The funny thing about childhood is, it stays with us forever. It is part of our foundation and no matter what age we are, our childhood memories assist in keeping us young at heart. Most of us harbour a Mr Men or Little Miss character within us and exhibit these childlike characters sporadically throughout our life-span.
When commissioned by the nationally famous Mr Men brand to develop their animated viral campaign, our Mr Men characters surfaced; we felt honoured.
The Challenge
We had a short space of time to take Little Miss Hug, the lovable and static expert hugger, and send her on an animated viral journey, whilst remaining specifically on brand with all illustration, music and animation.
Classic children’s author, Adam Hargreaves had designed “Little Miss Hug” in 2013. She makes the 35th Little Miss in the series and promises to hug anyone in need of a hug.
What we did
(how she saved the world) We worked alongside the Mr Men team at Sanrio Ltd to create the storyline for an animated video for online viral distribution in the UK and Europe, along with a mini clip of Little Miss Hug in each country she visited to maximise the virality.
The world was lacking the mood-uplift created by hugs, and in a bid to rescue civilisation Little Miss Hug travels the world taking selfies of her exchanging a hug with the likes of: Little Miss Somersault, Mr Tickle, Mr Grumpy, Little Miss Sunshine, Mr Strong, Little Miss Tiny and Mr Greedy, helping them all out of difficult, awkward and some embarrassing situations. Her collection of selfies, captures the essence of why everyone needs a hug, and the difference it has made in her world.
Little Miss Hug’s collection of selfies
The Production:
One of the biggest challenges was coming up with a truly viral advert that would engage viewers from beginning to end, and easily reflect a variety of Mr Men and Little Miss characters all in the same project. Most importantly the advert needed to uphold the integrity of the Mr Men brand, whilst being modern enough to fit with the latest trends.
Core services employed
- 2D Animation
- Script writing
- Storyboarding
- Assets creation/illustration
- Animated typography
- Soundtrack/scoring
The Results
Our client loved the English and French animations. Within a month of going public they had received more than 6,000 Views and Likes on YouTube and Facebook.
The Little Miss Hug book was launched at a book signing with Adam Hargreaves in Selfridges, Central London on May 10th. It probably wouldn’t surprise you that our Creative Director, Jide Johnson, couldn’t refrain from taking a selfie with Adam. One may even say it was the Mr Cool within him surfacing…
Adam Hargreaves and Jide Johnson taking a seflie in Selfridges
Enjoy the globe trotting Little Miss Hug journey below:
For more information on how to engage your audience online through animated or live action videos, email: info@aniboxx.com or drop the team a reply and we will respond within 24 hours.
