When French artist Sylvain Decaux (a.k.a. Urbanmelon) learned he were going to have another child, Decaux decided that the best way to share this news and flex his creative talent was to create a baby announcement trailer to put all others to rest.
While this trailer was uploaded to YouTube November 2020, it went viral yesterday with 330,000 views and counting when Decaux shared it on Twitter.
The sweeping backgrounds, expressive movements, and retro music are are worth looking at/listening for again and again.
The fusing of the sounds of Akira’s Cyberpunk tracks with Rugrats was…. pic.twitter.com/Hb9N7Up4cv
— James 🏴 (@CobaltQuill) September 9, 2021
Speaking of Akira, Decaux confirmed in the comments that the animation on the skid into the tunnel was inspired by the 1988 anime.
Beyond the choice to animate a trailer itself being so cool, there are tons of pop culture Easter eggs scattered in the cityscape. The first three skyscrapers show logos for Weyland-Yutani Corp. (from the Alien universe), Union Aerospace Corp. (from DOOM), and Wayne Corp. (from Batman). Next, layers reveal Omni Consumer Products (from Robotcop), Shinra Electric Power Company (from Final Fantasy VII), and Hill Propane (“and propane accessories” from King of the Hill).
These weren’t the only details that helped craft this short narrative. The car zooming away from the illuminating metropolis is a cyberpunk version of a Volvo hatchback. Aside from a minivan and until our transportation infrastructure makes renewable energy cars more affordable, this is the family car.
As the video notes, the trailer took 13 months to make and was in production before their child was born. Where captions would be if there were any dialogue on the scene where the baby is revealed, the video reads, “Artist rendition. Actual product may vary.”
Wow I can’t believe you caught that! I think it’s legit only there for 6/7 frames or so!!!
— Sylvain Decaux (@sylvain_decaux) September 8, 2021
Another element I love about this is the focus on the fact that their family is growing and not the gender of the baby. We need more of this and less gender reveal parties. Besides the need to decenter gender, reveal parties are now deadly as people try to up the ante.
The use of animation for an independent artist to share big news reminds me of the adorable 2019 Sleeping Beauty proposal Kayla Combs animated. While not as accessible because animation takes time and money, I would love more of these reveals/announcements via animation, whether for a client like Combs and for practice like Decaux.
Their first child won’t have to worry about missing out on his own cool animated trailer, because back in 2017, Decaux created a geeky trailer for them, too!
Though not filled with specific logo references, the concept itself hails from Dragon Ball Z. The couple recreates a Metamoran Fusion Pose (a.k.a. Finger Fusion).
The Baby II trailer was probably only shared to Twitter because two days ago, Decaux received well-deserved attention for another Dragon Ball Z-inspired animation. This goes to show you need to be out there supporting artists with likes, comments, and retweets. Sometimes they will show even cooler stuff!
them skills pic.twitter.com/bM9r6wMpAV
— MamaRune (@Runemablisk) September 8, 2021
Outside of making these badass trailers, Decaux is a game artist who has worked on tabletop games and video games like Tom Clancy’s The Division and Ghost Recon Wildlands. After making stunning 2D and 3D Overwatch fan art (like the video below), he began doing freelance for Overwatch 2.
If you like Decaux’s work, follow them on Twitter, Instagram, and ArtStation (which has the concept art for the Baby II trailer, too) for more! Let us know in the comments if you spot any more references in the trailer that we missed!
(via Twitter, image screenshot from video: Sylvain Decaux)
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