A French supermarket just taught Disney and Pixar a lesson in animation

While massive global brands like Coca-Cola and McDonald's resort to AI for their Christmas ads, a French supermarket chain has just demonstrated the power and value of human-made animation. Some people think even Disney and Pixar could learn a thing or two.

Like the Coca-Cola Christmas ad, the Intermarché advert makes animals the stars, but what a difference real human animation makes. From the concept and story to the perfect execution, it sets a new bar for festive heartwarmers, and it's even inspiring fan art and pleas for a full movie.

The Unloved was directed by Illogic Studios and produced at the Parisian animation studio Wizz under the guidance of the creative agency Romance.

The opening setting shows a young boy who's scared by the gift of a toy wolf. To reassure him, his uncle to begin telling a tale that marks a transition to animation.

With the message that good food makes good friends, the animated part of the ad tells the story of a lonely wolf who changes his carnivorous ways and broadens his gastronomic repertoire to make friends during Christmas. The wolf's discovery of fresh veg is intended to connect with Intermarché's producers and merchants approach.

While the advert uses a 3D animation style, the studios avoided the hyperreal look of Pixar movies. Instead, they opted to apply a painterly effect over the 3D to create the feel of a children's storybook, gelling with the premise that the animation is a story being told to a child at Christmas.

In stark contrast to Coca-Cola's AI-animated Christmas advert, in which a “tiny team of five specialists” churned out over 70,000 video clips, more than fifty people worked on the Intermarché project.

Wizz told LLBOnline that artists, including a German designer specialising in animal illustrations, first explored visual styles inspired by Christmas tales by drawing in 2D. The chosen designs were then translated into 3D while striving to maintain a handmade, storybook aesthetic, with almost every detail sculpted and animated by hand.

That approach has immediately paid off, resulting in a two-minute advert has the quality of a cinematic feature. While Intermarché is barely known outside of France and Belgium, the advert has received thousands of likes and comments on YouTube alone, and it's even inspiring fan art.

“I'm not French, but I would watch an entire series about this adorable wolf,” one person writes in the comments. “Intermarché just did better than Disney,” another person wrote.

Inspired to make your own festive masterpiece? See our picks of the best animation software and the best laptops for animation.