Pete The Cat StoryTime app
— Facebook Portal
— Facebook Portal
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Working closely with Facebook, now Meta, we helped bring families together through the power of storytelling, role-play, animation and AR.
We re-imagined the much loved Pete the Cat stories “Pete the Cat and his Magic Sunglasses” and “Pete the Cat and the New Guy” by Kimberly and James Dean and developed original stories to feature on the Story Time app, transforming them into interactive stories for families to share, without them needing to be in the same room.
The Challenge
How do you create the bond of reading and enjoying a story together if you can’t be in the same room? Video calls are a wonderful way for families who are separated by geography to stay connected and share special moments. ‘Story Time’, is a bespoke app built for Facebook’s video calling device ‘Portal’ which enhances storytelling using magical features to keep young children fully engaged during calls.
Our Approach
We approached the task of enhancing these stories like writing a stage play, scripting the experiences so the readers really had license to ‘perform’. We took a unique approach to creating our AR content, making fully immersive, animated hoods so the reader was embedded into the illustrated world.
Impact
There is nothing kids get a kick out of more than seeing grownups transformed into funny characters in silly situations, like Goldilocks doing yoga. The stories were particularly popular amidst the Covid-19 global pandemic as staying connected became more important than ever.
The app has been used by celebrities Drew Barrymore and Mindy Kaling as part of the #SaveWithStories charity campaign on instagram.
Credits︎︎︎
CREATED BY — Kimberly and James Dean
PUBLISHER — Harper Collins Publishers LLC
CLIENT — Meta
ANIMATION PRODUCTION COMPANY — Nexus Studios
DIRECTOR — Mark Perett
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER — Julia Parfitt, Carolyn Appleton
PRODUCER — Rob York
SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER — Annika Bauer
PRODUCTION MANAGER — Connie Black
STUDIO LEAD — Patrick Heard
STORYBOARD — Morgan Ritchie
DESIGNER — Chi He, Jowanna Eirin Barvizi, Alice Duke, Melanie Climent, Becca Crane
PREVIZ ANIMATION — Dylan White
MODELLING — Zach Pindolia, Tom Martin-Davies
RIGGING — Sarah Forest, Lea Georges
ANIMATION — Christine Jaudin, Julien Loth
SPARK DEVELOPER — Jen Haugan, Ross Wakefield, Tom Martin-Davies, Chris Gavin
SOUND DESIGN — Brains & Hunch