Gorillaz creators behind BBC ‘Monkey’ Olympics ad
Friday, July 25th, 2008Monkey Business
A cartoon based on the 1970’s kids’ TV programme Monkey is being used to promote coverage of the Olympic Games on the BBC.
Animated by Jamie Hewlett and with music from Damon Albarn, the duo behind both Gorillaz and stage adaptation of Monkey: Journey to the West, the campaign features Monkey, Sandy and Pigsy as they embark on a perilous journey to the Olympics Stadium in Beijing. The two-minute promotional clip takes inspiration from the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, a fictional account of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang’s pilgrimage to India during the Tang dynasty.
In the BBC version, the cartoon trio use a variety of Olympic sports including gymnastics, diving, javelin and hammer throwing, defeating scary monsters along the way, on their journey to Beijing.
Jonathan Bramley, executive producer at BBC sport said “This has been a really exciting collaboration. To work with such renowned artists as Jamie and Damon is a real plus for BBC Sport. Their treatment of the trail and titles will kick start our Olympic coverage in a really different, energetic way”.
The first clip from the sequence will be broadcast at 7.27pm tonight on BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4 and BBC News. It will air on the BBC website and YouTube channel, on social networking sites Facebook and Bebo, as well as in cinemas.
The campaign, which was created by ad agency RCKR/Y&R and media agency MPG, aims to link closely with the BBC’s existing Olympics coverage resources. It is being targeted at audiences in their twenties and early thirties.
