Once Upon a Rabbit Curtametraxe de Animación by Jesseter Wang and Hannah Sun

Once Upon a Rabbit Curtametraxe de Animación by Jesseter Wang and Hannah Sun is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award de Bronce in Deseño de Cine, Vídeo e Animación Competition Category.

BronceFilme· 2026

Once Upon a Rabbit Curtametraxe de Animación

by Jesseter Wang and Hannah Sun

A' Design Award de Bronce Winner in Filme Category

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Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #180467

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

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The Design

About Once Upon a Rabbit Curtametraxe de Animación

Once Upon a Rabbit é un proxecto de deseño de animación inspirado nos detalles culturais do Festival das Lanternas e na memoria visual da infancia. A obra establece unha linguaxe visual suave e expresiva a través dunha hibridación entre a forma dimensional e a sensibilidade do debuxo a man, creando imaxes que resultan á vez estruturadas e lúdicas. Motivos recorrentes como o coello e o Tangyuan, as bólas de arroz, empréganse como áncoras visuais, mentres que o movemento, o ritmo e a composición realzan a atmosfera e a continuidade, dando como resultado unha experiencia de deseño cohesiva enraizada na calidez, na familiaridade e na resonancia cultural.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award de Bronce

Once Upon a Rabbit Curtametraxe de Animación gañou o A' Design Award de Bronce, un recoñecemento altamente prestixioso outorgado a deseños sobresaíntes que se distinguen pola creatividade, o enxeño e a sagacidade. Os gañadores Bronce son artefactos amplamente hábiles e sorprendentemente creativos que autentican a vasta experiencia, imaxinación e enxeño dos seus deseñadores. Espérase que Once Upon a Rabbit Curtametraxe de Animación sexa un obxecto moi apreciado, admirado e querido, notablemente profesional e innovador. Este deseño gañador do A' Design Award de Bronce incorpora as mellores prácticas da arte, a ciencia, o deseño e a tecnoloxía, e é excelente pola súa atención ao detalle. Once Upon a Rabbit Curtametraxe de Animación satisfai espléndidamente as necesidades, toca os desexos, encanta os sentimentos e atrae a curiosidade.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Once Upon a Rabbit is an animated short inspired by childhood memories and subtle cultural details of the Lantern Festival. Guided by the recurring presence of the rabbit and tangyuan (rice balls), the film unfolds as a sequence of connected moments that gradually lead toward a shared table. The piece emphasizes emotional flow and visual association over explicit storytelling, capturing the lively warmth of the Lantern Festival.
Dimensions & Packaging: 16x9 video file
Tags: Animation, Motion Design, Illustration, Culture, Year of Rabbit
Production Technology: The project was produced using a hybrid 3D and 2D animation workflow. Core scenes and motion were created in Cinema 4D, with a focus on modeling and animation. The renders were then composited in Adobe After Effects, where textures, graphic details, and subtle motion accents were added to achieve a cohesive, handcrafted visual quality.
Design Challenge: A key creative challenge was achieving a sense of warmth and human touch within a digitally constructed visual environment. The project sought to avoid a rigid or overly polished appearance by introducing texture, softness, and brush-like qualities into form and motion. Balancing control and imperfection required careful visual restraint, ensuring the imagery remained expressive and inviting while maintaining coherence and clarity throughout the animation.
Research: This project is based on exploratory design research focused on visual expression and cultural memory. The objective was to understand how abstract form, color, and motion could evoke familiarity associated with the Lantern Festival without relying on literal depiction. The research was conducted through visual experimentation, reference studies, and iterative sketching using digital tools. Observations were drawn from personal memory, cultural imagery, and repeated motion tests. The results informed a visual language that balances simplicity and expressiveness, demonstrating how motion design can translate shared cultural atmosphere into an accessible and emotionally resonant visual experience.
Inspiration: Once Upon a Rabbit was inspired by childhood memories and subtle cultural details of the Lantern Festival. The project explores the use of 3D techniques rendered with a 2D sensibility, creating a vivid yet dreamlike visual language reminiscent of childhood doodles. By prioritizing mood, memory, and shared cultural experience over literal representation, the work aims to evoke a sense of warmth and nostalgia through motion.
Project Duration: The project was developed and completed in 2023 as an independent animation project, produced remotely.
Operation Flow: Motion unfolds through a sequence of gentle transformations, where shapes, colors, and motifs transition fluidly between scenes. Visual elements expand, contract, and reorganize to guide attention and create continuity, allowing the design to feel cohesive while maintaining a sense of lightness and rhythm throughout the experience.
Team Members: Jesseter Wang,
Hannah Sun
Image Credits: Direction / Design / Animation: [Jesseter Wang & Hannah Sun]
Music / Sound: [Davis Aguirre]