Day of the Dead

Credits

Ad Agency
Scoppechio

Stephen Childress – VP, Creative Director
Thom Little – Head of Integrated Production
Carlos Riveroll – Associate Creative Director
Zach Wardlaw – Digital Design / Art Director
Lanny Fuller – Copywriter

Sound Design
Surachai Sutthisasanakul

Music Composition
Haus

Erik Steinert – Managing Member, Producer
Emmett O’Malley – Composer

Directed by
Buck

Executive Creative Director
Orion Tait

Executive Producer
Anne Skopas

Creative Director
Thomas Schmid

CG Supervisor
Bill Dorais

Producer
Anabella Zubillaga

Production Coordinator
Alexi Yeldezian

Art Director
Arvid Volz

Animation Director
Chad Colby

Design
Olivia Blanc
Amelia Chen
Thomas Schmid
Yeojin Shin
Kyle Strope

Concept Art and Matte Painting
Dae-Han Yi
Jong Lee
Artur Sadlos

Storyboards
William Trebutien

3D Modeling
Bill Dorais

Michele Herrera
Joy (Meng-Chwen) Tien
Arvid Volz

Rigging
Ernesto Ruiz Velasco

3D Animation
Ozan Basaldi
Jordan Blit
Chad Colby
Jonathan Muller
Cesar Tafoya

Look Development
Brice Linane
Joao Rema
Ana Santos
Joy (Meng-Chwen) Tien

Lighting
Brice Linane
Jimmy Sans
Ana Santos
Joao Rema
Joy (Meng-Chwen) Tien

Compositing
Brice Linane
Jimmy Sans
Ana Santos
Joao Rema
Joy (Meng-Chwen) Tien

2D Animation
Rocio Cogno
Kyle Strope

Live Action Director
Jon Gorman
Thomas Schmid
Set Fabrication
Ben Kress
Junko Shimizu
Yeojin Shin
Taili Wu

Director of Photography
Anibal Hernandez

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Posted by Joe Donaldson

5 Comments

Jack Ramírez

Splendid animation and incredible work from BUCK (as always) and yet such a shame on the “Dia de Muertos” cultural appropriation; you have a lot of misused cultural interpretations like the Flamenco dancer and the altars at the graveyard but I totally understand that marketing objectives and the creative direction it’s not always on the production side and most of the time advertising is all about selling something to a specific market niche speaking in a language that everybody could understand straight and clear even when that means the unjustified use of cultural stereotypes.

I don’t want to offend anybody or either try to be the judge here (being a white Mexican living abroad), I just want to point out that there must be better ways to tropicalize holidays belonging to foreign cultures in a more appropriate way.

Reply
Justin Cone

HI, Jack! Thanks for your thoughtful comments.

White guy here, but I’m married to a Mexican and have spent a decent chunk of time in Mexico. I’ve long been fascinated by Dia de Muertos, so forgive me for diving a little too deep here.

You say that “a lot” of cultural interpretations have been misused, and I’m hoping you can expand on that a little more. The Flamenco dancing is a fair point, given that Flamenco is Spanish in origin — although fairly common in Mexico. But the comment about altars at the graveyard confused me a little. While altars are often not in graveyards, the tradition of decorating cemeteries is also strong, no? (The style of decoration in this spot looks a bit like the decorations at the cemetery of Xoxocotlan of Oaxaca.)

The more general comment about “tropicalizing holidays” is also confusing to me. What do you mean by that term?

And one last quibble/question: Do you really believe that Dia de Muertos “belongs to a foreign culture,” as you say? I grew up in Texas, where Dia de Muertos is celebrated in every major city. The people celebrating it are from increasingly diverse ethnicities. Should I alert everyone who isn’t of Mexican decent that this holiday does not belong to them? Or what about the Mexicans who’ve lived here for 2 or 3 generations? Surely, they’re not foreigners anymore. So it can’t belong to them, either, right?

Thanks in advance for your clarification!

Reply
Jack Ramírez

Hey Justin! thanks for the followup. I know that my comments sound a bit like I’m trolling or trying to drag unwanted attention, and that’s not the intention here at all, honestly, I hope I didn’t get lost in translation with my English since I’m double writing my ideas, first in Spanish and after that in English.

Graveyards, I think I wanted to use Cemeteries instead of Panteón or Cementerio (honestly, I didn’t know the etymological differences between them till now), but my point is not to be culturally accurate or politically correct, I know that the purpose of the animation is not to give a cultural history masterclass, and I grew up on the border of Tamaulipas and Texas too, I know firsthand the mixture of ethnicities and cultural enrichment that happens when humans live together in harmony, but in my personal opinion (that might be terribly wrong for other people and that is completely fine) the media has a tremendous power to bring knowledge to the masses and that is why it must be treated with great care, I know that the new generations do not consume this in an indiscriminate way and are usually very selective as to the content presented to them , but even with this I remember the celebrations in the states of 5 de Mayo being greater instead of September 16 and I would not like to see the same happen to the Dia de Muertos, being transformed into a “Let’s have a Tequila Shot Day” all around the world or a “Pan de Muerto” symbolism and tradition being forgotten and switched for a taco eating competition. My blood is not Aztec and I do not think I have known in detail the history of Mictlán or even the Popol Vuh (one of the first basic readings of Elementary school – Highschool in central and south México) until already entered my 20’s and to be honest Dia de Muertos began to have a cultural and historical relevance for me after living for 10 years in Mexico City, and now living in Canada I found the same thing (sort of) with the First Nations headdresses, there are people who don’t care and used them as a costume during Halloween or parties, But Canadians thought me there’s a big cultural movement to treat this cultural symbolism with a lot more care and respect that deserves and people are starting to be more aware thanks to social media, youtube, etc.

I learned that respect is to understand and to understand is to know, or even when you do not understand don’t to use the subject lightly. This is my personal opinion and I’m sorry if you or anyone else got offended with it, that is not my intention.

Tropicalización: Adapting the franchise to the cultural needs of consumers in each region (roughly translated by Google translate).

Reply
Justin Cone

Such a great response! Mil gracias, Jack!

Reply
Jack Ramírez

Gracias a ti :)

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