Toonami, Adult Swim’s Japanese animation programming block gets a quick kick in the branding with this crazed 20-second mix of 3D and 2D character animation from the teams at Zeppelin and Apus Studios in Lima, Peru.

Director Henry Gates at Zeppelin: “This project came to us through Apus with whom we constantly collaborate, as we share many aesthetic values. My partner Nelson and I grew up with Adult Swim in our veins, which is why we were thrilled for the opportunity to work on this ID.

“The premise was clear: to appeal to the inner child of the Adult Swim audience who has always consumed the brand, build loyalty, and remind them why we continue to adore the content they offer.

“That’s why we chose Tom and Sara, two of the network’s most iconic characters, as representatives of an ‘old school’ animation series, a term used here in a positive sense. As representatives of more contemporary generations of Adult Swim characters, we also selected Gaz Digzy from the series Ballmasters 9009 and Copernicus from Warriors Eternal.
 

“It’s not necessary to understand much about the plot; the important thing is to feel the generational crossover of the characters and appeal to the audience’s surprise and emotion.”

 
“In the beginning, we see Gaz and Copernicus being pursued by a horde of pseudo-technological zombies. Upon stumbling, Copernicus reveals that he is actually Tom disguised as Copernicus. The same dynamic is repeated with Gaz and Sara. Upon seeing this, the zombies’ reaction is to stop being zombies and become cute anime characters.

“The fact these zombies are essentially anime characters directly refers to Toonami, Adult Swim’s Japanese animation block. This is why we extensively studied the unique audiovisual language of anime for the narrative concept of this ID. As a result, it’s not necessary to understand much about the plot; the important thing is to feel the generational crossover of the characters and appeal to the audience’s surprise and emotion.

“Technically, we wanted to take a multi-format approach to contribute narratively to the story. We worked on a 3D base but incorporated elements of 2D. Additionally, when the zombies transform into anime characters, they also change style, transitioning from 3D to 2D to respect the technique of this Japanese animation style.”
 
 

 
Client: Adult Swim

Production: Zeppelin
Director: Henry Gates
EP: Daisy Salas
VFX animation supervisor: Henry Gates
AD: Nelson Wissar, Julio M. Ruiz, Henry Gates
Character development: Julio M. Ruiz, Jorge Acevedo Dall’Orso
Model sheets: Félix Santos
Animator: Vic Cárdenas
3D modeler: Alan Yeref, Pedro Zuzunaga, Jorge Acevedo Dall’Orso, Julio M. Ruiz
Matte painter/graphic designer: Angelica Valladares
Crowd: Pedro Zuzunaga
Render set up/lighting/shading: Pedro Zuzunaga
VFX artists: Arturo Gavelán, Henry Gates
Editor: Henry Gates

Production: Apus Studio
EP: Gabriel Bonilla
General production: Jantzen R Estela
Project supervisor: Manu Larios
Production assistant: Maru Juarez
2D art director: Carlos Palacios
Artist: Michael Yantas, Joel Saire, Carlos Palacios, Max Grohovaz
Layout: Max Grohovaz
Storyboard artist: Nimrod
2D animator: Estefano Huamán, Cristian Jimenez, Mila Pedraza, Pamela Aching
2D FX: Manlio Fasce
2D ink: Ronny Palomino, Valeria Barrantes, Felipe Melgarejo, Alvaro Martinez, Lucero Martinez, André Cavero, Mari Vasquez, Fabian Gavidia
Post supervisor: Gabriel Bonilla