For over 10 years I’ve had the wish to use animation on a parade float. The 2022 edition of the Brabantsedag, a theatrical parade of floats in the Netherlands, finally presented the perfect use.
Our theme for that year focused on the colorful fantasy of children, and how imagination creates life & keeps us connected to our deceased loved ones. We enhanced that feeling by bringing fantasy creatures to life via animation. These painterly friends help the children fly their airships to their final destination. The complete picture resulted in an emotional combination of playful imagery with an incredibly sad undertone. It’s one of my favorite creations I’ve been a part of so far.
Colors by Wijnand Driessen
For the parade float, next to being heavily involved in creating the concept and developing the storytelling, I sketched out designs for 6 cardboard fantasy air vehicles. I also created 7 animations that looped on screens built into the floats. It was especially fun coming up with wacky movements and surreal imagery we normally couldn’t pull off in a parade, because of pesky real-life physics. Since the float was made of cardboard, I incorporated cardboard elements into the animatio
This video presents a brief overview of how I made the animations and what they looked like in the parade.
Come visit the Brabantsedag in Heeze, The Netherlands (near Eindhoven) if you can. It’s a yearly event that takes place every last Sunday of August, and it’s a big parade of creative inspiration!
Float built by Vriendenkring De Rijten
Float concept developed by the 2021-2022 design/theme committee of Vriendenkring De Rijten:
Maarten van der Velden
Matty Jorissen
Wijnand Driessen
Julia Snoeijen
Koen van Santvoort
Nikki Eerden
Robin Mommers
Thumbnail photo by Stichting Brabantsedag
