December 5, 2006 - Los Angeles: Continuing the "Art of Childhood" campaign, Director Steve Beck of Rhythm + Hues Commercial Studios has completed three new spots for Crayola and McGarryBowen: "Caravan", "Seesaw" and "Magic Box".

"Caravan" is a mix of live action, stop motion animation, paper sculpture, green screen, matte paintings, 3D and 2D visual effects. In this spot, a little girl uses the new Crayola Cutter in her room to cut out what she imagines. The room transforms into a world of paper cutouts that include trees, clouds, water, birds, and elephants that she and other kids ride through the jungle. "'Caravan' was masterfully composed and composited by John Heller of R+H and the Chiodo Brothers," says Beck.

"This package was a wonderful creative challenge," says Executive Producer Paul Babb. "We found ourselves really taking advantage of our wealth of creative tools. Just to bring the 'Caravan' commercial to life, we used stop motion animation to breath life into the paper sculpture characters and then married them into a world of live children along with CGI and matte painted backgrounds. This was truly a collaborative process from start to finish."

Wearing several hats, Leon Joosen was the Stop Motion Animation Director, Character Designer and Paper Sculpture Stylist. "This spot was done purposely as stop motion instead of puppet motion or CGI," says Joosen. "Stop motion has a style all its own that can't be duplicated any other way. It's a little rougher, a little more hurky jerky, which gives it a childlike charm that the smoother CGI can't give, or the more uncontrollable puppet movement won't duplicate."

In "Seesaw", two kids are using the Crayola Color Wonder Sprayer. A boy sprays special liquid on paper to create an octopus, which drops from the sky onto a seesaw in the backyard. The girl draws an alien, which bumps the octopus off the seesaw. The boy imagines a huge dragon, spays it on paper, and it lands on the seesaw surprising them both!

In "Magic Box", a boy and girl are using the Crayola Color Explosion Spinner. The boy uses the special marker and dropper on Crayola paper as the girl pulls a large box over them creating a secret hideaway. Their imagination, with the help of the spinner, brings them into outer space. The spots began airing in October and November.

ABOUT RHYTHM + HUES COMMERCIAL STUDIOS

A complete digital studio, with live action, CG animation and vfx, design and post production services, Rhythm + Hues Commercial Studios draws upon the talent and technical firepower of one of the world's premier effects and animation facilities, Rhythm & Hues Studios. Adjacent to the 70,000 sq. ft. facility which houses hundreds of digital artists and staff, the 7,000 sq. foot boutique facility of Rhythm + Hues Commercial Studios is dedicated to the highest quality of commercial production and outstanding client support.

Recent commercial projects include Nasonex, Activision, SeaWorld, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Volkswagen, The Hartford Financial Services Group, Chevrolet, McDonald's, Wal-Mart and LeapFrog. Recent Film Division credits include Charlotte's Web, Night at the Museum, Happy Feet, Superman Returns, The Fast and The Furious 3: Tokyo Drift, Garfield 2 and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Films currently in production include Evan Almighty, The Golden Compass and Kingdom.