Aardman And Rushes Can't Help Falling In Love With New Creature Comforts

Leonard Cheshire Disability unveiled six brand new Creature Discomforts characters earlier this month, to launch a new campaign to change attitudes to disability.
The campaign emphasizes that disabled people have the same desires and aspirations as non-disabled people, in work, education and relationships. The new animations will challenge people's low expectations about what disabled people can do.
Following on from last year's campaign, the team at Aardman has created another six characters for the charity's campaign, including a blind chameleon, an owl and a shrimp in wheelchairs, and a hearing impaired Cheshire cat.
The commercials ooze charm and personality and create a wonderfully concise appeal for the charity. They are endearing, witty and challenge perceptions, The Aardman team created four commercials and a 15 minute 'Making of' film, working with post-production company Rushes to mastergrade and finish the commercials as well as version the material for use in PR, promotion, internet and television advertising.
Aardman also created stills for poster use creating a fully integrated campaign with subtitled and signed versions for the hard of hearing.
The animations can be seen at: www.creaturediscomforts.org over the next two weeks, with an online video of the 'Making of' the campaign going live w/c July 21. The characters will appear in adverts at bus stops, online and will be aired on ITV from July 9.
Bryan Dutton, Leonard Cheshire Disability's Director General said: "Disabled people experience unnecessary social barriers which are created largely through ignorance. The public's low expectations, especially of their ability to have relationships, play a big part in this.
"We want people to change the way they see disability, to think and act differently and to engage with disabled people in all aspects of life."
Aardman Director Steve Harding-Hill adds: "This second Leonard Cheshire Disability campaign is based on the unscripted voices of young disabled people talking about the issues that affect their lives. The animations cover subjects such as Love, Sex and Education and challenge public perceptions of disabled people.
To make the ads more engaging, we threw in a host of extra background characters, underwater special effects, as well as a few visual surprises along the way. Although these spots are obviously related to the original 'Creature Comforts' series they have their own sense of identity."
Further information is available at: www.rushes.co.uk.
(KMcA/JM)