Once Upon a Rabbit Galuega Autu: Ata Puupuu Fa'agaioi by Jesseter Wang and Hannah Sun

Once Upon a Rabbit Galuega Autu: Ata Puupuu Fa'agaioi by Jesseter Wang and Hannah Sun is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award Apamemea in Mamanu Ata Tifaga Competition Category.

ApamemeaAta Tifaga· 2026

Once Upon a Rabbit Galuega Autu: Ata Puupuu Fa'agaioi

by Jesseter Wang and Hannah Sun

A' Design Award Apamemea Winner in Ata Tifaga 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 Galuega Autu: Ata Puupuu Fa'agaioi

Tusitusiga o le Tusi: O le Once Upon a Rabbit o se galuega mamanu ata fa'agaioi na fa'aosofia mai vaega fa'aleaganu'u o le Lantern Festival ma manatuaga vaaia o le laitiiti. E fa'atūina e le galuega se gagana vaaia malū ma fa'aalia atu e ala i le fa'afefiloi o foliga fa'atolu-vaega ma le lagona o ata na tusia i le lima, ma fausia ai ata e lagona fa'atasi le fausaga ma le ta'alo. O fa'ailoga fa'afouina e pei o le lapiti ma le Tangyuan, o polo araisa, e fa'aaoga e fai ma tautu vaaia, a'o le gaioiga, le pao, ma le tu'ufa'atasiga e fa'amamafa ai le siosiomaga ma le fa'aauau pea, ma i'u ai i se fa'aa'oa'oga mamanu fa'atasi e fa'avae i le māfanafana, le masani, ma le fa'atasiga fa'aleaganu'u.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Apamemea

O le A' Design Award Apamemea na manumalo ai Once Upon a Rabbit Galuega Autu: Ata Puupuu Fa'agaioi, o se faamaoniga matuā mamalu e tuuina atu i mamanu ese e iloga i le fatufatuaʻi, le atamai ma le poto. O ē manumalo i le Apamemea o mea e iai le tomai atoa ma fatufatuaʻi mataʻina e faamaonia ai le poto masani tele, le mafaufau ma le atamai o tagata mamanu. E faamoemoeina Once Upon a Rabbit Galuega Autu: Ata Puupuu Fa'agaioi e avea ma mea e vivii tele, ua pelepelea, e iloga i le tomai faapolofesa ma mea fou. O lenei mamanu na manumalo i le A' Design Award Apamemea e tuufaatasia ai faiga sili i le faatufugaga, saienisi, mamanu ma tekonolosi ma e sili ona lelei i le mataituina o mea itiiti. Once Upon a Rabbit Galuega Autu: Ata Puupuu Fa'agaioi e faamalieina matagofie manaʻoga, pa i manaʻo, faalataina lagona ma faaosofia le fia iloa.

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]