Permanent Collection

Shynola & Nexus Studios Pencil In Creativity for Crayola and McDonalds

Posted on Friday, April 3, 2026

Nexus Studios’ directing collective Shynola (Chris Harding, Jason Groves, Richard Kenworthy) let loose with Crayola pencils in this spot for the brand’s collab with McDonald’s, encouraging kids to embrace their creativity.

From Nexus: “Drawing inspiration from a wide range of real children’s artwork, Shynola set out to capture the same energy and instinctive style, along with little offbeat decisions, while unifying it all into a coherent visual language.

“It’s refreshing to take animation back to the basics and make something raw and honest with paper and pencils.”

“Every frame was drawn by hand with Crayola pencils, and at a scale where each mark – and even the texture of the paper – can be clearly felt. Combined with a straight-ahead animation approach that embraces imperfections, the result radiates the child-like joy of creativity in every frame.

Shynola: “It’s refreshing to take animation back to the basics and make something raw and honest with paper and pencils. If just one child sees this film and decides to draw a space rocket, we’ll be overjoyed.”

Images

In the McDonalds x Crayola Planet Happy Meal commercial by Nexus and Shynola, a colorful, animated rocket shaped like a red box with a yellow M lifts off into a starry, whimsical outer space scene filled with swirling galaxies and smiling faces. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

A green alien at a spaceship drive-thru, illustrated in vibrant Crayola colors, hands a red Happy Meal box to a pink, three-eyed alien in a blue UFO. Stars sparkle in the whimsical scene crafted with playful creativity. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

A colorful, childlike drawing in the style of Crayola shows two cartoon astronauts in space suits floating among yellow stars on a dark blue background. The main astronaut has a green shape on their helmet and a cheerful expression. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

A colorful crayon drawing shows a happy, furry monster piloting a blue spaceship labeled Crayola through space, with buttons, screens, and floating cheese-like asteroids—all in the playful style of Nexus Studios. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

Colorful illustration inspired by Nexus Studios of a McDonald’s restaurant on an alien planet, surrounded by astronauts, UFOs, spaceships, and a star-filled sky with a yellow McDonald’s logo on the roof. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

Credits

Client: McDonalds, Crayola

Agency: Leo Burnett UK
Producer: Sian O’Halloran
UK TV Producer: Bruce Macrae

Production: Nexus Studios
Director: Shynola
EP: Anthony Austin
Producer: Belinda Isaacs, Stephanie Miller
Production Manager: Edith Chappey
Studio 2D Lead: Bethany Levy
Art Director/Storyboards: Shynola
3D Modeling/Texturing/Matte Paintings: Shynola
Compositor/Editor: Shynola
Art Director/Character Designer: Dante Zaballa
2D Animator: Dante Zaballa

Stephen Price

Stephen is the co-founder/CD of Stash Media Inc. and the executive editor of Stash Magazine and the Stash Permanent Collection.
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Category: Advertising, Animation, Character Animation, Featured · Tags: Crayola, Dante Zaballa, Leo Burnett, McDonalds, Nexus, Shynola