The green gorilla Toto, created by our Paris studio, is back in a new commercial with his signature big smile. In this film directed by Matthijs van Heijningen, in collaboration with agency Vidiboko and production company Bonkers, our artists were tasked with personifying the mascot in a masterful photorealistic style. In order to find the perfect style for the gorilla and to make him friendly despite his large size and big teeth., our artists spent much time researching how to find the balance between photorealistic and approachable.
After Citroën ‘Cactus’, ‘Canal’+ ‘The Bear’, winner at Cannes Lions, Orange ‘Big Christmas’ and the recent Samsung ‘Playtime is Over’, this film is one of many collaborations with director Matthijs van Heijningen on which the artists of The Mill Paris have added some VFX magic!
“For this film we were in charge of creating the green gorilla in full CG. From rigging to animation to fur, we took care of the entire characterization of Toto. We are used to creating photorealistic characters, but we rarely create gorillas that dance and sing in Dutch! After several proposals and intentions to dance and wiggle the pelvis and shoulders, Toto became a "showman".
We asked the agency to translate the text into English and French so that the animators could understand Toto's intentions and intonations so that his actions would be credible. As a result, Alban, Augustin and the rest of the animation team created a fairly large bank of several posing/acting facials. On the FX side (fur and cape simulation), Karim did a great job. He automated everything on Houdini to save us time on all shots. Very nice teamwork all around. ”
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