Finally - they're here!

Books, books, books! It's been a long-time coming, but the books for McDonald's are finally here (and here)!  And while the initial character designs changed a bit to the animation then to these pages I was thrilled to work on getting these spots on the air. To quote Tom Hanks, "I need to get to a library, fast!"

A Picture of my Ant

A character design from a new McDonald's TV commercial. Quite the Abs on this Arthropod!

McDonald's Goat Commercial

Here's the new McDonald's Goat commercial. I helped design the story boards. Thanks once again to Creative Directors John Montgomery & Keith Hughes of Leo Burnett!

Annie way we go again!!!

We just found out today both McDonald's commercials "Apple Tree," and "Suzy Von Zoom" are up for Annie nominations! We didn't get it with Spaceman Stu last year, but it's always nice to be...oh, just win, please dammit! Thank you again, John Montgomery and Keith Hughes and Susan Credle for bringing me in to help out! And thank you Leo Burnett - you never forget your first...ad agency.

Good PR is a gift...

...And THIS is the article it comes in. From Adweek.com, May 23, 2011:

McDonald's, which last week again defended itself from doctors' and parents' accusations that it makes kids fat, is out with timely new commercials that are notable mostly for not sending shivers down our spines. Created by Leo Burnett in Chicago (with production houses Kompost and Duck), the elaborately detailed 3-D cartoons subtly cast the brand's Happy Meals as not just fun but healthful and wholesome to boot. In an upbeat, honky-tonk spot, a twig-like young girl named Suzy van Zoom is so famished after tearing around burning calories on her new two-wheeled bicycle that she descends upon the local McDonald's franchise to fuel up. (She's accompanied, of course, by a stampede of equally hungry animal friends that she picked up while zipping through the zoo—perhaps inviting accusations from PETA that McDonald's makes penguins fat, too.) In a second, more mawkish ad (posted after the jump), a bird nests her young in what turns out to be one of the iconic boxes the Happy Meals come in. Whether or not the naturalistic, feel-good tone of these animations misleads youth toward obesity, it's safe to say any child who opens up a Happy Meal to find nothing but yogurt, apple slices, and feathers is going to be pretty pissed off.

Suzy Von Zoom

Here is the recent spot in the McDonald's campaign by Duck Studios and Kompost. I worked with Leo Burnett in Chicago, the ad agency of record, with the art direction and story boards.

This first board, an iPad thumbnail type was the first try at it...

Then I took a shot at re-doing the boards to add a bit more to the scenes and characters...

Here's the spot as it is airing:

Apple Tree

The third in the new animated McDonald's series, this began as a simple idea (spanning the life of an apple tree) from Leo Burnett, Chicago. I worked with them on the original storyboard, and the spot was produced by Kompost animation in Sweden as an even more beautiful (yet still very simple) idea. Justin Roberts, the singer who performed this song, is an established singer of kids' music, and his work can be found here, but Apple Tree is on this album.

A very Groovy Stu!

The agency with which I did the Spaceman Stu commercial sent me this link, and my jaw dropped. Somewhere out there I know Stu just broke out in a bit of beatboxing...

His link on YouTube is ScarVideo, someone in advertising needs to hire this guy!

"Stu & Annie Sitting in a Tree..."

That's the tune that came to mind seeing Spaceman Stu just getting nominated for an Annie Award. Stiff competition, but not bad for a little guy with a fishbowl plopped atop his head?

THE FULL Spaceman Stu SONG!!!

The responses to YouTube to Spaceman Stu was unreal! But something we kept reading over and over again was, "please give us the full song." Well, just in time for the season of giving, here it is! This is the full Spaceman Stu Song from the McDonald's commercial on which I worked. It can only be found here for now, but should things progress like I hear, you'll be able to download it through McDonald's own site.

Now if you want to see and comment on YouTube (go here), but here is the original commercial in its full :30:

Bebe Bao's Birthday

This was the second commercial to break in the McDonald's animated campaign on which I worked, Bebe Bao's Birthday. Leo Burnett produced these first two spots with Duck Studios, LA. We had a fun time with the number of characters here, eventually done up in a stop-motion, 3-D looking environment. For high-def, go here.

Spaceman Stu

One of the fun McDonald's animated commercials that broke recently is Spaceman Stu. I was thrilled to be a part of bringing this little guy to life with the first ad agency for which I ever worked, Leo Burnett. His initial design simple enough, we had him look like a normal little boy, only he seemed to defy gravity by severely leaning back so as to get a better view of the stars. For high-def, go here.