“This spot touches on nostalgia for one’s own youth – a simpler time when a bowl of Lucky Charms and Saturday morning cartoons were the highlight of the week,” said Calabash Animation executive producer Sean Henry. “It was a fun idea because the truth is, kids aren’t the only ones who love Lucky Charms and this spot gets at that idea in a smart and cinematic way.”
Blending 3D animation and live-action photography, “Transportasty” opens with an employee walking through her office break-room. Noticing a bowl of Lucky Charms on the table she helps herself to a bite and is suddenly transported to a lush animated 3D forest – complete with rainbows of swirling Lucky Charms cereal pieces around her. As she savors her first bite, Lucky appears uttering his famous catch phrase – “They’re always after me Lucky Charms” – and snatches the bowl of cereal from her hands. Then, just as quickly as she got there, she’s transported back to the office, saying to herself, “I forgot how good these taste.”
For Calabash creative director Wayne Brejcha, the creative challenge was determining exactly how Lucky was going to interact with the live action.
“Historically, Lucky doesn’t interact very often with live-action characters, and it was imperative to keep it true to the existing Lucky design,” Brejcha explained. “We spent a lot of time on the photographic details of the CG environment and the coherent lighting of this world, because it was crucial that viewers believe that Lucky and this woman are in this world together – magical though it is.”
“We approached the CG environment in a very painterly way, using gorgeous concept art to guide the feel of it,” Brejcha added. “Lucky’s animation was an amalgam of 2D drawings informing the CG animation, as we tried to keep Lucky as nimble and expressive as always.”
