FATHOM and Athena Studios Use 3D Printing to Create Animated Cheetos Halloween Short Film

When looking at the impact that 3D printing has had on the world around us, the industry typically likes to focus on the innovation that has taken place within a wide range of industrial and commercial applications. But this emerging technology has also helped expand what is possible in the artistic world as well, whether it be through complex sculpting or stop-animation film production. In fact, the animation studio Laika has utilized 3D printing technology to create some of the most critically acclaimed animated films over the last few years, including Coraline and their latest masterpiece Kubo and the Two Strings.

Recently, the 3D printing company Studio FATHOM joined forces with Athena Studios, an independent film studio that specialized in stop motion animation, to conceive a spooky film that celebrates the special Halloween edition of “Bag of Bones” Cheetos. Commissioned by Frito-Lay, the snack producer responsible for the Cheetos brand, Athena Studios created the entire script and storyboard, and then turned to FATHOM’s Rapid Prototype Technician and Model Maker Victoria Most to help meld their artistic ability with 3D printing and urethane casting.

In order to achieve the unique and pristine finished look of the main characters in the ghoulish short film, which is entitled The Delivery, Most and the Athena Studios team decided to 3D print the master pattern before creating the final film models with urethane casting. Since multiple versions of the hero character were needed to film the entire video, the collaborative team created three full-sized puppets. Not only were the heroic main characters brought to life with 3D modeling, 3D printing, and handcrafted expertise, the werewolf and zombie monsters in the film were also 3D printed before being painted.

In fact, much of the finishing techniques were inspired by the same ones used by Most and the FATHOM team, including priming, sanding, polishing, and painting. By utilizing a physical characters instead of a digitalized process, the production team was able to rekindle that authentic analog feeling in the short film. According to FATHOM, the short film’s characters were produced with the help of the Object500 Connex3 and Fortus 450MC, both of which are professional-grade 3D printing systems developed by Stratasys.

To celebrate the “Bag of Bones” special promotion and the premiere of their short film, Frito-Lay recently launched a nationwide design contest to challenge participants to construct the most creative monster possible out of nothing but Cheetos. The three-minute seasonal stop animation movie was released on October 25 via YouTube, and showcases an inquisitive girl attempting to deliver a package amidst a number of cheese-flavored monsters and ghouls, each of which were developed with the help of FATHOM’s 3D printing technology. Discuss in the Cheetos Monsters forum at 3DPB.com.

The 3D printing and painting process for the zombie character