Jack Brown helms a heartbreaker for RSPCA

Animation director Jack Brown tugs at our heartstrings with this emotional campaign for animal rights charity RSPCA, inspired by the true story of the rescued hound, ‘Hank’.

Created in collaboration with Arthur London through Blinkink, Save Me opens with a shot of an abandoned dog chained up on the floor of a decrepit room – it’s clear this animal has been neglected for a long time. 

As he cowers in fear from shadowy monsters, an RSCPA volunteer enters, and the building walls fall away, signifying the hope for Hank’s new future now under the charity's care.

The film was drawn by hand and animated in traditional 2D by Brown and his team of 12 animators, partly inspired by classic characters in beloved old-school Disney films, and urges people to donate to the charity. 

Brown added: "My aim was to make something that feels like it's straight out of a traditionally animated feature. Much like the old-school classics, I wanted to take the viewer on an emotional rollercoaster. It’s always a challenge to convey any sort of emotion in something only 30 seconds long, but hopefully, it only takes a few seconds of seeing Hanks' big sad eyes to make any viewer crumble (in a good way).

While the animation world starts getting weird with AI-generated morphing nightmares, it's a pleasure to make something hand-drawn with love and passion and a bunch of super talented humans. Keep it real!”