Web Animation Watch Christmas Crackers
Welcome to a very special bumper edition of Web Animation Watch, our regular round-up of the greatest web animation. In this fully festive edition, we have some of the cream of this year's animated Christmas commercials plus the return of some festive favourites! This year, with so many people separated from their families, we hope we can spread a little extra cheer. Merry Christmas everybody!
We'll be back with regular Web Animation Watch in 2021. If you've made something- be it a web short, web series episode, student film, a music video or something else- you think would be a good fit for a future column, or if you've just found something cool, please drop us a line.
Little Angel | Simon's Cat (Christmas Special)
Our favourite animated feline is here for his annual festive special! In this year's short Simon's Cat is investigating the appearance of the Christmas decorations. And then the kitten arrives, and the fun really begins! Both adorable and funny as always- Simon's Cat never lets us down.
Casper's Magical Journey
Made by the wonderful Aardman Animations for the UK's Cat Protection charity, this gorgeous short is sure to strike a chord with any pet owner or animal lover. Based on the real story of a beloved family cat who goes missing, it's an emotional watch- but don't worry it all turns out alright in the end! You can also watch the making of Casper's Magical Journey to find out more about the story behind it.
Inner Child
This may be an advertisement for McDonald's UK of all people, but it's a brilliantly effective piece of animation. Featuring a single Mum trying to convince her son not to grow up too fast and get into the Christmas spirit, it's a very relatable story. The ad was produced by Passion Pictures and AgainstAllOdds.
A Comfy Christmas Carol
More from Aardman, but in more familiar form, it's a Christmas comeback for their beloved duo Wallace and Gromit. It's far from the first time that
the stop-motion icons have appeared in a commercial, but this spot for
furniture store DFS still retains that old familiar W&G feeling thanks to director Will Becher (Shaun The Sheep: Farmageddon).
Mr Weebl's Advent Colander Calendar 2020
Web animation hero Mr Weebl has understandably scaled back his animated advent calendars over more recent years. The idea that anybody- even with help- could produce 24 or 25 animations over such a short space of time is insane- pulling it off over multiple years was basically superhuman. It's back in reduced form for 2020 and features some reliably bonkers stuff this year. See the full playlist here.
Edgar's Christmas
Another heart-string tugging Christmas ad from Passion Pictures (they've been busy this year!) this spot for the European Erste Banking Group, is another hit. A lonely old man named Edgar is brought out of his shell by Christmas memories and the power of music.
The Christmas Song | Nat King Cole
Music video channel Vevo has this year been releasing brand new
animated videos for some of the most classic Christmas songs ever recorded.
This video accompanying the Ol' Nat King Cole favourite is particularly charming, and adds a particularly 2020 spin on it, too! See also, classics from Eartha Kitt and Bing Crosby given the same treatment.
