Using a tactile mix of stop-motion and CG, Zombie Studio reveals the social and societal challenges faced by people with mental and cognitive disabilities for Café Joyeux whose restaurants offer an “inclusive workplace for extraordinary people”.

From the team at Zombie: “This is the story of our character Robert’s journey. Despite the bumpy waves, it’s a journey he will never forget, ending up in Café Joyeux. It’s a very special project to us, with a very sensitive and inspiring story to tell in a playful way.
 

“We had 130 artists at Zombie Studio working in production (the characters and sets were handmade) and post-production brought the stop-motion animation to life.”

 
“Our goal was to create an animation with simplicity and elegance in an aesthetic design. All that combines with the empathetic content, bringing the viewer closer to the experience of the intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) community and giving everyone a glimpse of their lives.

“We had 130 artists at Zombie Studio working in production (the characters and sets were handmade) and post-production brought the stop-motion animation to life. Many puppets were created, including 11 versions of Robert, made of steel and aluminum (for the skeleton), coated with foam/silicone and finalized with resin 3D printing. Eight miniature sets were also built such as Café Joyeux’s trademark storefront and interior.”

Watch the making-of film:
 

 
 

 
Client: Café Joyeux
Founder/CEO: Yann Bucaille-Lanrezac

Agency: Klick Health

Production: Zombie Studio
ECD: Paulo Garcia, Daniel Salles
Director: Paulo Garcia, Natalia Gouvea
EP: Natalia Gouvea
Client Services: Stephanie Wang
Art Director: Bruno Jacob, Isabela Littger
Character Designer: Bruno Jacob
Concept Artist: Bruno Jacob, Ana Maria Sena, João Capoulade, Katan Walker
Production Director: Natália Gouvêa, André Carvalho, Isaac Buzzola
Producer CGI: Natalia Gouvea, André Carvalho, Malu Marquez, Alessandra Cena
Producer Stop Motion: Natalia Gouvêa, Alessandra Cena

Music/audio: Canja Audio Culture