Why Animated Characters Might Be the Best Storytellers

Sure cartoons may be primarily for kids, but don’t underestimate their informative strengths and appeal to more mature audiences.

Studio B Films recently completed its first, full animated characters project with the National Kidney Foundation and Publicis Medicus. It features adorable, comical kidney cartoons explaining the importance of monitoring your kidney health via unashamed urination tests.

The “Everybody Pees” video (posted above) has already acquired 260,000 views and counting. Granted much of this popularity is due to the national outreach of the foundation, but much of the video’s success can be attributed to its delightful animated subjects.

Here are five reasons why organizations and companies should consider marketing with animation and animated characters:

1. IDENTIFICATION

Especially with our “Everybody Pees” characters, it’s less likely any age, gender, race or class would feel excluded because the kidney cartoons consist of a range of personalities, colors, and sizes. The characteristic variety and ambiguity isn’t always as easy when using human actors.

2. EFFICIENCY

As online videos become shorter and shorter to adapt to smaller attention spans, every second is vital. Animation has evolved as both an entertaining and effective way to make the most of every frame because graphics can communicate messages, both faster and easier, than live action.

3. VISUAL CREATIVITY

In addition to communicating stories faster, characters also provide infinitely more visual opportunities. When stories are crafted entirely through graphic elements, there are very few limitations with the video’s style, pace, effects, etc. In our “Everybody Pees” video, it would be pretty difficult to film individuals actually peeing in public or urinating in their space suit while floating in zero gravity. Thus, animation opens many doors to creative possibilities.

4. EDUCATIONAL SIMPLICITY

When dealing specifically with complex business or health topics, live action, voiceover, or text, it can become overwhelming with the immense amount of complicated and perhaps dull, information. Animated visuals and/or characters not only bring color and life to a video, but they are also great avenues to present condensed, simplified information. Watching images, or in our case dancing kidneys, move and transform onscreen is a much more appealing educational experience than feeling lectured or disengaged.

5. FUN

Cartoons are imaginative and fun! People enjoy escaping from their daily, sometimes boring, real world, so the animation universe is a wonderful tool for viewers to feel captivated and focused.