MPC and 4Creative take Arthur the tortoise on a romantic odyssey for Channel 4’s ‘Mating Season’

Created to launch Channel 4’s new season of dating programs over the summer, the promo features a lonely tortoise on his search for true love.

The spot traces the story of Arthur, who has lost his partner Ethel after over 100 years together. His exploits include a series of ill-feted dates and an epic night in a club before finding a match in a very unexpected place.

The team shot a life-like tortoise puppet in camera. MPC’s VFX team, led by Michael Gregory, was charged with bringing the tortoise to life and giving him very human expressions. 

This was integral to the storytelling, enabling the audience to fall in love with Arthur. “This job was really unique and is the result of a close collaboration with 4Creative. Giving a tortoise puppet human expressions was a great challenge, and we loved bringing him to life through this unexpected love story. Working with Chris and John on their debut job as Creative Directors at 4Creative was an extra plus.”