The Association of Assistance for Disabled Children (AADC) in São Paulo, Brazil partnered with AKQA São Paulo, Mono Studios, and Prodigo to created a precious and emotional animated short devoted to bring to light the importance of  a loving and caring community to the well being and development of the disabled. In the words of the adweek journalist Shannon Miller “Navigating this world by yourself is extremely tough; the right support can not only help you survive but also thrive.”

The film was exhibited on Teleton, accompanied to a special live dance performance featuring Samuel and actress Duda Pimenta (“The Adventures of Poliana”) on Saturday, November 10, 2018. All compose with the charming and emotive track ‘Leo’, of Norwegian artist Mari Persen.

My participation as an animator was on the shot that starts at 00:53 and goes until 00:57, where the couple dance side by side and then part with a spin. The reference was parts of the “You Were Meant For Me” dance from the movie “Singing in the Rain” starred by Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqsrVQfNYPc).

The challenge was to create the balance of the boy character in a believable way, considering he didn’t have his arms to guide not only our eyes, but our perception of balance itself. Turned out that I had to animate as if the arms were actually there, because it influenced the shoulder movement, and that made all the difference. It was also very challenging to work on 2s to create the dance, since I had to choose the poses very carefully so they transmitted the movement better, considering the would be twice the time on screen.