We the People "Miracle of Morning"
2021
Made in collaboration with the Obamas, and Netflix, “The Miracle of Morning” is the final episode in a Schoolhouse Rock-inspired musical anthology series from Chris Nee and Kenya Barris entitled We The People that aims to give a civics crash course to a nation that thinks the filibuster is a topping at Cinnabon. At the first annual Children’s and Family Emmy award show in 2022, the series took home a statue for Outstanding Short Form Program.
Morning
‘A Miracle of Morning’ is a beautiful acknowledgement of today’s uncertainty. Rather than wallowing in cynicism or despair, it focuses us towards an optimistic path forward.
We follow a journey from Amanda Gorman’s point of view, her mind painting pictures and bringing focus to the world she’s describing.
1. Finding the Light
From the first glimpse of sunlight at dawn after a storm, light becomes the optimistic streak we follow moving forward. While tested by loss and chaos, light manages to reignite stronger than ever — our visual representation of the poem’s conviction that we’re stronger together.
2. Joy ↓
To best support Amanda’s words, we created a blend of literal and metaphoric imagery, poetic moments that could be graceful and evocative — but also full of joy.
Story Development
The poem’s structure goes from small, quiet scenes to larger metaphorical moments as we follow the narrator’s stream-of-consciousness.
Using a painterly style to capture a feeling of personal expression, we go from tentative muted tones to a more lively and rich palette as the piece builds to echo the story progression.
Poetry in motion
From finding the right visual language to crafting bespoke characters and building the larger world, we had a ton of fun exploring ideas during the initial
design phase.
In our early experiments, we aimed to find an elegant yet economical way to achieve the loose, textural style of our designs in animation.
The We the People series sought to inspire social and political activism in its young audience. Because “The Miracle of Morning” was the final episode, it was important that this film ended with a larger message, one that showed a young person using her own strengths to engage her community, demonstrating the impact that one person can have.
Check out the other We The People episodes ↓
Bill of Rights
Stronger
Active Citizenship
BUCK
Directed By
Kendra Ryan
Chief Creative Officer
Orion Tait
Group Creative Director
Daniel Oeffinger
Global Executive Producer
Emily Rickard
Executive Producer
Joe Nash
NY Head of Production
Kitty Dillard
Senior Producer
Billy Mack
Producer
Jess Pierik
Art Director
Doug Hindson
Yeojin Shin
Global Head of Design
Brian Won
NY Head of Design
Joe Donaldson
Storyboards
Diego Abad
Ege Soyuer
Laura Emel Yilmaz
Tucker Klein
Vincent Tsui
Design
Aran Quinn
Dadu Shin
Debora Cruchon
Diego Abad
Doug Hindson
Ege Soyuer
Pierre-Nicolas Riou
Ping Zhu
Remi Sorbet
Xia Gordon
Yeojin Shin
Global Head of 2D Animation
Daniel Coutinho
NY Head of 2D Animation
Chad Colby
Animation Director
Tucker Klein
Previs
Diego Abad
Laura Emel Yilmaz
Thea Glad
Tinghe Yang
Tucker Klein
2D Animation
Adrian Moran
Daniel Oeffinger
David Hobizal
Gilles Desmadrille
Gonzalo Menevichian
Johan Eriksson
Mercy Lomelin
Ross McCampbell
Cel Animation
Alexander Bernas
Andrea Castillo
Aran Quinn
Dadu Shin
Diego Abad
Kendra Ryan
Kuu Chen
Laura Emel Yilmaz
Olivia Blanc
Paola Chen Li
Pierre-Nicolas Riou
Ping Zhu
Reece Parker
Sean McClintock
Song E Kim
Thea Glad
Tinghe Yang
Tucker Klein
Yeojin Shin
Yukyung Lee
Titles
Chief Creative Officer
Ryan Honey
Group Creative Director
Joe Mullen
Global Executive Producer
Emily Rickard
Executive Producer
Nick Carmen
Creative Director
Andy Lyon
Senior Producer
Justin Harris
Art Director
Debora Cruchon
Global Head of Design
Brian Won
Design
Colin Graham
Debora Cruchon
Mark Kulakoff
Global Head of 2D Animation
Daniel Coutinho
2D Lead
Nick Petley
2D Animation
Daniel Rodrigues
Delainey Cummins
Lumi Chang
Morgan Allison
Nick Petley
