
Additionally, yU+co has created the main title sequence for Disney's highly anticipated comedy-fantasy-musical, Enchanted, and the drama August Rush (Warner Bros.), which both open on November 21st.
Recognized as an industry leader in design and motion graphics with offices in Los Angeles and Hong Kong, yU+co specializes in TV show opens and network graphics packages, main and end titles for film and television, trailers, theatrical logos, and commercials.