The agency TBWANEBOKO recently teamed up with animation studio Ambassadors to create an ad celebrating Ronald McDonald House Charities’ work in The Netherlands over the last four decades. It’s a bit of a tear-jerker, but it’s so good.
‘Moving’ is the operative word when it comes to animation, but never has this been more the case than with Closer to You. In under a minute, it’ll have tears rolling down your cheeks.
The project was led by the Amsterdam-based agency TBWANEBOKO for Ronald McDonald House to highlight the charity’s 40th anniversary in the Netherlands, with animation by Ambassadors and music by Darre van Dijk. What you’ll see is a young girl literally moving her family’s home closer to the hospital where her little sister is all alone, receiving treatment. It’s a metaphor that neatly reflects exactly what Ronald McDonald House does – it enables families to stay near sick children while they’re in the hospital.
A story as beautifully simple as this actually takes time to develop. When the brief came in, TBWANEBOKO art director Patrick Wijnhoven and copywriter Olger Ypma knew they wanted to focus on a home – the place where families are closest – but weren’t sure where the narrative would lead.
“One of the first ideas we had was to show a house that had five washing machines, four microwave ovens and about three sofas – an idea with an alienating effect to point out that different families live in one house. Another idea was about a man who starts wandering through his house in the middle of the night and bumps into people he doesn’t know,” says Patrick.
Eventually, they shifted the focus to a little girl who’s feeling despair because her sister’s unwell and decides to do something about it in the middle of the night by pushing the family home to the hospital.
Character development WIP sketches.
“We thought it was important to not only show the sadness but make it light-hearted and a bit funny at the same time. Then came the idea of the help from the cyclists, the rapid descent from the mountain, the cutting back to the parents asleep in their bedroom, and a happy dog seeing a house moving from its place,” adds Patrick.
With the story developing, it was time to bring an animation studio on board. Finding the right one took up nearly half of the eight-month project. Ambassadors was chosen for its skills in creating filmic 2D animation with an illustrated aesthetic.
To reflect the daughter’s journey from sorrow to solution, the colour palette begins with dark, maudlin tones at the beginning of the journey and gradually shifts towards warmer, brighter colours as the challenges she faces are overcome. A simple illustrative style using abstract shapes lends clarity to this progression.
“The movement and transitions flow smoothly while the camera remains in constant motion, mirroring the sister’s journey,” explains Nick Groeneveld, head of animation at Ambassadors. “This dynamic movement also adds depth and parallax to the shots, enhancing the visual experience. The gentle quality of the animation enhances the film’s sensitive message, adding depth to its emotional tone.”
Managing the level of detail was one of the key challenges along the way. More detail often helps evoke greater emotion in the audience, as realism helps us see ourselves in the characters. However, the timeline and budget meant that a simple, stylised aesthetic had to be maintained.
While the music played a key role in providing emotional depth, Ambassadors decided to focus on frames where the act of kindness shows through the most. “We carefully evaluated each shot, choosing the best approach. Some were given more detail because they were more significant or because they were closer to the camera. The house is treated like a character, moving and rotating within the shots,” adds Nick.
A moving storyboard.
During the project, Adobe After Effects was used for the animation, though Cinema 4D was drafted in for more complex camera effects, projecting 2D objects in a 3D space. Procreate and Premiere were used for the storyboarding.
While the objective wasn’t to move people to tears, it certainly happened, demonstrating the storytelling abilities of all involved. “The response has been so positive,” says Patrick. “Our client was touched by the result and lots of other people loved the idea, the execution and the music. It has aired on almost every TV channel in the Netherlands, with no media budget.”