Oregon Looks Like Something Out of a Miyazaki Film in This Magical Travel Ad
The Draws of the State Are 'Only Slightly Exaggerated' in Ad From Wieden & Kennedy
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Giant leaping rabbits, a wizard who drops nature bombs from the sky and a gargantuan cycling caterpillar are among the denizens of this film's fantasyland, seemingly pulled straight from the vault of Japanese animation genius Hayao Miyazaki. But they're actually the stars of a new spot from Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, which happens to be set not in Japan, but in Oregon.
The new ad, "Only Slightly Exaggerated," comes from Travel Oregon and takes creative license in highlighting the natural wonders to be found in the pacific northwest state, from the flora and fauna, to its wine country and the outdoor activities on offer. Animation was created out of Psyop and Sun Creature, with direction by Psyop's Kylie Matulick and Todd Mueller.
The ad also shows off another draw of the state, the Oregon Symphony, which created the original score.
"The brief for this project was extremely open and inspiring," says Psyop's Mueller. The W&K team "was looking for something artfully magical [and] wanted to convey the beauty of Oregon with a sense of natural magic and wonder.
"One of the more challenging aspects to this piece was finding a way to bring a lot of magic into the world without any of it feeling cheesy or contrived," he says. "There is a fine line between just enough and way too much when it comes to magical fantasies. It's like cooking with lavender, or adding nitrous to your engine. Using the right amount can be incredible but use too much and it's disastrous."
The production took about five months, but Psyop was able to pull it off, along with the talents at Sun Creature. The research, naturally, entailed learning more about Oregon. "We wanted to spend a couple days exploring some of the amazing sights Oregon has to offer," he says. "So we all piled in a van and headed up to Mt. Hood and Lake Trillium. Of course we got hit by a massive snow storm. It was a total white out and the road down to the lake was closed off but even in those conditions Oregon was magical."
The campaign is running in Portland, San Francisco, Seattle and Phoenix on television, in cinema, digital and out of home. Other elements include online, GIFs, short animations and more.
"We thought Oregon deserved better than just another travel ad," says W+K Art Director Nick Stokes in a statement. "So we turned to animation to try and capture its magic."
Credits
- Date
- Mar 13, 2018
- Brand :
- Travel Oregon
- Client :
- Travel Oregon
- Agency :
- Wieden & Kennedy-Portland
- Director :
- Kylie Matulick
- Director :
- Todd Mueller
- Production Company :
- Psyop
- Production Company :
- Sun Creature
- Creative Director :
- Jason Kreher
- Writer :
- Ansel Wallenfang
- Art Director :
- Nick Stokes
- Producer :
- Nicole Kaptur
- Account Team :
- Kimmy Cunningham
- Account Team :
- Lindsay Varquez
- Creative Manager :
- Leola Ristau
- Executive Creative Director :
- Jason Bagley
- Executive Creative Director :
- Eric Baldwin
- Managing Director :
- Neysa Horsburgh
- Executive Producer :
- Lucy Clark
- Head of Production :
- Drew Bourneuf
- Producer :
- Nick Read
- Associate Producer :
- Lara Arikan
- Designer :
- Joe Ball
- Designer :
- Devon Manney
- Designer :
- Andrew Park
- Designer :
- Robin Thompson
- 2D Supervisor :
- Ryan Raith
- Storyboard Artist :
- Max Forward
- Compositor :
- Ryan Raith
- Compositor :
- Joe Ball
- Compositor :
- Sarah Blank
- Compositor :
- Tommy Wooh
- Flame Artist :
- Kim Stevenson
- Editor :
- Brett Nicoletti
- Editor :
- Lance Pereira
- Assistant Editor :
- Rob Cavedo
- Executive Producer :
- Guillaume Dousse
- Executive Producer :
- Charlotte de la Gournerie
- Producer :
