Our seasonal animated short film was inspired by animated classics from the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s. We were particularly keen to invoke the spirit and style of the old Warner Bros. cartoons.

To keep with the classic feel, we were inspired by Clarence from ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ in the character design of the Angel.

As good as our intentions were, one thing we knew was that we didn’t have the time to spend weeks hand-drawing cel after cel. So, we decided on a digital approach.

All the character animation was first done in After Effects using a mixture of Duik and fluid motion. We then took this into Photoshop and retouched every frame using a custom brush.

The warm flickering lighting and lush palette completed the classic look.