Artist Statement

In the early to mid 1990’s, one of the ways Pixar tried to support itself was making television commercials for products like LifeSavers candy, Trident gum, and Pillsbury rolls. Not surprisingly, Pixar specialized in commercials that used character animation to give products a personality. Some of its most admired commercial work was for Listerine; the agency involved, J. Walter Thompson, gave Pixar considerable creative freedom. How do you give a personality to a faceless bottle?

This ad won Pixar its first Gold Clio award—loosely speaking, the Oscar of advertising.
[source: pixartouchbook.com]

In a sunny woodland glade, a lively Listerine bottle is practising archery. Leaping acrobatically about with gusto, this extraordinary character brags of being ‘no ordinary mint mouthwash’. With each claim he can make – killing germs, fighting plaque, he draws his bow and fires at his targets. More than a mouthwash. [source: shots.net]

• Darla Kay Anderson (born 1968) is an American film producer who works at Pixar Animation Studios. Anderson was born and raised in Glendale, California. She studied environmental design at San Diego State University. Before coming to Pixar in 1993,she worked as an executive producer at Angel Studios. [source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darla_K._Anderson]