(Case Study)
© 2026
McDonald's brought the Schleich dinosaurs to the Happy Meal — not as a plain product announcement, but as a small adventure that kids and parents experience together. The idea: a boy encounters a lifelike raptor in the forest — and realizes that wonder is closer than fear.
For CHAINGE, that meant: a photoreal CG raptor, conceived, built and seamlessly integrated into real forest and restaurant plates — from creature design and location scouting through storyboarding to final compositing, including character casting for the family.
Seven panels for the first act: approach, glance, flight, pursuit — the dramaturgy is locked before the first shot is filmed.
From the forest back into real life: reunion with the family, Happy Meal and finally the Schleich dinosaurs on the table — the story's resolution across seven more panels.
Warm morning light, tall trunks, a path into the unknown — the location was chosen specifically for three moods: mysterious, adventurous, warm. Exactly the balance that carries the tone of the entire campaign.
Half-hidden behind bark, an amber eye catching the light — the first contact between boy and raptor isn't made through the full creature, but through a single, quiet glance.
From the half-light of the forest, the full creature emerges — photoreal in posture, gait and texture, built to hold up against a real animal in direct comparison.
The moment fear turns to curiosity: instead of being scared, the boy laughs right in the raptor's face — the emotional turning point of the whole story in a single close-up.
On the seesaw, between climbing frame and tree trunk: the raptor follows the boy right into his everyday life — a real filmed playground plate, seamlessly extended with the CG creature.
Turnarounds, skin texture, scale comparison to a human: the raptor is built as a fully realized creature asset — every scale, every claw tuned to the light and perspective of the final scenes.
The raptor was built and approved as a 3D asset first: a node-based AI workflow combines a trained creature LoRA, posable 3D previz and per-shot prompts, so every angle, expression and forest scene is locked as a photoreal reference before final generation.
Mother, son, daughter and a McDonald's terrace in afternoon light — warm, playful, modern. The visual world deliberately shifts from cool forest light to a friendly, bright everyday mood.
From forest light to restaurant terrace: the visual language shifts mood without losing the story.
No moment of fright, but a warm turn — wonder instead of fear defines every shot.
From creature design to final compositing: technical precision you don't see, but feel.