Team Tumult tells the charming tale of a man and his truck for Freitag

Big Buddy Blue tells the story of a trucker and his motorised best friend living their lives on the open road. Created by Zurich-based collective Team Tumult, the animation is part of a non-commercial initiative from Freitag, the manufacturer which creates a range of bags using the recycled tarpaulin from large lorries. The brand asked five different teams of animators to tell the story of “Freitag – from truck to bag” in completely different ways. “With our story, we tried to show that every Freitag bag already had a previous life which reflects the uniqueness of the final product and the wild soul that inhabits all of their bags,” explains Team Tumult.

With no restrictions or limitations on what they were able to create, the collective were keen to create a fast-paced roadtrip movie, keeping viewers on their toes at all times. “The visual style is inspired by the shapes and strong colours of the Freitag bags, but also by a little short film we created in 2016 called Racing Staches. We tried to take this style and transport it into the Freitag project to create a similar feel,” says the collective.

The shot was directed by Team Tumult member’s Beni Morard and Frederic Siegel and the team had around 40 days to create the film. “Frederic and Beni worked out the story together. Then Frederic worked mostly on the style of the film and Beni figured out the animatic and the over timing,” explains the team. “For the animation and clean up we could count on help from Team Tumult buddies Nina Christen and Justine Klaiber to get it done in time.”

The action is all depicted in various shades of blue and orange with an upbeat energy resonating through every frame. A sweet relationship has been created between the trucker and his lorry and this is emphasised by subtle personifications of the truck, making it become just as big a character as the protagonist. “We hope we have managed to capture the essence of what it means to produce a truly unique Freitag product, and that companionship and love always stand the test of time!”