Once Upon a Rabbit アニメーション短編 by Jesseter Wang and Hannah Sun

Once Upon a Rabbit アニメーション短編 by Jesseter Wang and Hannah Sun is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award 銅賞 in 映画・映像・アニメーションデザイン Competition Category.

銅映画· 2026

Once Upon a Rabbit アニメーション短編

by Jesseter Wang and Hannah Sun

A' Design Award 銅賞 Winner in 映画 Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #180467

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Once Upon a Rabbit アニメーション短編

『Once Upon a Rabbit』は、元宵節の文化的なディテールと幼少期の視覚的記憶にインスパイアされたアニメーションデザインプロジェクトです。本作品は、立体的なフォルムと手描きの感性を融合させることで、柔らかく表現豊かなビジュアル言語を確立し、構造的でありながら遊び心のあるイメージを生み出しています。ウサギや湯圓（白玉団子）といった繰り返し登場するモチーフを視覚的な拠り所として用い、動き、リズム、構図によって雰囲気と連続性を強調することで、温かさ、親しみやすさ、そして文化的な共鳴に根ざした一貫性のあるデザイン体験を実現しました。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 銅賞

Once Upon a Rabbit アニメーション短編は、創造性、独創性、鋭い洞察力で際立つ傑出したデザインに授与される、高い権威をもつ評価である A' Design Award 銅賞の受賞作品です。銅賞の受賞作品は、十分に巧みで印象的なほど創造的な工芸品であり、デザイナーの豊富な経験、想像力、機知を裏づけています。Once Upon a Rabbit アニメーション短編は、高く評価され、称賛され、愛される品であり、顕著にプロフェッショナルで革新的であることが期待されます。この A' Design Award 銅賞を受賞したデザインは、芸術・科学・デザイン・技術のベストプラクティスを取り入れており、細部への配慮に優れています。Once Upon a Rabbit アニメーション短編は、ニーズを見事に満たし、欲求に触れ、感情を魅了し、好奇心を引きつけます。

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]