DIVE DEEPER
STANDOUT CHARACTERS
IMMERSIVE WORLDS
Great stories begin with great characters.
Whether you’re creating an advertising mascot or a horror movie monster, its personality and history can be brought to life through shape, color, texture and mannerisms.
For Disney’s Mickey Mouse’s Holiday, Ugly Mug partnered with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios to bring Mickey and gang to life for the very first time in stop-motion! We creatively oversaw these 2D icons’ foray in the real world, guiding every detail from fur texture to animation style.
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One fun challenge - Mickey’s ears always face camera, so we devised an innovative magnetic system so that his signature appendages always stayed on model.
For Tree Secrets, the series we co-created for FX’s anthology show Cake, we crafted dozens of tree characters using found materials like leaves and bark. The faces were hand animated on glass, then composited onto live-action footage from various national parks, combining state-of-the-art visual effects with handmade artistry to create a unique and memorable look.
When tasked with designing puppet versions of Ron Perlman and Guillermo Del Toro, we opted for a chunky hand carved look that evoked Mike Mignola’s 2D artwork. Envisioned as a riff on the Odd Couple, the two pals’ silhouettes are essentially inversions of each other to emphasize the contrast of their personalities.
For Netflix’s feature film Hurricane Bianca, our brief was to create a memorable rat with a supervillain personality. The challenge was it had to be realistic enough to intercut with live-action rats. We used a build-up method of foam and fur to create the camera-ready rodent.
When Adult Swim commissioned a silly and shareable short, we answered the call with ManPire! Co-created by Justin Michael (Infinity Train, Among Us) & Dan Lippert (Comedy Bang! Bang!, Big Grande, Hacks) we designed, built and animated this tree-chopping, blood sucking, creature of the night!
In our original short film Steel Cut Oats, we wanted the titular Golem to appear simultaneously menacing and childlike. We opted for a simple, graphic face inspired by a jack-o-lantern topped with an oversized brow that can project cuteness or menace depending on the shape.
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It was important to feel the weight of the oatmeal so went with squat legs and a low center of gravity for the main form, augmented with secondary details like oatmeal drips. Micro LED’s created a practical glow from within, completing the effect and giving Oats a true spark of life!
Great characters deserve worlds that are just as distinct and memorable.
The most efficient way to convey tone and narrative is through visual environment.
In the Batman Spot that Ugly Mug created for DC Collectibles, we wanted to capture the deco noir look of the animated series and combine that with the tactile, playful aesthetic of a 90’s toy commercial.
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Using wood, plaster, and some literal smoke and mirrors, we built out a tactile Gotham City that served as the ultimate playset for collectors of all ages!
We partnered with WWE, Mattel, and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios to direct Slam City, a series of shorts to promote a major wrestling toy-line. We creatively guided the adaptation of Mattel’s toy designs into state-of-the-art puppets and created a lived-in world uniquely tailored to their squat proportions.
In this PSA for Buzzfeed, we developed a graphic, pastel world to playfully present a serious topic. We fabricated a multitude of 'trick' cakes designed to explode, ooze, and disintegrate on cue, fusing traditional culinary materials with foams, resins, and powders to leave a (literally) sticky impression.
In our award-winning short film, Bygone Behemoth, we used high contrast lighting and period appropriate set design to evoke a melancholy noir take on 50’s monster movies. Some of our favorite props include the hand sculpted Kit Kat Clock and the mid-century sink fashioned from an Altoids tin!