A Fearsome Dragon Terrorizes a Kingdom in Powerful Animation about Drugs and Society

The Global Commission on Drug Policy commissioned Brazilian agency AlmapBBDO for this inventively animated tale, in which the "war on drugs" is portrayed in a fairy-tale setting. Drugs are represented as a fearsome dragon named "Drugo," and the tale centers on a kingdoms efforts to banish and kill him, before realising that containing him and bringing him under their control would be a less violent solution.

The film is part of an ongoing effort by the Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP) to highlight the need for more humane, evidence-based policies to deal with drugs. The GCDP includes seven former presidents, the entrepreneur Richard Branson, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, and other international leaders.

Produced by Vetor Zero studio in Brazil, the animation required a team of more than 60 people over a nine-month production period, with 310 characters physically built and 83 of those manually animated.