{"id":91904,"date":"2025-02-16T15:46:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-16T15:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/animation\/blame-your-brother-on-the-creative-forces-behind-the-doodleverse\/"},"modified":"2025-02-16T15:46:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-16T15:46:00","slug":"blame-your-brother-on-the-creative-forces-behind-the-doodleverse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=91904","title":{"rendered":"Blame Your Brother on the creative forces behind the Doodleverse"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Blame Your Brother<\/a> is a Toronto-based studio founded by twin brothers Geoff and Darren Donovan, specializing in hand-drawn 2D animation. With nearly two decades of experience in the animation and advertising world, the Donovans have built a reputation for crafting captivating, character-driven stories. In this article, they spoke with Toon Boom and shared insights into one of their latest projects \u2014 a series of music videos made in collaboration with Pharell and a host of other music talents, set in an imaginative Doodleverse.<\/p>\n

We give our readers an exclusive look at Blame Your Brother\u2019s creative process, including the challenges of bringing this vibrant project to life. Geoff and Darren share some of the tools that powered their animation pipeline, particularly Toon Boom Harmony<\/a> and Storyboard Pro<\/a>. They\u2019ll be giving valuable insight into how their team combined traditional hand-drawn animation and how these tools helped create cohesive character designs, seamless animation and stunning visual effects.<\/p>\n

The article also details Blame Your Brother\u2019s collaboration with the Doodles team, led by the visionary illustrator Burnt Toast, and their experience working with music legend Pharrell Williams. Through this partnership, the project reimagines how animation and music can intersect to create immersive storytelling. Whether you\u2019re an animation professional or simply a fan of creative visuals, this article offers an in-depth look at how Blame Your Brother and their team used Toon Boom’s software to bring these immersive music videos to life, and provides a glimpse into the studio\u2019s next exciting ventures.<\/p>\n

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Music video for Not in the Store<\/em> by Coi Leray and Pharrell Williams. Animation directed by Blame Your Brother.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Please introduce yourselves and your studio, <\/em>Blame Your Brother\u2026<\/em><\/h2>\n

Geoff and Darren:<\/strong> We\u2019re Geoff and Darren Donovan \u2014 twin brothers, founders, and creative directors of Blame Your Brother Animation Studio (BYB) in Toronto, Canada. At BYB, we\u2019ve built a character and story-driven animation studio dedicated to the art of hand-drawn 2D animation. What brought us together in this journey is a shared passion for crafting vibrant, captivating stories that connect with audiences. For nearly two decades, we\u2019ve been pouring our hearts into the animation and advertising world, bringing our love of storytelling and craft to every project we touch.<\/p>\n

Can you tell us a bit about your team and your individual roles on the project?<\/em><\/h2>\n

Geoff and Darren:<\/strong> We\u2019re very much a dynamic duo, often inspiring each other with collecting references and sharing potential ideas and concepts. Our formal titles are both co-director \/ creative director but we do have our niches. <\/p>\n

On this project, Geoff led the art department, hiring and inspiring the design teams to create a visual language and tone that aligned with the Doodle\u2019s brand. This consisted of inspiring concept artists, character design, layout, background painting and final compositing. <\/p>\n

Darren is the head of all things motion and more. On this project, Darren concentrated on hiring the talented character and FX animation departments, giving motivation and feedback to all crew members and often animating FX whenever he could spare a moment.<\/p>\n

For our \u2018Not In The Store\u2019 project, we brought together a diverse team of talented 2D artists from around the world. Our process often begins with a core group of people that includes both seasoned professionals and friends that we’ve been collaborating with for over 27 years as well as fresh talent whose perspectives add new energy and ideas.<\/p>\n

While our jobs and crew can vary from one creative project to the next we enjoy working with like-minded individuals who meet the specific needs and style of each project. This approach allows us to craft tailored solutions that elevate each project and deliver exactly what our clients envision!<\/p>\n

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Character development documents provided by Blame Your Brother.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For readers who might be unaware, what is the Doodleverse?<\/em><\/h2>\n

Geoff and Darren:<\/strong> The Doodleverse is a vibrant world within the Doodles\u2019 creative lore, brought to life through their platform, the \u2018Stoodio.\u2019 Doodles has shared with us their vision as a next-generation entertainment studio focused on immersive storytelling that blends music, animation, and cutting-edge technology. <\/p>\n

As part of an exciting 360\u00b0 campaign to launch their short film Dullsville and the Doodleverse<\/em>, Doodles released a three-track EP produced by Pharrell, featuring Not In The Store.<\/em> This creative journey reaches its peak with a live activation at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, where the Doodleverse truly comes alive. It\u2019s thrilling to be part of a project that reimagines how stories are told and experienced!<\/p>\n

