Through consumer learning we discovered that all three of our Fruit Snacks brands had one thing in common, kids didn’t think of them as only snacks, but rather as entertainment. They were a canvas of fun for kids to unfurl, gush and play with before they ate them. Knowing that kids used us as entertainment, we set out to be a true entertainment brand by creating a world out of our products that would compete on a level with some of the best kids entertainment.

To illustrate our characters, explore their look and figure out how to attach character traits to the base products was first achieved pencil on paper then colored in Photoshop. Next we illustrated characters that moved and emoted. We took inspiration from early 1940's style of animation, where body and facial rules are frequently distorted in order to exaggerate or stylize an emotion or movement. We broke each character out in a series of body and facial expression illustration sheets. This helped us inform what decisions we should consider in CG, when thinking about allowing for non-linear bodily movements in a CG rig. For example, when Linus stands up, he unfurls, making himself really tall. Larry presented a more specific challenge, so when he has to be squished in a particular way, we build another squished or inflated Larry in CG as a custom character when needed.

After design, we move into a Flash animatic. Next we began to realize them in CG, and exploring custom rigs that would allow these character to unfurl/gush. In their base CG rig, they don't look anything like their standing / resting form but through an activation of a cg rig, the FXF and FRU characters curl to become a solidified character. This is to allow every aspect of their body to be pulled in any direction, to unwind, to squish, to tighten etc. After developing a rigged cg system for the characters, we move onto a traditional cg pipeline of animation, lighting, and rendering.