th1ng director Sylvain Chomet, best known for his Oscar-nominated feature films The Illusionist and The Triplets of Belleville, has directed a series of animated commercials for Lake District Cheese Company, which screen in cinemas across England and Scotland for the next four months.
Two animated characters, Cow and Bunny (voiced by Julie Walters and comedian Will Andrews), are warmly brought to life by Chomet through the charming, almost retro, animation style for which he is best known. Set in "the land of milk and bunny," the Lake District home of the brand, Cow and Bunny promote the cheddar's award-winning credentials.
Chomet directed all three ads - a 30 second commercial and two 10-second "outtake" spots - for Glasgow-agency Frame Creates. All production and post-production was carried out by th1ng. It is the first time that a major UK cheese brand has taken its advertising to the cinema screen. Lake District Cheddar Company hopes the move will connect the brand with family cinema goers over the summer months when a number of blockbusters are set for release. These include the likes of King Fu Panda 2, Pixar's Cars 2 and Smurfs 3D.
In support of the cinema campaign, the commercial will also air on catch up TV platforms including ITV.com and 4OD, and UK's leading food websites such as BBC Good Food and Jamie Oliver.
"We wanted to feature the Lake District as prominently as possible, opening the piece with a long, luxurious camera move on a wide shot of the Lake District, said Gareth Keogh, th1ng producer. "This was not only a great showcase for the layouts, but also created the relaxed, summery feel that the client wanted to associate the product with. We are very pleased with the end result, in particular the high quality of animation throughout all 3 pieces."