NUTRO's 3D-animated fable of two farms makes healthy soil a pet-food story

The natural pet food brand charged Edelman and production company Versus with creating a modern fable on farming practices, in partnership with actor and advocate Ian Somerhalder. The goal was a film that looked and felt like no other — tactile and organic — while presenting farming practices in a real and understandable way.

Tell soil health as a modern fable in a 3D style so tactile that the farms, characters and soil look like you could reach out and touch them

Versus began with script development, then built a one-of-a-kind 3D animation style that breathed life, personality and emotion into each character. Authentic depiction of ecosystems and farm life demanded extensive research and collaboration with agriculture experts, so the art-and-science integration could make soil health feel emotional rather than lecture-y.

No commercial results were disclosed. The film gave NUTRO an ownable animated fable that puts healthy soil — not the kibble — at the centre of its ingredient story.

NUTRO, a natural pet food brand, wanted to make the point that healthy soil is a key ingredient in growing food for the future — including the food we feed our pets. It charged Edelman and production company Versus with a modern fable on farming practices, created in partnership with actor and advocate Ian Somerhalder.

The result, 'Tail of Two Farms', was developed from the script up around a bespoke 3D animation style. Versus executive creative director Justin Barnes said the goal was characters, farms and even soil so tactile and organic 'you could reach out and touch it'.

Authenticity was the hard part: depicting ecosystems and farm life credibly took extensive research and collaboration with agriculture experts. Director and CD Luis Aguirre called the seamless integration of art and science crucial to telling the story in a way that felt deeply emotional while keeping farming practices real and understandable.

Choosing a fable over an ingredient ad let the brand argue that what happens on the farm — not the factory — is the first step of pet food.

A never-seen animation style made the film ownable in a category where pet food advertising looks interchangeable.

Agriculture experts kept the fable honest, so the emotional story could also carry real farming practices.

Supply-chain virtues like soil health stay abstract until they are made touchable; here the craft itself — soil you feel you could reach out and touch — carries the argument.

LBB published the work in November 2023. No performance results for the film were disclosed in the material.