Activision Blizzard UK

Andy Gent is the animation talent behind the characterful puppets that populate Wes Anderson’s fantasy worlds, such as Isle of Dogs (2018), Fantastic Mr Fox (2009) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Save Ralph is a heartbreaking stop motion short film calling for an end to cosmetic testing on animals around the world. It tackles the disturbing issue with the story of one bunny, Ralph, to shine a light on countless rabbits and animals suffering in laboratories. Dark humour, celebrity voices, stop motion animation and a strong emotional message engages viewers to push for a ban on animal testing.

Andy Gent tells us that the art direction for Save Ralph called for a “convincingly dated set” to show the endemic nature of the issue of animal testing. Ralph’s parents are test bunnies, his grandparents were test bunnies, and he has lost everyone he loves to animal testing. Gent and his team at Arch Model Studio wanted to reflect the historic nature of the issue in the set design, which took Elvis’ kitchen as a reference. The tragedy of the film is that, as Gent says, “Ralph’s world is entirely in his head. He lives in a cage and there are none of the trappings of house and home.” The cosy appearance of his imagined interior with the comforts of magazines and plush 70s furniture is all the more shocking when contrasted with the soulless laboratory in which he actually finds himself.

Crafting character experience into physicality calls for an understanding of the subtleties of non-verbal communication. Gent explains the commitment to detail necessary to communicate Ralph’s inner life and emotions through his eyes, telling us, “What the eyes look like, they can tell the story on their own without the rest of the animation.” Ralph is intensely human and relatable – impressively so – and this is crucial for landing the message. “The use of the face, how we make him talk, the shapes of his ears… all these things soften him and make him an embraceable character,” he adds.

Gent has brought enough animals to life to put Dr. Dolittle to shame. He describes his personal style as “quite quirky compared to Save Ralph”, adding that “Ralph is quite a conventional character.” A commonality that unites his body of work is the strength of the characterisation ​​– no mean feat when you consider that the characters in question are very often non-human animals. Gent finds the thing that keeps him hooked with animation is breathing life into characters and the stories they live out, saying, “The thing I’m fascinated with is the storytelling and making a character come to life.”