The archive · Content & Film · Marketing decision · 2021–2022
Save Ralph: a stop-motion rabbit makes cosmetic animal testing unbearable
HSI's mockumentary follows one cheerful lab rabbit through his daily tests — Taika Waititi's voice made it a Cannes Grand Prix for Good.
Humane Society International
What it had to solve
Humane Society International wanted to build support for banning cosmetics testing on animals worldwide. The practice is banned in 41 countries but still legal in most of the world, and HSI warned it was even making a comeback in Europe, where thousands of animals face needless suffering.
How it works
Save Ralph is a four-minute stop-motion mockumentary in which a rabbit named Ralph is interviewed about his job: being a 'tester' in a cosmetics laboratory. He cheerfully shows the viewer around — his scarred eye, his deafness — until a scientist injects a chemical into his remaining eye, and his polite optimism finally cracks.
The film was created by Humane Society International to push for an end to cosmetics animal testing, which is banned in 41 countries but still legal in most of the world. Ralph's voice belongs to Oscar-winner Taika Waititi, with a supporting cast including Ricky Gervais, Zac Efron, Olivia Munn, Pom Klementieff and Tricia Helfer.
Spencer Susser wrote and directed the film; Jeff Vespa produced it, and Andy Gent — whose puppet work includes Wes Anderson films — built Ralph and the sets. The deadpan documentary style lets the animal's suffering arrive through understatement: Ralph has clearly been blinded in one eye and is going deaf, yet keeps answering the interviewer politely.
At Cannes Lions 2022, Save Ralph took the Grand Prix for Good as the top non-profit film of the festival, along with a Gold Lion in the non-profit film category. HSI produced or subtitled the film in multiple languages to help advocates influence lawmakers from Canada to Chile to South Korea, and pointed viewers to petitions and a European Citizens' Initiative.
Why it lands
- The mockumentary form lets Ralph describe routine cruelty in his own cheerful words, so the audience feels the gap between his optimism and what is happening to him.
- A star-studded voice cast (Waititi, Gervais, Efron, Munn) carried the film into mainstream attention rather than leaving it in activist circles.
- Stop-motion puppetry makes the suffering feel tangible yet watchable — real footage would repel; a puppet invites the viewer to stay and care.
- Localized versions and petitions turned a film into an organizing tool, connecting the emotional response to concrete lawmaker pressure.
What it did
The short won the Grand Prix for Good at Cannes Lions 2022 plus a Gold Lion in the non-profit film category, and HSI produced or subtitled it in multiple languages to support campaigns with lawmakers in Canada, Brazil, Chile, Europe, Mexico, Southeast Asia and South Korea.
What you can take
One character's mundane, matter-of-fact routine can make a systemic horror impossible to ignore — empathy beats statistics when the viewer supplies the outrage.
Since then
Save Ralph was released in 2021 and crowned at Cannes Lions in June 2022 with the Grand Prix for Good and a Gold Lion for non-profit film. HSI described the award as a chance to keep the issue in the global spotlight and to add momentum to efforts to end cosmetic animal testing, directing European viewers to the SaveCrueltyFree.eu citizens' initiative and others to its global petition. The film remains HSI's flagship spokesbunny campaign, produced in multiple languages for advocacy in markets where testing is still legal.
Sources
- Humane Society International's Save Ralph animated film awarded Grand Prix for Good at Cannes Lions Festival
- Animal Testing Mockumentary 'Save Ralph' Wins Prestigious Cannes Festival Award
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