Behind the Scenes of Illogic Studios’ Viral Christmas Ad How heartfelt characters brought a story to life for the holidays.

While ads come and go, some touch the hearts of viewers, evoking tears for their heartfelt storytelling. “The Unloved” Christmas ad, created by Illogic Studios for French grocery giant Intermarché, has achieved the latter and has blown the internet away with its heartwarming characters and the universal language of sharing food with those you love.

Illogic Studios, based in Montpellier, France and founded by the Illogic directors collective, put storytelling at the core of everything they do. From advertising to their latest venture into feature animation, Illogic Studios have done work for clients like Ralph Lauren, Swarovski, and Guerlain.

We caught up with Illogic Studios co-founder Théophile Dufresne and artists Swann Valenza and Alexandre Mougenot to learn more about how they captivated audiences with charismatic characters and beautiful storytelling.

Dufresne: We answered a call for pitches through Wizz, producers we’ve been working with for many years. When we saw the client, the agency, and learned that the project would be animated, we were immediately excited. The concept instantly resonated with us, which gave us a lot of motivation to push the treatment as far as possible. We were very happy to win the pitch.

Dufresne: The initial concept was developed by the advertising agency Romance. They came up with the idea of an “unloved” wolf who must learn to stop eating his forest friends and eat better in order to fit in. It begins with an uncle telling the story to his nephew, and what we see is the story as imagined by the young child, evoking the world of fairy tales.

We quickly took ownership of the characters, developing their personalities, backstories, behaviors, and attitudes. We then collaborated with children’s book illustrator Wiebke Rauers to reinforce the fairy-tale and childhood feel. From there, we adapted and translated those designs into 3D.

Dufresne: We started with the original illustrations by Wiebke, which had a very “naïve” look. We used these drawings to create precise model sheets which were provided to the sculpting team. This detailed concept art was used as a strong foundation for character sculpting.

Mougenot: First, we used ZBrush and Dynamesh to combine as many primitives as possible. We wanted to find shapes that were as close as possible to the design of each character. Once the shapes were approved, we made topology that would best suit the rigging department.

During the topology process, we used ZBrush’s alternative smooth and ZModeler to clean up the mesh and finalize character shapes. Once this was done, we created blendshapes for the other departments, such as open mouths and eyes for the texture department, allowing them to paint these hard-to-reach areas. ZModeler was a great help for this, as it allowed us to create polygroups for the upper and lower jaw parts to open it more easily. 

Valenza: For this project, we chose a workflow based on sculpting, with assets rendered in a “handmade” style. The goal was to give each asset a crafted, slightly worn, and unique look. To achieve this, we made extensive use of ZBrush. 

After receiving an approved concept art, I created a low-poly version of the assets in Maya. This can be very simple, as long as the topology is clean and even. I created the UVs on this low-poly mesh. I quickly exported this base mesh into ZBrush and started working using layers. The first step was to break up the surface using the Clay Buildup and Flatten brushes. This helped establish the base volumes of the wood and metal, which I refined later on. Next, I continued to use the Flatten brush to break and soften the edges of the various models. Since each bevel was unique, this created more natural light bounces at render time. Finally, I added details using the Orb brush pack. I used the Orb_Slash_Curve brush to create sharp, deep details in the topology, and used the DamStandard and Gio brushes to finish the wood grooves. 

Sculpting each model by hand allowed for a unique look that cannot be replicated using maps or procedural noise. 

Dufresne: One major challenge was staying true to the emotional DNA of Intermarché films — emotion, humor, and sensitivity — while switching to animation as a medium. We wanted to avoid a cartoon feel and instead focus on real acting and performance.

Another challenge was finding the right artistic direction. We did extensive R&D during pre-production to achieve a visual style that evoked childhood and illustration, mixing 2D and 3D in a balanced way. 

Dufresne: Absolutely. We’re convinced we wouldn’t have achieved the same emotional accuracy using AI. Around sixty artists worked on this project, each bringing their own craftsmanship and expertise. The final result is the sum of all that human work, care, and sensitivity.

Dufresne: We’re entering the feature animation market with our first animated feature, The Rivers, with pre-production set to start soon. Our goal is to remain active in advertising, while developing a feature-length animated film every two years. More to come soon! 

Key Takeaways 

• Illogic Studios used ZBrush to create a magical Christmas ad for French grocery chain Intermarché which gained attention across the globe.

• The characters began as original illustrations and were sculpted in ZBrush.

• The team used tools like Dynamesh, alternative smooth, and ZModeler, as well as brushes including Clay Buildup, Flatten, DamStandard, and Gio and Orb brush packs.

• The team achieved a magical fairy tale storybook-type result without using any AI.