Pokémon x OREO Limited Edition Cookies
OREO
To celebrate Pokémon's 25th anniversary, the gaming franchise joined forces with OREO to create co-branded, limited-edition Pokémon cookie packs available online for pre-order.
Working alongside creative agencies 360i and Media Monks, Framestore's Chicago team was tasked with creating a celebratory film featuring beloved character Pikachu, that was not only authentic to the original Pokémon animation style but also made entirely from thousands of black-and-white "cookie pixels."
Beginning with a rough edit in After Effects that utilized reference footage provided by Pokémon, Cel Animators got to work hand drawing characters and environments in over 600 frames. From there, the frames were brought into Houdini to be processed and turned into the pixel grid, continuously challenging the team to strike a perfect balance between pixels large enough to be recognizable as cookies while maintaining a tight grid that preserved the fidelity and details of the drawings.
“This project was a fantastic opportunity to play in the world between custom hand drawn animation and complex CG builds,” said Framestore Creative Director Timothy Williams. “An incredibly talented team combined a story-focused approach with precise technical execution. The result was a unique visual approach to two of the world’s most instantly recognizable brands.”
Alongside out of home elements, the team delivered a :06 teaser, a :60 hero film, and a :06 product video all destined for the brand’s social channels. The models created by Framestore were also used to 3D print almost 9,000 oreos while were then strategically arranged to create a pixelated image on a billboard appearing in Venice, California.
