Plantlife - Animated Charity Explainer

Wild flowers, plants and fungi are the life support for all our wildlife and their colour and character light up our landscapes. But without Plantlife’s help, this priceless natural heritage is in danger of being lost. Plantlife is a British conservation charity working nationally and internationally to save threatened wild flowers, plants and fungi. They own nearly 4,500 acres of nature reserve across England, Scotland and Wales. We have over 14,000 members and supporters and HRH The Prince of Wales is their patron.

Plantlife had the brilliant idea of introducing “No Mow May” to the UK public and needed an amazing animation to bring this important campaign to life. They were clearly in the right place.

Plantlife had a comprehensive set of brand guidelines, to help our animators work their magic. We also got to know all about No Mow May and what Plantlife wanted to gain from this campaign, which was to educate the general public about the importance of letting wildflowers, such as daisies, dandelions, and buttercups, grow. So that the bees in your area can access all of that precious pollen!

Plantlife had a super document with all the highlights they would like included in their script, which helped the wizards to work their wordsmith magic. We did get to have some fun, working out what our buzzy bee friend would be getting up to during this animation in this stage as well.

We had the chance to develop a personality-filled bee character during the concept stage, which matched with the Plantlife brand guidelines perfectly. 

Storyboarding is the first time the client really gets a chance to visualise how the animation will look and flow from beginning to end. It gives everyone a chance to make any last changes to the language, scenery, colours, and characters before we enter the production stage. Because our process is rock solid, any changes or concerns have been worked out by now and storyboarding is a smooth process.

We were keeping things simple with Plantlife, we had gone with a style that included a lot of text on screen, to make sure that was as clear and as accessible as possible. The star of the show, our bumble bee friend, takes the audience on a journey through the wildflowers. 

With No Mow May making a return in 2020, 2021 and 2022, we are pleased to see that Plantlife’s animation encouraged people to try and do more for the bees and the planet.