Character Animation Created to Help Explain Cancer to Children

Authors – Sarah Schwab, Monica Ip

Trying to explain what to expect during cancer treatment can be incredibly overwhelming for families with young children.

After much research, Cancer Council Queensland thought up a way on how to engage younger audiences and families via an impactful, character-driven story. And we were thrilled when they engaged us at Creativa to translate their narrative for the screen.

The purpose of this animation is for parents and guardians to use it as a gentle introduction to what cancer is and what to expect during a loved one’s treatment.

Cancer Council Queensland had already conducted research groups before engaging us. Their brief was to transform their findings into an engaging animation and accompanying book.

What was Creativa’s overall creative vision for this project?

The client provided us with a prose version of their story. The aim was to create an animated film with compelling characters, striking design, and a memorable, heartfelt story while respecting the audience and the sensitive subject matter. Creativa’s overall goal for this project was to honour the client and author’s impactful, educational, and emotional story with care. Recognising its significance, we aimed to do it justice by focusing on compelling character designs, translating the narrative into animation, and creating a visually striking final product to be easily understood by a large audience of both adults and children.

The story features magical creatures called Foggles, designed to represent the audience’s experience. Through the Foggles, viewers are guided through the journey of cancer diagnosis and treatment from a family perspective.

Visuals associated with cancer and treatment can be confronting. We knew that in our story and design, we needed to balance honesty and accessibility.

How did we design the characters?

Clients often come to us with only a general sense of what they want their characters to look like, and this was the case with Cancer Council Queensland. They knew they wanted something fuzzy and cute. Our job was to refine the design and play with colour, shape and texture.

 

After this, we began by creating mood boards of various styles, such as vector, watercolour, and mixed media, serving as visual inspiration for us and a representation of what to expect for the look and feel of the client.

This thorough process ensured that the characters met the client’s expectations and resonated well with the target audience.

 

How did we write the script?

Writing for animation requires a particular approach. Working with Cancer Council Queensland, we considered a series of questions:

What were the story’s essential messages, and how many could be expressed visually rather than with narration or dialogue?

What pace or rhythm would be appropriate?

Did we want to deliberately slow down scenes to give the audience time to absorb and internalise the messaging, or did we want to wrap them up in the emotional exchange?

 

How realistic did we want to be?

Visuals associated with cancer and treatment can be confronting. How do we find the right balance of true and heartfelt without alienating or upsetting the audience?

The script went through revisions and reviews, incorporating feedback from a variety of perspectives. By the final draft, we had achieved a script we were all happy with and knew would be a success.

 

How did we go about casting/directing?

Casting from a diverse group of voiceover talent is always our priority. In discussions with the client, we agreed that it would be best to cast this project gender-neutral; the gender of the Foggle creatures did not need to be explicit for casting. During auditions, we welcomed actors of any gender and encouraged a neutral sound. We explored various casting combinations. This flexibility allowed us to create a well-rounded, engaging sound that appealed to a broad audience.

We needed to be particularly careful with balancing the heaviness of the subject matter with an approachable tone for the target demographic of kids. We needed talent who could handle the topic in a sensitive way and also be able to connect with children.

To achieve this, we recorded a wide array of takes during our voice recording sessions, ranging from very serious and sombre to light-hearted and upbeat. Getting a large selection of takes to choose from gives us the flexibility to play around in the editing and animation stage to see what tone worked for the scene. Often something sounds great in the recording booth, but it suddenly doesn’t work when paired with visuals!

We were very lucky to find talented voiceover artists in Libby as Squish, Julia as Mitzy, and Austin as the Narrator.

 

 

How did we put it all together?

Putting this all together involved coordinating many moving parts – whether they were multiple Voiceover takes, stacks of illustrated backgrounds, varied music choices, or complex animation setups.

We dedicated a good amount of time to making a reliable rig for the characters. To get technical – we had controllers for blinks, smiles, mouths, colours, line weight, body orientation, and bone controllers for each limb. Doing all this ensured the animators had the flexibility to make the characters move however needed.

 

 

After reviews and touch-ups, we all agreed we had smashed out a great animation. But we’re not done quite yet. Onto sound design!

We were able to source music that fit the narrative’s emotional ups and downs really well, so we needed the sound design to match. Sometimes, animations call for very cartoony and exaggerated sound design. But this animation was rooted in reality and needed more natural sounds. No Looney Tunes-style boings and buzzes!

Creating a storybook

As part of the project, Cancer Council also wanted to adapt the content of the animation and create an illustrated storybook to be used as a resource for families, schools and general audiences. All imagery was lifted from the animation, which framed the written text beautifully. The book is sold for free via the Cancer Council Queensland website, allowing it to be accessible to anyone who needs it.

This is the first time any of Creativa’s animations have been turned into a storybook. We were thrilled to have something like this out in the world and the hands of Australians all over the country.

 

 

Attending the launch event (in Brisbane!)

As a part of the rollout of the wider campaign, Cancer Council Queensland pulled out all the stops with a launch event, radio and news coverage and promotion across multiple social media channels.

Our Creative Director, Sarah Schwab, and Lead Animator, Monica Ip, flew to Brisbane to attend the launch event. They could see the animation on the big screen and pick up some copies of the storybook!

Many of the audience saw the animation for the first time, and it was so gratifying to see the profound effect it had across the room. There weren’t many dry eyes!

They loved the opportunity to celebrate the launch of such an impactful campaign, the accumulation of all that effort, and the SMEs that came together to research, brainstorm, and create the content that went into the final animation.

“When Mitzy the Foggle Got Cancer” is circulating throughout Queensland’s Cancer treatment locations, on their social media channels and will be distributed as an illustrated book.

At Creativa, we pride ourselves on our important work in helping organisations translate difficult conversations into relatable and digestible content that creates lasting change. It has been such a fantastic experience to work so closely with Cancer Council Queensland to create a piece everyone here at Creativa is proud of.

 

Looking to create captivating animations for your campaign? At Creativa, we specialise in 2D animation, 3D animation, and immersive animation, explore our Animation work. Whether you have a broad idea or a detailed brief, contact us or give us a call with your questions. Our team leverages cutting-edge technology to bring creative visions to life, ensuring your message resonates with your target audience.