It's the continuing adventures of "Carl & Ray", the funny, furry Blockbuster spokes-characters created by the artists of Tippett Studio utilizing a proprietary fur tool. In this year's montage, the Tippett artists and crafts people have further refined and built on the artistic and technical challenges of bringing photo real house pets, a rabbit and Guinea pig, into the realm of the fantastic. Whether they be dancing, sliding, juggling, or dripping with water, Carl & Ray continue to entertain audiences worldwide while setting new standards in seamless CG character animation.

Working closely with Doner Advertising and Director Steve "Spaz" Williams of Complete Pandemonium, the Tippett team achieved three overlapping technical and artistic challenges; we built believable computer-generated house pets; we extrapolated our house pets’ reality into the realm of the fantastic as our characters exaggerate their humorous anthropomorphic qualities; and lastly, we continued to further refine photo realistic fur.

Tippett Studio (USA) is an Academy Award-winning full service visual effects facility that specializes in CG character animation for movies and television commercials. Founded in 1984 by Phil Tippett, the Studio now employs over 200 artists and technicians in Berkeley, CA. The VFX-Supervisors of this work have been: Scott Souter, Frank Petzold, Joel Friesch and Jim McVay. Current productions include The Matrix: Revolutions, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Hellboy, Stepford Wives, and other award-winning television commercials.