Each of the snappy 10-second animations highlight challenges that could be faced when travelling, with topics including respecting local laws, cyber scams and having travel insurance and correct paperwork in place. Delivering emotion within a short viewing time was critical – with bold characters and narratives to grab the audience’s attention from the get-go and deliver a bold call to action, encouraging Australians to use Smartraveller as their first destination when preparing for travel and while abroad.

We produced the animations in multiple formats including 1080px x 1920px, for a social-focused campaign delivery launched to Smartraveller’s Instagram page, racking up over 5 million views – and counting!

 

 

 

Our multi-talented team developed engaging concepts and narratives, wrote lyrics and composed music, and produced the 2D animation and an instructional activity poster for each of the five interoception activities, ranging from calming, deep breathing exercises to energising muscle stretches.

Creating educational resources in music video form was the golden formula to engage a young audience. A pilot study with 12 preschools and primary schools was launched in October 2023 and received fantastic feedback. The ‘Rocking bug’ – a muscle stretch movement that we evolved into a band of rock ‘n’ roll insects – was an instant hit and is being requested multiple times in a row!

 

We produced a series of animations and a range of online content to be used as key resources within an educational program structured of eight weekly modules. Each module provides tools and resources to help with resilience, anti-bullying and opening up conversation on emotions, designed to be delivered by teachers or on a student self-help basis, highlighting the message “Mental illness affects everyone… including children”.

Our design and creation of the cute ‘Peeps and Feels’ represent every child viewer – not defined by gender, race, shape or features, but by emotional characteristics. This approach to character design makes for an inclusive experience, no matter what classroom viewers are in. Concepts, characters and storylines were thought out strategically as we created a colourful and engaging collection of animated visual resources, each covering a topic highlighted within modules for children to connect with and learn from.

 

 

Working with CH4 Global’s team of experts, Monkeystack produced a six-part series of 2D animations to tell the CH4 Global Asparagopsis story, from Why Methane is a Big Problem for Climate Change, to The Benefits Beyond. We crafted each chapter’s script and animation to be engaging for a broad audience, from farmers to school groups, to potential investors and partners.

Australian researchers found that supplementing up to 1% of a cow’s daily food intake with an Asparagopsis product reduced methane production by up to 90%, and if only 10% of the world’s cattle were to include Asparagopsis product as part of their diet, it’d be the equivalent of removing between 50 to 100 million cars from the road.

 

When it comes to representing people living with disability, the personification of life and characteristics in a genuine manner is a step forward for all, rather than disassociating and detracting from reality. We believe animation can be the ultimate tool to demonstrate this, delivering a message understood and appreciated by a diverse audience.

The 7 animated chapters are easily accessible for their clients to watch, relate to and understand on a human level, as they are taken through subjects including ‘Understanding Human Rights’ and ‘Keeping Money Safe’. Our work manifests Community Living Australia’s core value of integrity: their mission to deliver high quality services and provide a strong voice for people with disability to accomplish their life goals was communicated through being open, honest and embracing diversity in a very deliberate way.

 

Justin Wight (Monkeystack Co-Founder and Director) Co-Produced both season 1 and 2, with Monkeystack putting together a full animation production team to create the 8 x 10min (s1) and 11 x 11min (s2) episodes. We think that it’s one of the largest 2D animated series ever produced in South Australia at the time.

The first season premiered to US audiences on Adult Swim in August 2020, UK audiences on Channel 4 in September 2020 and Australian audiences on Stan. in May 2022, with the second season launching on both Adult Swim, Stan. and Channel 4 in the UK simultaneously in January 2023.

 

Monkeystack put together a team of exceptional animators to work on the project over several months to bring to life Koala Man – whose world is just like Batman, but much less rich and not as cool. We were so very proud to see the Koala Man premiere in November 2018 on ABC COMEDY as part of the Fresh Blood series. In late 2019, Koala Man was shortlisted for an AACTA Award for Best Online Video or Series.

Koala Man was developed into a series starring the likes of Hugh Jackman and Sarah Snook, released in 2023 on HULU in the US and Disney+ in Australia. Monkeystack came back on board to produce 3D animation, with Justin Wight (Monkeystack Co-Founder and Director) as one of the Producers.

 

 

Players can choose to play as Dots or Diamond and solve the mysterious case of the missing mummies by navigating through the multiple levels of the museum with fun challenges, puzzles and mini games along the way. The game is an entertaining and engaging experience aimed at users aged 9-11 with a story that holds players attention throughout as they unravel the mystery. Exo Pexo games are built upon the values that education and entertainment can exist in the same product and to encourage kids to love to learn, for life.

The Dots & Diamond journey doesn’t stop with The Mysterious Case of the Missing Mummies, with an animated pilot for a Dots & Dimond series available from Monkeystack.

Dots & Diamond: The Mysterious Case of the Missing Mummies is available to download:

 

The first episode aired on ABC ME in June 2020 and has gone on to win an AEAF Special Merit Award and was awarded the Professional Jury’s 2nd Prize – Best Live Action TV at the 37th Chicago International Children’s Film Festival for the episode “Cameleers- The Original ‘Ghan’ Trains”. This award makes the show eligible for the Oscars!

You can watch the series on ABC iView or purchase episodes from the Australian Children’s Television Foundation.

 

Learn first aid, because you don’t need a cape or superpowers to be a real hero! Our ‘Be A Real Hero’ animations are a reminder to everyone that simply knowing first aid could save a life – no cape or superpowers required.

Quirky and edgy-cute, our ‘Paperclip Apocalypse’ animated short was part of a series – Band-Aids Can’t Fix Everything. The clip has over 122 000 views on YouTube making it the most viewed video on the Australian Red Cross YouTube Channel. It won many awards for our studio and it also became AdWeek’s ‘Ad of the Day’, was featured by Australian Creative, B&T, Campaign Brief amongst others in Australia and raved about by international publications Huffington Post, Little Black Book and Ads of the World.