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Slimane Aniss & Passion Paris Illuminate Lunar New Year Wishes for Panda Express

Posted on Thursday, January 22, 2026

Passion Paris director Slimane Aniss leads a massive design and animation team into a festive Lunar New Year adventure with this lofty two-minute tale of family and togetherness for American Chinese comfort food brand Panda Express.

Fabiola Del Rio, VP of integrated marketing communications at Panda Express: “This year, we chose animation because we wanted to create something that could capture the sense of wonder and possibility that children feel during the holidays, the magic of making a wish and believing it can come true.

“I don’t think I’ve been more excited to show my mom anything. So much thought, care and love has been poured into this film from our partners across continents.”

“We also wanted to honor what so many of us know to be true, that sometimes people we love can’t be there in the way we hope, and yet love still finds us. ‘Wishes’ is for anyone who’s ever waited for someone to come home, for families discovering Lunar New Year for the first time, and for those who’ve celebrated it their whole lives.”

Chris Le, ACD at Opinionated: “I don’t think I’ve been more excited to show my mom anything. So much thought, care and love has been poured into this film from our partners across continents. It’s been a privilege to bring it to life.”

Images:

Panda Express 2026 Lunar New Year film by Passion Pictures | STASH MAGAZINE

Credits:

Client: Panda Express

Agency: Opinionated
ECD: Mark Fitzloff, Rob Palmer
President: Trish Adams
ACD: Cameron Soane, Chris Le
Director of Brand Design: Lau Peltzer
Junior Designer: Ellie Nicoll
Senior Producer: Cole Davenport

Production: Passion US
Co-Managing Director/EP: Neysa Horsburgh
Senior Producer: Suzie Cimato

Animation: Passion Paris
Director: Slimane Aniss
Managing Director: Caroline Audebert
EP: Julien de Lestrange
Line Producer: Lisa Hieblot
1st Director Assistant: Sabrina Chabanier
Production Coordinator: Camille Ringuet, Louise Marquer
Editor: Slimane Aniss, Nazim Meslem
Storyboard: Nathan Otano, Zheping Xu, Slimane Aniss
Character Designer: Juliette Danesi, Marie Zivec, Gabriel Gérard
Colorscript: Borja Pons Triay
Styleframes: Sylvain Sarrailh
Cultural Consultant: Ellen Su
Lead Background Design/Paint: Rudy Parfaite
Background Design 3D/Matte Painting: Ulric Leprovost
Background Design/Paint Artist: Hortense Mariano, Vincent Rouzière, Mélodie Charier-Rangel, Lea Alves, Aymeric Gesbert, Sophie Barocas, Mathis Richard, Anne Marmion
Lead 2D Layout Posing: Benoit Monchanin
2D Layout Posing Artist: Camille De Knÿff, Lola Montes, Lou-Anne Laporte, Jules Seviere, Josselin Facon
Lead 2D Animation: Chloé Aubert
2D Animation Artist: Sixtine Dano, Adrien Fromenteil, Charlotte Bakers, Némo Piccoli, Juliette Laurent, Guillaume Bissière, Kevin Manach, Grégoire Musnier, Manon Verrey, Quentin Marchand
Lead 2D Clean: Rosalie Perrot
2D Clean Artist: Cloé Dijoux Serabian, Merve Noksan, Camille Van Delft, Justine Bosc, Paul Cognard, Chloé Lopes, Zoé Partouche, Yassin Alazar, Samy Piesseau, Clotilde Zimille-Tran
Colorization Artist: Juliette Cavalery, Merve Noksan
FX Animation Artist: Pierre-Jean Lemoël, Rodolphe Tourret
Lead Compositing Artist: Hugo Bodoukian Meyrant
Compositing Artist: Nicolas Bermond, Aurélien Thuilier, Philippe Valette
3D Animation/Modeling Artist: Lucas Rougé