Studio's 2D animated short, ‘Amor Eterno’ pairs the sunny LA energy to a warm, congenial animation style; spot pays homage to the teams’ local fans and the community surrounding the club.
Ataboy Studios has teamed up with American professional soccer club LA Galaxy to pay homage to their loyal fans with the short, 2D animated film, Amor Eterno. Directed by the studio’s founder and creative director, Vikkal Parikh, the film uses a warm, congenial animation style to capture a human story about the loyalty of the community of fans surrounding the club.
Designed to connect the 2021 kit of jerseys with their classic inspiration, the 1997-1998 jersey, the video uses bold colors and clean smooth lines to show how that historical jersey is a constant companion throughout key moments in the life of one of LA Galaxy’s biggest fans, symbolizing the broader impact and importance of the club.
“We wanted to create an emotional journey,” commented Parikh. “We accomplished that by showing an LA Galaxy fan’s path from childhood to growing up and having her own child as well as how her special jersey was with her throughout her life. Using animation for this project was a no-brainer, but the challenge was really to communicate the LA vibe and bring across that authentic love the fans have for the brand. By collaborating with the LA Galaxy team to identify everything that was synonymous with the fanbase, we were able to bring that sunny Los Angeles energy to our designs and make the story feel authentic and grounded.”
This film follows the previous collaboration of Ataboy and LA Galaxy on Stories of ’96, an animated series that featured episodes like “The First Game ft. Cobi Jones” and “When Mark Abbott Bought LA Galaxy Goalkeeper Jorge Campos a Ferrari.”
“It was refreshing to work with the LA Galaxy team again,” noted Ataboy senior producer Rasha Clark. “They brought us a vision they needed to communicate, and we were able to run with that and design a whole world for our fans to live in. They instantly loved the look of our characters and the style we brought to the environment. It’s colorful, timeless, and not overly complicated which allows the story to shine through. LA Galaxy was a constant guiding force in maintaining the authenticity of the fanbase and the culture. From what the streetlamps should look like to what neighborhood the characters should be walking through to what LA landmarks to feature, we could not have created the story without their insights. The final product rings true to the fans and has a beautiful, sentimental quality to it.”
The project reflects Ataboy’s commitment to telling meaningful stories in ways that relate to the cultures of the brands they work with.
Parikh sums it up, saying, “There are lots of little details, moments and flourishes that each artist brought to the project, and that’s a reflection of just how deeply my team thought about the story, and were invested in its creation and delivering the perfect final result.”
The 2D animated short was produced with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects.
Credits:
Production Company: Ataboy Studios
Director / Creative Director: Vikkal Parikh
Senior Producer: Rasha Clark
Design / Concept Art: Shantanu Verma
Animation: Shantanu Verma, Mayukah Goswami, Juan Jose Diaz Montoya
After Effects Compositor and Color Grade: Adam VanDine
Creative Direction: Barbara Maningat, Kurt Stoffer, Adam Serrano
Sound Design: Kurt Stoffer
Source: Ataboy Studios
