Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Childhood, Content, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Daddyhood, Design, Fatherhood, Health, Home, Imagination, Love, My Fatherhood, Otis, Peace, R/GA
When Corona happened and we were all asked to stay at home, the first thing I thought about was the impact it would have on Otis.
It was bad enough he wouldn’t be seeing his friends for god knows how long, so the last thing I wanted was for him to start thinking the outside and people in general were dangerous.
All this led to an idea about creating a storybook to help kids understand the situation … help parents talk about it in a way that wouldn’t be scary and maybe let everyone ask questions or talk about things without freaking each other out.
A small team, predominantly Ed, James, Igor, David, Dre, Becs and Anna came up with the story, the design, the visuals and the animation – while all in individual quarantine – and 10 days later, From My Window was born.
To be honest the inspiration for all this came from the way Sesame Street handled the death of Mr Hooper – one of the human lead characters.
When he died the producers didn’t know what to do.
Do they recast the role? Do they explain his departure as the character moving away? Do they say he quit or just retired?
Instead the writers and producers decided to create an episode that taught their young audience about the difficult topic of death – not just because they felt that was the best way to respect the character, but because they assumed many kids in their audience may have experienced a loss of a loved one and this could help them better understand what it means and find some inner peace.
The episode was written by the shows head writer and aired on Thanksgiving, 1983. Even now it is regarded as having set the standard for dealing with difficult topics on children’s television and remains the highest rated episode in the shows history.
You can read more about it here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Hooper
While ‘From My Window’ obviously is not Sesame Street, we hope it can help kids maintain their love for the outside and help parents deal with a situation they never could have imagined would ever happen to them.
From My Window is available for parents to read with their kids [on a smart phone or tablet] at www.frommywindow.rga.com and includes a colouring-in book. The animated version – like the one below – is also available to enjoy here.
I have to say the animated one – below – is my favourite because all the voices are from kids of parents from R/GA London.
And yes, Otis is in it … he makes his debut at the end, when he takes the story on from the beautiful rainbow … which is appropriate because he drew the one at the top of this post.
I’ve got to be honest, I love we did this. I hope in its own small way, it helps. We know it won’t change the world but it may help your kid to keep looking out the window and see wonder and excitement.
No posts till Tuesday because of the Easter holidays. Enjoy the break. Stay safe.
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This is brilliant Robert. Well done to you all.
Comment by George April 9, 2020 @ 7:34 amI didn’t do it … I just had the idea for it, which – as the post say’s – was more to do with Otis, Sesame Street and the rainbows all the kids in the UK were encouraged to paint. So, like normal, I was a parasite of others creativity.
But for 10 days, I think it’s sweet.
Comment by Rob April 9, 2020 @ 8:30 amfinally you admit the fucking truth. at least otis is getting cash out of you which is more than i fucking managed to do.
Comment by andy@cynic April 9, 2020 @ 12:25 pmHow glorious. Otis read is our favorite.
Comment by Mary Bryant April 9, 2020 @ 7:42 amFinally you earn some good karma points.
Like the backstory as much as the story. Amazing how quickly agencies can turn things around when they don’t have a client putting impossible obstacles in their way.
Comment by Bazza April 9, 2020 @ 7:51 amAnd pointless mandatories thanks to the brand guidelines they paid Landor a fortune to do foe them.
Comment by Pete April 9, 2020 @ 8:08 amAnd remembering creativity can achieve anything if you just point it in the right direction … rather than dictate where it should go and how it should go there.
Comment by Rob April 9, 2020 @ 8:31 amclients need to just say what they need and let the fucking people who know how to do it get on with it. and if they interfere, the contract should let you smash a fucking chair in their face without them complaining.
Comment by andy@cynic April 9, 2020 @ 12:26 pm💛
Comment by Jemma King April 9, 2020 @ 8:00 amThis is great Rob. SImple and charming.
Comment by Pete April 9, 2020 @ 8:09 amSounds like Rob. Minus the charming.
Comment by Bazza April 9, 2020 @ 8:35 am🔥 💣
Comment by George April 9, 2020 @ 8:55 amI will read this to my grandchildren this weekend.
Comment by Lee Hill April 9, 2020 @ 8:24 amThat is wonderful. Would love to know what they think.
Comment by Rob April 9, 2020 @ 8:32 amThis is very beautiful. Otis voice is so sweet.
Comment by Katerina April 9, 2020 @ 10:00 amHe’s so proud. Hahaha.
Comment by Rob April 9, 2020 @ 10:58 amok campbell. this is good.
Comment by andy@cynic April 9, 2020 @ 12:27 pmstory could be a little sweeter but the animation is nice.
good one.
You cry concrete tears.
Comment by DH April 9, 2020 @ 2:26 pmSimon Cowell has a lot to learn from you Andrew.
Comment by George April 9, 2020 @ 4:36 pmLove the positive ending. The no posts til Tuesday one, that is.
Comment by John April 9, 2020 @ 2:42 pmyou sick smart bastard.
Comment by andy@cynic April 9, 2020 @ 3:17 pmLove this so much!
Comment by Joan A Stephens April 10, 2020 @ 1:35 am[…] this COVID-19 thing has – as I’ve written a bunch of times – brought the best and worst out of people and […]
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