Zombies and Fire Wolves Fight for the Underworld Cup in Electric Nike Film

Passion Pictures and Le Cube, in collaboration with Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai, have created a film as part of a four-part campaign for Nike to celebrate Children’s Day. Conceived as an evolution of the ‘Play Hard’ mantra, the spots reimagine bandaids as ‘Badges of Honour’; a device to allay the concerns of overprotective parents, and encourage kids to have the courage to keep going if they stumble or face setbacks on the sporting field.

Animated by Le Cube, the film: ‘The Zombie Penalty Comeback’; tells the story of an electrifying football match between a horde of Zombies and a pack of Fire Wolves.

Le Cube director, Mariano Russo, thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to explore a childhood fascination: “When I was a kid, I was obsessed with Sarah Michelle Gellar and zombies. I grew up and ended my relationship with Sarah, but not with the undead. I couldn't explain why. I just loved all things zombie. As a guy in his early 30s, I've come of age in a time when zombies were not trendy. They were a trope of the past. They belonged to the 80s, and that's where (or when!) you had to go if you wanted zombie stuff. So the concept was to create an homage to that beautiful zombie era. I wanted an '80s horror B-movie vibe. But just a little vibe. Not a ‘Stranger Things’-level of '80s vibe.”

The biggest challenge, he continues, was telling the story in under 60 seconds. “We had to work the storyboard carefully and make several cuts to achieve the right balance between what we needed to show and what we wanted to show. I knew we had two possible ways of telling this story: as a dense social drama or as an adrenaline packed turbo flight. Daniel Day-Lewis wasn't available to voice the Fire Wolf captain, so we went with the second option.”

Le Cube executive producer Juan Manuel Freire, agrees that the scope for compelling narrative was of great appeal. “If I had to choose a favourite thing about the creation of this film I would go for the storytelling: camera movements, depth, dynamism, rhythm, accompanied by a superfluid 2D cel animation was the right touch to get the desired result.

Working across time zones didn’t hinder the process, according to Freire. “In spite of our various locations, we had a very smooth process, and were able to deliver a project within a tight timeline which we, and the client, were really happy with.”

Passion Pictures Melbourne Executive Producer, Katie Mackin agrees. “Part of our model has always been about drawing on a global stable of talent - so working across time zones is pretty everyday stuff for us! We’ve found ways, over the years, to turn it to our advantage - which is incredibly fortunate as it means that who we can work with and for is genuinely without boundaries”.