The Basketball Hall of Fame came to us with an exciting prospect. They were looking for a commercial spot to feature some of the great exhibits and experiences offered by the museum. The idea was to bring home their tagline, “where legends come to life.”

Modern animation technology allows us to do almost anything we can imagine, and we just loved the idea that we could make the characters in the hall talk to us…who doesn’t imagine this scenario when in such a place?

The first iteration of this spot had us hiring voice talent to insert dialogue…

Kid is engrossed with John Wooden...
JOHN WOODEN: DON’T GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS OR YOUR DREAMS WILL GIVE UP ON YOU.

JERRY WEST: YOU EVER REALLY LOOK AT THE NBA LOGO?

MUGGSY BOGGUES: FIVE FEET THREE INCHES.

Kid sees Bill Bradley
KID: LIKE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES? DID YOU WIN?
BRADLEY: I CAN SEE YOU’RE NOT A POLITICIAN.

Quickly, we realized that the unlock would be to write a script that utilized existing audio from the inductees. We couldn’t resist one liberty taken…

KID: THIS PLACE IS CRAZY. OH HEY! ARE YOU SUE BIRD’S DAD????
SUE: LAUGHING
LARRY: MAKES FACE

Of course, every project also contains a “woulda coulda shoulda”….in this case it was the first written ending.

KID: WHAT ARE YOU GUYS GONNA PUT IN THERE?
(WOULD BE SO GREAT IF RAY ALLEN OR SOMEONE WALKED UP NEXT TO HIM)
WE’RE SAVING THAT SPOT FOR YOU.
Kid is blown away.

The result: a whimsical romp through the Hall of Fame that is imaginative, but feels real to the experience.