- Guillaume Dousse
- Associate Producer :
- Simon Lee Bresling
- Line Producer :
- Charlotte Sanchez
- Production Manager :
- Fie Ørnsø
- Art Director :
- Simon Lee Bresling
- Art Director :
- Guillaume Dousse
- Animation Supervisor :
- Liane-Cho Han
- Animation Supervisor :
- Kenneth Ladekjær
- Background Supervisor :
- Patrice Suau
- Storyboard Artist :
- Liane-Cho Han
- Color Script Artist :
- Daniel Cacouault
- Concept Artist :
- Patrice Suau
- Concept Artist :
- Daniel Cacouault
- Concept Artist :
- Thomas Reteuna
- Concept Artist :
- Ben Marsaud
- Concept Artist :
- Mourad Elias Seddiki
- Concept Artist :
- Simon Masse
- Concept Artist :
- Leïla Courtillon
- Concept Artist :
- Linnea Sterte
- Concept Artist :
- Luca Vitale
- Concept Artist :
- Lucas Durkheim
- Concept Artist :
- Samuel Klughertz
- Character Designer :
- Kenneth Ladekjær
- Character Designer :
- Luca Vitale
- Layout Background Artist :
- Simon Masse
- Layout Background Artist :
- Jean-Michel Boesch
- Layout Background Artist :
- Linnea Sterte
- Layout Background Artist :
- Thomas Reteuna
- Layout Background Artist :
- Jade Khoo
- Layout Posing Artist :
- Kenneth Ladekjær
- Layout Posing Artist :
- Pierre Rütz
- Layout Posing Artist :
- Mourad Elias Seddiki
- Background Painter :
- Patrice Suau
- Background Painter :
- Simon Masse
- Background Painter :
- Thomas Reteuna
- Background Painter :
- Matthew Vince
- Background Painter :
- Grace Liu
- Background Painter :
- Sylvain Fabre
- Background Painter :
- Théo Boubounelle
- Background Painter :
- Alexis Liddell
- Character Animator :
- Pierre Rütz
- Character Animator :
- Christoffer Elsborg Kramme
- Character Animator :
- Mourad Elias Seddiki
- Character Animator :
- Thibaud Petitpas
- Character Animator :
- Kenneth Ladekjær
- Character Animator :
- Cyrille Chauvin
- Effects Animator :
- Thibaud Petitpas
- Effects Animator :
- Olivier Malric
- Effects Animator :
- Rachid Guendouze
- Effects Animator :
- Ines Scheiber
- Effects Animator :
- Stéphane Chung
- Effects Animator :
- Kenneth Ladekjær
- Effects Animator :
- Touraj Khosravi
- Clean-up Artist :
- Christoffer Elsborg Kramme
- Clean-up Artist :
- Kay Sales
- Clean-up Artist :
- Laura Büchert Schjødt
- Clean-up Artist :
- Nawell Sdiri
- Clean-up Artist :
- Marick Queven
- Clean-up Artist :
- Sandrine Han Jin Kuang
- Clean-up Artist :
- Mette Ilene Holmriis
- Color Detail Animator :
- Christoffer Elsborg Kramme
- Color Detail Animator :
- Kay Sales
- Color Detail Animator :
- Laura Büchert Schjødt
- Color Detail Animator :
- Nawell Sdiri
- Color Detail Animator :
- Sandrine Han Jin Kuang
- Color Detail Animator :
- Mette Ilene Holmriis
- Color Detail Animator :
- Pierre Rütz
- Color Detail Animator :
- Mikkel Mainz Elkjaer
- Animation Color Artist :
- Christoffer Elsborg Kramme
- Animation Color Artist :
- Kay Sales
- Animation Color Artist :
- Laura Büchert Schjødt
- Animation Color Artist :
- Nicoline de Selsted Lind
- Animation Color Artist :
- Mette Ilene Holmriis
- Animation Color Artist :
- Mikkel Mainz Elkjaer
- Senior Compositing Artist :
- Birk Von Brockdorff
- Senior Compositing Artist :
- Paul Ó Muiris
- Music House :
- Walker
- Music Supervisor :
- Sara Matarazzo
- Executive Producer :
- Sara Matarazzo
- Composer :
- James Dooley
- Orchestrator :
- Tim Davies
- Mixer :
- Steve Kaplan
- Live Recording :
- Oregon Symphony
- Performed and Recorded :
- Arlene Schnitzer Hall
- Vice President :
- Steve Wenig
- General Manager, Oregon Symphony :
- Steve Wenig
- Director :
- Jacob Blaser
- Production Manager Oregon Symphony :
- Jacob Blaser
- Stage Manager Oregon Symphony :
- Brent Bowden
- Audio Engineer Oregon Symphony :
- Tim Boot
- Mix Company :
- Lime
- Mixer :
- Matt Miller
- Assistant Mixer :
- Lisa Mermelstein
- Producer :
- Susie Boyajan
- Producer :
- Kayla Phungglan
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