PETA – 98% Human

Mill+ has teamed up with BBDO NY and PETA to create an astonishing and groundbreaking new spot '98% Human'. Together we embarked on an incredibly ambitious journey to create a truly photo-real and completely life-like chimpanzee. The spot is part of PETA's campaign "The Great Ape Pledge" which encourages supporters to take the pledge and stop the use of primates in entertainment as actors.

Behind the Scenes

Crafting PETA '98% Human' was more than about creating a totally believable, photo-real CG Chimp. It was about establishing an emotional connection and empathy with the audience. In the past we would have used motion capture and mapped a human actor's performance directly onto the CG character but we wanted to approach this project in a different way, so we decided to rely on the skill of our animators for the final chimp performances, only using an actor for previs. We pushed computer graphics imagery to a new level creating bespoke technology in muscle and skin simulation, higher than any other project or film to date. We achieved this by developing new techniques from simulated bloodstreams, skin tension and even individual pores at the base of every hair on the chimpanzee, all with the aim to create a creature that is practically indistinguishable from his flesh and blood counterpart.