McDonald’s
The Gift Of Christmas
How the streets came alive for McDonald’s The Gift of McDonald’s.
Lights galore in this work of festive brilliance for McDonald’s and Leo Burnett, directed by Nicolai Fuglsig through MJZ.
We went large creating this dazzling bonanza of animated Christmas lights and a supersized neon Grimace, Birdie and Hamburgular all moving to the beat of Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction.
One of the things we particularly enjoyed was creating the sense that every house had its own personality. The lighting was designed to feel bespoke rather than repeated, so there are details throughout the film that you might not notice on the first viewing. That density of detail was important to making the world feel authentic and lived-in.
We went large creating this dazzling bonanza of animated Christmas lights and a supersized neon Grimace, Birdie and Hamburgular all moving to the beat of Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction.
One of the things we particularly enjoyed was creating the sense that every house had its own personality. The lighting was designed to feel bespoke rather than repeated, so there are details throughout the film that you might not notice on the first viewing. That density of detail was important to making the world feel authentic and lived-in.
Lights galore in this work of festive brilliance for McDonald’s and Leo Burnett, directed by Nicolai Fuglsig through MJZ.
We went large creating this dazzling bonanza of animated Christmas lights and a supersized neon Grimace, Birdie and Hamburgular all moving to the beat of Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction.
One of the things we particularly enjoyed was creating the sense that every house had its own personality. The lighting was designed to feel bespoke rather than repeated, so there are details throughout the film that you might not notice on the first viewing. That density of detail was important to making the world feel authentic and lived-in.
We went large creating this dazzling bonanza of animated Christmas lights and a supersized neon Grimace, Birdie and Hamburgular all moving to the beat of Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction.
One of the things we particularly enjoyed was creating the sense that every house had its own personality. The lighting was designed to feel bespoke rather than repeated, so there are details throughout the film that you might not notice on the first viewing. That density of detail was important to making the world feel authentic and lived-in.
The challenge of thousands of lights
The scale of the idea presented an immediate technical challenge. Dressing an entire street with thousands of individually designed Christmas lights, animating them to the music and then creating all of that practically would have been incredibly difficult. Rather than compromising the ambition of the idea, we explored whether we could build the entire lighting experience in CG. We developed an early test to prove the approach, which became the foundation for the final methodology.
We wanted the lights to feel as though they had actually been installed on every house, rather than looking like a layer of animation placed over the footage. To ground the work in reality, we worked with a specialist lighting installation company to understand how real Christmas lighting behaves, from the way it is positioned and structured to the way it illuminates its surroundings. We used that knowledge to develop a library of CG lighting assets, with each house given its own bespoke treatment.
We wanted the lights to feel as though they had actually been installed on every house, rather than looking like a layer of animation placed over the footage. To ground the work in reality, we worked with a specialist lighting installation company to understand how real Christmas lighting behaves, from the way it is positioned and structured to the way it illuminates its surroundings. We used that knowledge to develop a library of CG lighting assets, with each house given its own bespoke treatment.
The challenge of thousands of lights
The scale of the idea presented an immediate technical challenge. Dressing an entire street with thousands of individually designed Christmas lights, animating them to the music and then creating all of that practically would have been incredibly difficult. Rather than compromising the ambition of the idea, we explored whether we could build the entire lighting experience in CG. We developed an early test to prove the approach, which became the foundation for the final methodology.
We wanted the lights to feel as though they had actually been installed on every house, rather than looking like a layer of animation placed over the footage. To ground the work in reality, we worked with a specialist lighting installation company to understand how real Christmas lighting behaves, from the way it is positioned and structured to the way it illuminates its surroundings. We used that knowledge to develop a library of CG lighting assets, with each house given its own bespoke treatment.
We wanted the lights to feel as though they had actually been installed on every house, rather than looking like a layer of animation placed over the footage. To ground the work in reality, we worked with a specialist lighting installation company to understand how real Christmas lighting behaves, from the way it is positioned and structured to the way it illuminates its surroundings. We used that knowledge to develop a library of CG lighting assets, with each house given its own bespoke treatment.
Iconic McDonald’s CG Characters
Alongside the environments and lighting, we created and animated the CG characters, tracked and rebuilt the locations and completed the compositing and visual effects. Across a 12-week schedule, 27 artists worked on the project, with five weeks of pre-production dedicated to previs, CG development, design and character animation before seven weeks of post-production.
Iconic McDonald’s CG Characters
Alongside the environments and lighting, we created and animated the CG characters, tracked and rebuilt the locations and completed the compositing and visual effects. Across a 12-week schedule, 27 artists worked on the project, with five weeks of pre-production dedicated to previs, CG development, design and character animation before seven weeks of post-production.
A digital world grounded in reality
The final film really does feel like Christmas, combining live action, CG, animation and colour in a way that feels effortless. The ambition wasn't simply to create lots of Christmas lights; it was to make the entire street feel as though it was responding to the music and coming alive around the characters. By building that world digitally but grounding it in real lighting principles and live-action photography, we were able to turn a very ambitious Christmas idea into something that feels both magical, believable and utterly christmassy.
A digital world grounded in reality
The final film really does feel like Christmas, combining live action, CG, animation and colour in a way that feels effortless. The ambition wasn't simply to create lots of Christmas lights; it was to make the entire street feel as though it was responding to the music and coming alive around the characters. By building that world digitally but grounding it in real lighting principles and live-action photography, we were able to turn a very ambitious Christmas idea into something that feels both magical, believable and utterly christmassy.
