During the peak of lockdown, most of us experienced being locked up against our will for the very first time. We wanted to use that experience to make people feel empathy towards millions of wild animals in captivity. In partnership with Aardman Animations we created Creature Discomforts: Life in Lockdown, which plays on the much-loved Creature Comforts construct and uses real interviews of people’s experiences of temporary lockdown to tell stories of wild animals forced to live under lock and key for life in zoos, circuses and dolphinaria.
The entire process took place in lockdown - concept, interviews, character and background design, animation and sound - with the team never meeting in person. The film achieved millions of views across all platforms in just days and was shared by BBC News, Ricky Gervais, Greta Thunberg and even Tiger King’s Carole Baskin. But most importantly, many people’s perspective on animal captivity changed forever.