Working with Passion Pictures in London and Echelle Studios in Japan, acclaimed anime director Hiroshi Shimizu (One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist) captures the excitement of the new MLB season in hand-drawn action.

Produced thru W+K Portland on a tight three-month schedule, the “Heroes of the Game” campaign is backed by a track from J-Pop artist Ado and features avatars of MLB superstars of Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and Paul Skenes.

Hiroshi Shimizu: “I’ve loved baseball since I was a child. While working on the animation, I tried to capture each player’s unique characteristics as much as possible.”
 
 

 
Client: Major League Baseball
Deputy Commissioner, Business and Media: Noah Garden
CMO: Uzma Rawn Dowler
Senior Vice President, Global Brand & Experimental: Lauren Fritts
VP, Global Brand Management: Josh Farber
Director, Global Brand Management: Steven Tyler

Agency: W+K Portland
President: Jason White
CCO:Azsa West, Felipe Ribeiro
CD: Dan Viens
Art Director: Shaoyang Chen
Copywriter: Drew Harrilchak, Aj Abdullah
Head of Production: Orlee Tatarka
EP: Hayley Goggin
Senior Producer: Chrissy Wamsher
Production Assistant: Maile Levy
Creative Operations Manager: Lauren Walker
Group Design Director: Katie McHugh
Design Producer: Kelly Cousins
Designer: Seth Shelman, Macy Eiesland, Jim Ward
Production Specialist: Vicki Liu
Retouching: Greg Radich
Motion Designer: Jeff Ackley, Neil Hilken, Wen Tsai, Chang Xu

Production: Passion Pictures, Echelle Studios
Director: Hiroshi Shimizu
EP: Justin Booth-Clibborn
Line Producer: Yone Hauseman, Eddie Mehong
Production Design/Art Director: Echelle Studios

VFX: Joint Editorial
Lead Flame Artist: Ujala Saini
EP: Tina Starkweather

Edit: Joint Editorial
Assistant Editor: CJ Duncan
Producer: Mary Ann Jones, John Dillon, Jenny Greenfield
EP: Annie Maldonado
Production Coordinator: Brandon Marx

Color: Trafik
Colorist: Daniel de Vue
Senior Producer: Geoff Linville

Music: Ado

Sound Design: Box of Toys
Sound Designer: Chris Didlick, Ben Laver

Mix: Joint Editorial
Lead Audio Engineer: Suat Ayas
Assistant Audio Engineer: Candace Mortier
Senior Producer: Lou Woodward