TK Maxx – Festive Farm

Directed by Ulf Johansson, this festive campaign featuring an early noughties R&B classic will have you holiday ready and feeling…
TK Maxx "Festive Farm"
Case Study

Directed by Ulf Johansson, this festive campaign featuring an early noughties R&B classic will have you holiday ready and feeling thoroughly fabulous!

It's a classic Christmas scene; an iconic crew of chic, CG farm animals show us their catwalk capabilities, dressed head to toe in stylish TK Maxx goodies to the tune of Eve and Gwen Stefani’s 'Let Me Blow Ya Mind'. Okay, well perhaps it's not traditional, but we absolutely love it, and so will you!

First out the barn doors is a turtle neck-clad alpaca sporting a crossbody bag, swiftly followed by a pair of ducks rocking Harry Styles-inspired pearls, an elegant silk scarf and suave pink bow tie. Now, from the off, the brief emphasized realism but, says Ed Taylor, VFX Supervisor from The Mill, "having never tried to dress an alpaca in a pullover or a duck in a pair of back to front boxer shorts, some of the early challenges faced were uniquely modelling the human clothes to “almost” fit the animals. There was a fine balance between the human clothes not fitting, and a perfectly tailored outfit feeling too perfect."

Next appears the undeniable Mill favourite, an adorable hedgehog in a cosy pink cashmere hat. Does it get any better? Maybe so! Our final friend to scurry out onto the snowy scene is returning cast mate, 'lil goat', a TK Maxx superstar, created by The Mill back in 2020. As the 'spoil your loved ones for less' spot closes, you can't miss the sassy alpaca, as he takes in the festive scents from a designer candle.

We can't rave about this joyful campaign without mentioning the TK Maxx Christmas bear, seen in hands of the couple's young granddaughter. The bear features in the retailers range of 2023 Christmas charity gifts, which support the Prince's Trust. This year's collection is dedicated to the invaluable work of The Prince's Trust and helping to transform the lives of young people across the UK. A great cause and a lovely addition to the ad.

Our incredible team worked so hard to ensure the animals looked as natural as possible, even visiting local farms to capture the best possible reference footage. The final result was rewarding and if we do say so ourselves, thoroughly fabulous. We look forward to finding out what our furry/feathered friends get up to next! If you want to know more about we created these charming CG characters, check out our Behind The Scenes film below!

Credits
Credits

CLIENT
TK MAXX

Agency
Wieden+Kennedy
Creative Director: Philippa Beaumont
Creative Director: Freddy Taylor
Creative: Liam Abraham
Creative: Charlie Hood
Producer: Chloe Bradley

Production Company
SMITH & JONES
Director: Ulf Johansson
EP: Philippa Smith
DoP: Andrzej Sekula
1st AD: James Sharpe
Gaffer: Shawn White
Production Designer: Steve Smithwick

Post Production
The Mill London
Executive Creative Director: Carsten Keller
CG VFX Supervisor/3D Lead: Kiril Mirkov
2D VFX Supervisor/2D Lead: Edward Taylor
Executive Producer: Louise Unwin
VFX Producer: Chloe Ensor
VFX Assistant Producer: Sophie McDonald
Animation Lead: Clementine Supiot
CG Artists: Dimitri Allonneau, Elia Goettlicher, Emre Sumer, Fredrik Macleod, Giacomo Cavalletti, Jean Grandgirard, Judit Lopez, Luca Maccarelli, Mathilde LeGloahec,David Mayhew, Jorge Montiel, Margaux Huneau, Marion Strunck,Vincent Ullman, Maximilian Mallmann
2D Artists: Anthony Jarvis, Ruslan Borysov, Davide Metti, Rafael Vormittag, Vanessa Duquesnay

The Mill New York
Colourist: Elodie Ichter
Colour EP: Alex Lubrano
Colour Producer: Colleen Valentino
Colour Assists: Joni Brandenburg, Sam Ommen, Amonnie Nicolas, Caitlin Donaldson, Rory Leighton, Kennedy Dawson

The Mill Bangalore
Producer: Vikram Salvi
Production Coordinator: Nividita Dakua
DFX Supervisor: Vivek Tekale
Leads: Manoj Palan, Kunal Bendke, Yogesh Ahire, Noushad Kallingal, Asif Ansari, Elangovan Ganeshan, Sagar Rana, Preksha Kumar, Biswajit Tarafder, Sukanta Chakraborty, Uday Kiran, Gowri Velusamy D
Asset Artists: Thirumoorthi Sivakumar, Vivek Mayanglambam, Prakhar Kulshreshtha, Ritika Das, Rakshith U, Aman Kumar Mayur, Akhil Panicker, Animesh Gogoi
DMP Artists: Shanmugavel V, Mohan Rao, Jyothika S, Paresh Kumar Swain, Kanta Singha, Anuboju Avinash, Abhimanyu Singh Tanwar
FX Artists: Ashutosh Shivdas, Gleaces Juvilian, Sooraj A S, Jayasri S, Divyansh Ashok Gupta
Animaton Artists: Badireddy Sri Charan, Raman Bhatia
Comp Artists: Karthikkeyan M D, Vishal Dadwal
RPM Artists: Kundan Sahu, Prasad Thorve, Ashish Pilaji Gajbhiye, Vishvajeet Kocharekar, Ketan Khairnar, Appu Gowda, Shaik Ravoof Basha, Sandeep Mishra, Anita Khandare, Karan Sharma, Sandeep Vijayrao Dahekar Kumar Ranvir Sinha, Laxman Janardhan Pawar, Kamatham Pavan, Anil Kumar, Vallabhapuram Pavan Teja, Aakansha Yadav, Akshay Suresh Savardekar, Ashish Bhanage, Baljinder Singh, Chetan Shelar, Praneet Vivek Borkar, Sukhwinder Singh, Suraj Vilas More, Vijay Mishra, Vorsu Mahesh, Kanak Kumar, Sangram Londhe, Ankit Panwar Avaneetharan Karuppasamy, Vishal Shirsat, Abhishek Popat Pise, Jampani Amarendra, Kiran Auti, Bineesh T P, Vurukuti Siva Sarweswar, Sayed Hussain, Ram Kumar Sharma

Behind the Scenes Film
VFX: The Mill
Direction: Carsten Keller and Fabian Frank
Edit: Zoe Izzard
Production: Chloe Ensor
VFX Supervisors: Kiril Mirkov and Ed Taylor
VFX: Margaux Huneau, Damien Figueiredo, Vincent Ullmann, Elia Goettlicher, Preksha Kumar, Brijul Venugopalan Nair, Vikram Salvi, Vivek Tekale, Barry Chapman, Clementine Supiot, Vipin Tripathi

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