Advertorial:
I’m SO incredibly excited to reveal one of my MOST favourite collaborations EVER in the entire history of this blog (6 years in November)- with the new and delicious line of snacks for kids: The Super Yummies!
This new delicious range from Cow and Gate created for children 12 months +- asked my son, Oliver, 6, to create a story and feature in an animated ad film for the brand and it’s been the most marvellous of experiences for all of us, from start to finish.
My former career as a TV director and filmmaker saw me dabble in animation despite mostly working in drama and documentary-with a short film currently in development-so being part of this project was an absolute joy for us all-more so because it features my son Oliver’s own imagined story as well as 2D character animation inspired by his own art work.
I could not be more proud of him or the final film-PLUS IT’S TOTALLY HILARIOUS TOO!
WATCH IT IMMEDIATELY then keep reading on and I’ll reveal how it all came into being.
Done? Amazing isn’t it?! Proud Mama in overdrive here!
So back to the beginning. I got the call a few months ago that The Super Yummies range for kids was coming out and they wanted to potentially collaborate with myself and the family.
We were then sent the tasty collection to try for ourselves and it’s safe to say everything was devoured in minutes!
From tomato and herb bread sticks to pear and berries rice cakes (a flavour I’d not tried before and now eat myself, daily) along with veggie slices and fruity yoghurt, we just couldn’t get enough of these tasty snacks.
We swiftly agreed to collaborate on this exciting film project and the ball soon got rolling.
First up we had a day out in a local park with a bag full of The Super Yummies range.
Here are some snaps-
Taking a rest on the picnic benches we tucked into the snacks, gobbling up rice cakes, bread sticks and banana and yoghurt pieces to our heart’s delight. The perfect refuel after all that fun!
Popping to my parents’ house after a play on the swings, we sat around their kitchen table and let Oliver and Xander (my youngest wanted to get involved too) come up with their own story and drawings inspired by the fruit in The Super Yummies.
While the boys discussed and drew their invented characters, I recorded theirs and Daddy’s voice- attaching a mike to the colouring pencil pot so it didn’t feel intrusive and the boys could enjoy their art session.
And soon, Mr Banana and Mr Cococonut (love that)! were born-
From the first drawing to the final ones (above)- our local park had been swiftly transported to Australia (somewhere Oliver is keen to visit after learning about the country at school)-and (eek) shark infested waters (somewhere Mummy is not so keen to visit!)…Kids’ glorious imaginations huh!
The story you see in the final film was invented wholly by Oliver and the characters are completely Oliver’s creations too-I feel a full feature length moving coming on don’t you?!
The animator of the film even took inspiration from Oliver’s pictures and created these stunningly vibrant and comical illustrations.
I love the playful expressions of the characters and the shading and background pictures truly resemble Oliver’s pieces. Just genius!
Seeing Oliver’s imagination run wild here and be immortalised in film is such a wonder to behold.
Soppy I know, but I literally can’t stop watching the film!
Shall we watch it one more time?
Go on then!
Now I know what you’re thinking-Oliver and Daddy sure have deep voices don’t they?! Well, Peter was full of cold that day- and I didn’t realise quite how husky Oliver’s voice was until I watched the film. 6 going on 16 me thinks!
Oliver cannot wait to show all his friends his starring role!
What a wonderful project for the whole family to be involved in and for a product we completely love.
The Super Yummies are delicious, original snacks perfect for Oliver’s lunch box and trips out with the kids. I literally never leave the house without a Super Yummies veggie or fruit snack in my bag.
Developed with mums and nutritionists too, they contain only naturally occurring salt or sugars too so get the thumbs up from this health-conscious mum for sure!
I know I’ve said this before (many times) but blogging really is the most ah-mazing job of all in my opinion: creative, varied, stimulating, flexible and most importantly a career which offers my own kids the most unique and memorable of experiences, just as this project has done.
The Super Yummies believe in celebrating the adventure of toddlerhood together and this project totally captures the charm of our own family adventures seen through my son’s eyes!
The most touching moment in the whole process was seeing Oliver’s face light up when he watched the finished film for the first time.
Turning to me he gasped in awe, ‘ Wow, that’s me Mummy, it’s my voice-those sharks are hilarious’!
‘Yes they are son and so are you’.
My child, the 6 year old storyteller, illustrator and voice over artist!
Get that boy an agent pronto ;)!
Seriously, do go get your mitts on the gorgeous grub that is The Super Yummies range won’t you?!
The Super Yummies site.
You can also check out The Super Yummies Facebook for more info too.
Search the hashtag on twitter: #TheSuperYummies
This was an advertorial post.
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