feature

Lines, clay,
animation

Move over stars, they are utterly delicious, cool, popular and
Chinta Free! Nikita Banerjee reports on why brands are
choosing animated mascots and how they are doing it

T
ax deadlines are near. And other than
the neighbourhood accountant the most
convincing bet seems to be Chintamani.
The bespectacled and friendly clay animated
character reassures viewers about taxes,
which as the American statesman Ben Frank-
lin pointed out was the only certainty other
than death.
When the reassurance had to be about such
a grave matter, then the brand managers
turned to E Suresh of Famous Animation Stu-
dios. ICICI isn’t the only one who turned to
animation. It is a creative of choice for many
brand identities. The reasons range from flex-
ibility to star tantrums. After all one doesn’t
expect figures made of lines, pixels or even
clay to have egos.
Santosh Desai, MD and CEO, Future Brands
says, “We can mould them in whichever way
we want and they are easily adaptable into any
culture. It can be easily customizable to what
the brand stands for; it can take several forms
and it embodies the spirit of the product.”
Giving spirit to the product is not an easy
matter. To get the right mascot for a particu-
lar brand, a meticulous process is involved.
“There is research, brainstorming, concept
generation, character design stages before a
mascot is built,” says Suresh. “Since an ad
agency works closely with the client and has
a thorough knowledge about the target audi-
ence of the brand and their requirements, we
as designers prefer to work with them to cre-
ate the mascots.”
But before these processes comes the ad
brief and the task of converting it into a mas-
cot. The brief is the seed of the film. Suresh
says, “We interpret the brief to develop it into
a well working (for the brand and not only
for us!!) story/script and supplement it with
good character designs and style (look and
feel). Then we do brainstorming sessions to
refine the flow of the film. We prefer to work
with the audio, final track or a reference track
to bring feel to the film. The character design
also goes through a very systematic evolu-
tion by taking reference from real people, their
acts etc.”
The evolution of animated mascots has not
traveled too far from the traditional techniques
of 2D animation. One of the first animated

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July 2008 u
animation reporter

mascots that became a global icon and still
remains in use today is Fido, the 7 UP mas-
cot. Fido started life as a 2D character and
has only recently been seen in 3D. Suresh
says “They have started using a 3D one for
ease of use and consistency across many
countries. Reproduction in printing and out-
doors has been a constraint for most brands
to stick to 2D till the last decade where the
technology advanced enough to accommo-
date other forms.” While the Pillsbury Dough-
boy is an example of 3D animation, both Fido
Dido and the Amul girl have gone from being
2D to 3D.
What sets the animation characters like the
Amul girl and Fido Dido are their unique char-
acter designs. Dean Koocher of Honest En-
tertainment, the makers of Fido, says, “Fido
is really unique. He is a cool dude. He has
the capability to resonate within his audience
irrespective of the culture they belong too.”
This portability across cultures is crucial as
brands expand beyond territorial and linguis-
tic boundaries.
They also stay alive longer than human be-
ings. And they do not age. While Sachin
Tendulkar may be dumped by the youngistan
Pepsi, Chintamani can go on and on like
the Energizer Bunny. And one doesn’t have
to worry about some flops that an actor may
churn out.
Animated mascots are also of value in spread-
ing social messages. Desai says, “In certain
kinds of situations depicting reality is difficult
feature
as it might garner negative feedback. Here
animation proves to be simpler, as it presents
the idea in a more juvenile manner. Hence it
plays a vital role.”
Issues such as AIDS awareness, use of con-
doms and sex education are especially ame-
nable to messages that come from animated
mascots. Kiran Khalap, Co-founder Chloro-
phyll, says, “I believe it can work at two levels:
it can effectively build on what in psychology
is known as ‘projection’. We are able to attri-
bute those unwanted thoughts on to the ani-
mated characters and secondly, it allows the
afflicted person to trust the character.” Khalap
gives the example of Bula Di, an animated
character fashioned out of a rag doll, in West
Bengal that is a huge success in spreading
messages on AIDS because she represents a
trustworthy neighbourhood aunt.
Whether it is Bula Di or Chintamani, what
makes the ads successful are the ability of
these mascots to allow for imaginative as-
sociations in the audience. The making of
them, however, requires painstaking work
and research, which goes well beyond the
animator’s light board. For animators able to
personify objects and services, Chinatamani
offers more than just hassle-free tax returns.
animation reporter u July 2008 u
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