FROSTED FLAKES – MISSION TIGER
Role: Creative Director
Studio: The Mill
Agency: Leo Burnett
Let’s just say you’re an animation director who fell in love with tv commercials as a kid in the 80s. Then imagine walking into work one day and hearing, “We want you to redesign Tony the Tiger for a new generation.” Dear diary...jackpot!
Our friends at Leo Burnett went on to explain that many kids no longer recognize Tony, the beloved icon dating back to 1952. Call me sentimental, but that’s not grrreat...
For those of you who still remember Tony, it is likely the Disney-esque interpretation of the tiger. After some digging, I was thrilled to find a much earlier, Mid-century Modern version. That era of Tony actually feels more relevant today than ever – and served as the impetus of our character design exploration [above].
INSPIRATION
SOCIAL EXTENSION
The stakes were high, with six studios competing for the job! So I put quite a lot of thinking into my treatment, including concepts for social extensions of the new campaign (which was still in development). One idea was to take student athletes who embodied Tony the Tiger’s values and allow them to be the voice, such as this amazing interview from a Texas high school:
A NEW MISSION
Drumroll please…we won the job! And I was thrilled, even after learning that Tony would not be redesigned, just “refreshed.” This news along with the darker, more serious tone of the new campaign meant a new round of character development was at hand…
What does a darker, more serious Tony the Tiger look like? Believe it or not, there are very few references for this – just a variety of smiles! So we explored a full range of emotions through new facial expressions. This required shifting Tony’s jawline, eyebrows and adding more definition around his eyelids.
Our clients were also intent on retaining some of the hand-drawn warmth of our design exploration, which led to several rounds of Look Development. We experimented with an endless variety of textures and shaders before our “refreshed” Tony was ready for his new role.
MISSION TIGER
With the new Tony the Tiger character textured, rigged, and ready to roll, we worked with director Manes Duer of Slim Pictures to bring the :30 and :15 second “Chant” scripts to life. Best of all? It’s all for a grrreat cause! Learn more about “Mission Tiger” and how you can help here.
Full production credits can be found here.