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Promotional poster for Dullsville and the Doodleverse<\/em> provided by Blame Your Brother.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Who are the main characters we see in your music video?<\/em><\/h2>\n

Geoff and Darren:<\/strong> Our \u2018Not In The Store\u2019 music video stars Deysi, a cosmic \u2018teen Mother Nature\u2019 with a mission! Voiced by the talented Coi Leray, Deysi drifts through the galaxy, bringing worlds to life by transforming dull, barren landscapes into vibrant, lush environments bursting with color and energy. With every step, she spreads a little bit of magic, seeding new life wherever she goes.<\/p>\n

What was your favorite part of animating these characters<\/em><\/h2>\n

Geoff and Darren:<\/strong> Generally speaking, these characters were designed with such a fun, stylized flow that animating them was a real treat – they\u2019re very \u201canimatable\u201d. Their movements had this beautiful, fluid quality that made them a perfect match for the dance-inspired reference videos from our choreographer. Watching them come to life through each step was one of the highlights of the whole production. Every frame had its own energy and charm! <\/p>\n

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Reference choreography and final animation stills provided by Blame Your Brother.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What did you find challenging on the project and how did Toon Boom’s software help you meet that challenge?<\/em><\/h2>\n

Geoff and Darren:<\/strong> Bringing a unified vision to life with a team of talented designers and animators can be one of the biggest challenges in animation, especially when it comes to maintaining consistent character design and animation quality. To tackle this, we used Toon Boom Harmony to create rigged characters – pre-built models that our team could share and apply seamlessly across scenes. We enhanced this by combining rigged characters with traditional hand-drawn animation – this gave us the flexibility to choose the best approach for each scene. <\/p>\n

Harmony empowered us to blend structure and artistry, giving our team the creative freedom to elevate the animation in a way that felt cohesive yet dynamic.<\/p>\n

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Model sheet samples of Deysi provided by Blame Your Brother.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How did your relationship with the team behind Doodleverse come about?<\/em><\/h2>\n

Geoff and Darren:<\/strong> This collaboration had been a long time in the making. Scott Martin, aka \u201cBurnt Toast\u201d, the brilliant mind behind the Doodles, has been a fan of our work for years\u2026 just as we\u2019ve admired his unique style! When Scott invited us to pitch for the \u2018Not in the Store\u2019 project, we jumped at the chance. <\/p>\n

After putting together a director\u2019s treatment and story outline, we were thrilled to be awarded the project. We also got the incredible opportunity to team up with the talented folks at Golden Wolf, Doodles\u2019 creative powerhouse known for animation and mixed-media magic. It was the perfect blend of creative energies coming together!<\/p>\n

What is the experience of working with a soundtrack from a music legend like Pharell?<\/em><\/h2>\n

Geoff and Darren:<\/strong> Working with Pharrell and the Doodles team was an absolute pleasure. From the start, they embraced our concepts and ideas with open minds and mutual respect, creating a smooth and collaborative process. There was this wonderful balance where, if we pushed a bit too far, they\u2019d help guide us back, but they also encouraged us to explore, helping us find that perfect creative edge.<\/p>\n

We poured everything we had into doing justice to the song, pulling out all the stops in our creative arsenal. The experience was filled with a shared love for the craft and a true spirit of teamwork. It felt like the dream project, with a dream team and dream clients! We can\u2019t wait for another opportunity to work alongside this talented crew in the future.<\/p>\n

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Geoff and Darren Donovan in 1991 (left), production still from the Donnovan’s high school short film BOOM (right).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How did you both get into animation and what is your story up to this point?<\/em><\/h2>\n

Geoff and Darren:<\/strong> Back in high school, we jumped at a rare chance to take a few animation classes pioneered by our inspiring art teachers, Stephen Gal and Wendy Forsyth. It was truly life-changing. Learning the art of bringing stories to life through animation sparked a passion that has driven us ever since. That first experience wasn\u2019t just a class, it was the beginning of a journey that shaped us, both as artists and storytellers. From that moment, we knew we had found something special, something that felt like magic, and it\u2019s been our creative pursuit ever since.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s coming next from Blame Your Brother studios?<\/em><\/h2>\n

Geoff and Darren:<\/strong> We\u2019re thrilled to be diving into some exciting new pitches for upcoming ad campaigns and brand collaborations! Working on creative projects like the Not In The Store<\/em> music video with the amazing Doodles team has been so inspiring, and it\u2019s the kind of work we can\u2019t wait to keep exploring. It\u2019s projects like these that fuel our passion for blending creativity and innovation to create something truly memorable<\/p>\n

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Style frame provided by Blame Your Brother.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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