The 3D film A Furry Escape: technical challenges at the heart of a world full of surprises
News . 20 Feb. 2025
This humorous short film, entitled A Furry Escape, pushes the boundaries of creativity with a concept that is both captivating and original. Created by our final year students in 3D animation and special effects (class of 2024), it combines an ambitious artistic and technical approach with an accessible comedy, designed to appeal to a wide audience.
Two squirrels on the run in a crazy adventure
In a peaceful Canadian town, an unexpected event turns the daily life of Spot and Karl, two squirrels, upside down. When they open their eyes, they are astonished to discover that they are no longer in their tree… but stuck in the middle of a fur shop. The reason? Their refuge has been torn from its original location to be used as a Christmas decoration, thus propelling them into a situation that is as absurd as it is terrifying.
Ready to do anything to regain their freedom, they multiply their attempts to escape, but each one turns out to be a fiasco. Between uncontrolled explosions in the toilets and a mad chase with the shop manager, their misadventures follow one another in a whirlwind of chaos. This film with its slapstick humour plays with misunderstandings and disasters, transforming each moment into an increasingly zany sequence.
A fast-paced comedy with multiple influences
Drawing on the greats of comic animation, A Furry Escape adopts a dynamic and offbeat style. ‘Our not-so-smart characters find themselves immersed in a hostile world, giving rise to simple but effective humour,’ explain the directors.
The film thus plays on exaggerated reactions and situational comedy, recalling both the misadventures of Scrat in Ice Age and the unbridled energy of The Bad Guys.
Conceived as an ideal playground for offbeat black humour, the world of the taxidermy shop comes to life through a multitude of absurd details and zany situations. Between stuffed animals and a disturbing atmosphere, every corner of the decor reinforces the comic contrast of the scenes.
Visually, the students have created an oppressive world, where rigid and sharp man-made objects contrast sharply with the soft and rounded appearance of the characters. This aesthetic choice, reminiscent of that of Klaus, further accentuates the tension and dynamism of the story.
A major technical challenge
For the students, A Furry Escape proved to be a real tour de force. Between a grandmother with imposing hair, a myriad of stuffed animals and, of course, the two squirrels at the heart of the story, the diversity of the characters represented an enormous challenge. ‘Our groom artists have been busy!’ they laugh. From digital sculpting to the meticulous application of textures, each creation demanded absolute precision.
But the characters were not the only challenge. The shop, with its atypical decor, required a titanic amount of modelling and texturing work. Each element was designed down to the smallest detail to serve the narrative, while fitting into a rigorously organised production framework.
Achieving the dynamic and exaggerated animation specific to the cartoon style was no easy task. To achieve this, the students had to conduct extensive research in order to establish a precise and effective approach. ‘In order to achieve our cartoon style, a lot of research was needed to establish a very precise recipe,’ they explain. Solid rigs were essential to allow for extensive distortion and to give the characters their full expressiveness.
But the challenge did not end there. Writing the film also required intense collective work. With eight people with different senses of humour, it was not easy to find jokes that everyone agreed on. ‘In a team of eight, we all have a different sense of humour, and not all jokes make everyone laugh,’ they say. However, this quest for the right comic balance was a key element of the project, strengthening the team’s cohesion throughout the process.
A great success for this teamwork
Behind A Furry Escape lie the ingenuity and determination of Lorenza Marnier, Ladislaja Seyffertitz, Gabriel Bernard, Guillaume Raynaud, Gaël Tessier, Thomas Briand, Léon Griffond-Boitier and Faisal Asghar. Thanks to their perseverance, they have been able to overcome the numerous technical and narrative challenges to create an animated comedy that is as fast-paced as it is original.
This project, the result of a remarkable collective effort, is a testament to their talent and their mastery of the many facets of animation. Congratulations to them on this promising achievement, which is sure to bring a smile to the faces of a wide audience!
