World Animal Protection - SugarBlood
Pocko’s Sugar Blood and studio Nucco Brain worked with global organisation, World Animal Protection to raise awareness of the cruel elephant riding industry and its harmful effects on the animals.
Across Asia, elephants are abused so that tourists can ride them. Now, this cruel industry is spreading in Southern Africa. Although elephants ridden by tourists in Asia and Southern Africa may seem tranquil, they have in fact been separated from their families and brutalised into passiveness.
The goal was to create a short film that would highlight the plight of these majestic animals in captivity. The film was created in a striking visual style that uses silhouettes and fluid watercolour transitions to describe the life of a baby elephant, orphaned and imprisoned by poachers. Sugarblood and Nucco Brain wanted to avoid showing explicit acts of violence, instead allowing the imaginations of their viewers to fill in the gaps. They also used colour to depict fear and loss of innocence: showing the elephant’s life in the jungle as bright and vibrant, whereas in captivity it is reared among dark and ominous shadows. They wanted their audience to fully empathise with the elephants misery, blurring the lines between human and animal emotions.
“We chose to tell our story through animation to convey this complex issue in a simple way. This film allows us to educate the public, open their eyes to the cruelty of elephant riding, and inspire them to be a part of the solution
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