Director Yves Geleyn and the CG animation team at Hornet carve out a timely and timeless story about a father and son, a homecoming, and the chance for new beginnings to mark the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Yves Geleyn: “In Chinese culture, the Lunar New Year is the biggest, most important festival when the entire family comes together to reconnect, bond, and celebrate the beginning of the new year.

“I thoroughly enjoyed getting lost in this project. Harmonizing the old with the new and surprising people with something at once familiar and completely unexpected. It was a fun journey.”

“I was ignited in my research by the wondrous and rich history of Chinese folk, art, sculpture, and culture and all of the different, yet recognizable ways they represent tigers.

“Their shapes pushed into a more graphic world and their faces and stripes were made into complex patterns. Wooden marionettes and sculptures complemented the paint workings or differing wood grains.”

“One of the best aspects of this project is that almost everything was done in-house in Hornet’s studio. It’s always such a pleasure to have such a close-knit and talented team of artists working together.

“And I’m very proud of the result — a nice mix of almost stop-motion style CG (led by Natalia Perez) and graphic and painterly texture.”
 

 
Client: Coca-Cola

Agency: Unlisted x Ogilvy

Production: Hornet
Director: Yves Geleyn
Managing Director: Hana Shimizu
Head of Creative Development: Kristin Labriola
Producer: Hanna Smith-Ide
Production Coordinator: Madeline Metolius
Senior Editor: Anita Chao
Assistant Editor: Cole Bannick
Storyboard Artist: Stephanie Dere
Environment Design: Benjamin Plouffe
Character Design: Alejandro Diaz
Matte Painting + Design: Tristan Ménard
Junior Design Support: Kaycee Nwakudo, Hannah Kim
CG Lead: Natalia Perez
CG Generalist: Angeline Rivera
Models: Constance Benson
Additional Models: Cecilia Puglesi
Rigging: Josh Planz
Lighting/Rendering: Cody Chen, Mohamed Sinbawy, Nicole Noel
Compositors: Cody Chen, Mohamed Sinbawy, Nicole Noel
Animators: Hee Jin Kim, Tom Shek, Meg Oswalt

Original Score/Sound Design/Mix: Ambrose Yu