XOLO
VICTORIA
A COLOSSAL PRODUCTION
“XOLO" is a short film that celebrates the Day of the Dead tradition through the story of a deep friendship between Jorge and his best friend, Rogelio. Inspired by the spirit of Mexican muralism, every background was painted by hand on canvas, and over 2,000 frames were created using oil paint on paper, one by one. The entire film was made without the use of any artificial intelligence.
THE XOLO
The concept was to delve deeper into one of the oldest beliefs in Mexican tradition: the xolo, the spiritual dog guide that leads souls to the other side. The context of Día de Muertos and its symbols, deeply present in everyday life and in the collective consciousness of the Mexican people, appears throughout the narrative and in the visual universe of the film. We began by taking the Xolo and designing him as a living mural: layered brushstrokes, fractured shadow planes, and anatomy inspired by ancient pottery proportions.
Following the same visual language as Rogelio, the other protagonist, Jorge, was developed with inspiration from real everyday Mexican corner-store owners, creating a strong sense of identification for the audience and reinforcing the idea that culture is made and lived in the simplicity of daily life.
MEXICAN MURALISM
To honor the myth, we turned to Muralism, the artistic movement that shaped Mexico.
Inspired by many artists like Rivera, Kahlo, Siqueiros, Tamayo, every piece of background art in the film was oil-painted on canvas, building an entirely new design system: revived pre-Hispanic symbols, reimagined color palettes, mythological landscapes sculpted from hand-painted textures, with scenes and situations completely inspired by the real life of so many villages we saw across Mexico. A kind of reinterpretation of the Muralist movement in every scene of the film.
ANIMATION
To honor the strong Mexican tradition of valuing what is handcrafted, the animation technique could be no different. From the earliest stages of traditional 2D digital animation, the entire film was crafted frame by frame. After that, more than 2,500 art pieces were oil-painted (again) after going through a hybrid 2D pipeline to preserve handmade imperfection, the result of a series of analog experiments. The visual result becomes, as we intended, a respectful homage to the essence of art, culture, and spirituality of Mexico.
ETERNAL PROCESS
CREDITS
XOLO
Production Company: THE YOUTH
Post-Production Company: COLOSSAL
Director: YUCA
Director Assistant: Milton Oliveira
Executive Creative Director: João Machado, Eduardo Lubiazi
Executive Producer: Chico Pedreira, Daniel Maia, Carol Cherobim, Roberto Reynoso, Karima Ruhmann
Head of Production: Daniel Maia
Lead Producer coordinator: Antonela Castro
Producer: Mauricio Kazu Yamashita
Post-Production producer: William S. Tadeu
Producer Assistant: Mariana Trejo
Art Director: YUCA
Lead Concept Artist: Fabio Miraglia
Concept artist: Nolwe Azul Tamis, Adad Muñoz
Illustrators: Victor Sales, Matias Carrizo, Alan Croce, Danilo de Camargo, Fiorella Vera, Bruno Rosal, Fabio Miraglia, Leon Franchimont, Leandro Cancro, Valeria Calvino, Nicole Andrade
Character design: Black Madre Studio
Model sheet artist: Constanza Oroza
Storyboard: Walfrido Ozanan Monteiro
Animatic: Desi Garrido
Animation Director: YUCA, Desi Garrido
Animators: Alvaro Morote, Alvaro Castellanos, Desi Garrido, Ezequiel Garibay, Franco Salazar, Marc Vals Pla, Maricel Piazza, Pablo Toulouse, Rony Torres, Sonia Cortes, Lucas Flores, Cintia Czeszczewik
IB, Clean up & Color: Rafael Pires, Alan Mohamed, Alice Gelmini, Antonella Couzo, Augusto Cortegroso, Clara Riavec, Daniel Fernandez, Giovanna JahJah, Juan Pablo ‘’brujo’’ Barbieri, Julieta Soloaga, Leticia Apolinario, Margarita Alonso, Mariana Olguin, Melci Asto, Pedro Augusto Ferreira de Lima ‘’Pogo’’.
Fx Animators: Alejandro Briganti, Leo Campaz
Motion Design: Pedro Fernandez, Janaina da Veiga
Editor: Leonardo Salomão
Color grading: Johann Stollmeier
Assistant editor: Victor Matos, Paulo Navajas, Ricardo Jug
Painting Studio: ATELIÊ 39
Painting Lead: Ana Beatriz Artigas, João Paulo de Carvalho
Painting Artists: Messala Rautenberg, Gabriel Kleinke, Arturo Rodrigues, Barbara Haro, Luísa Covolan, Magu Bistafa, Luiza Silva, Efigenio Pavei Carvalho, Felipe Felas, Luiz Moreira, Maurício Valle, Laysllen Nunes
Compositing supervisor: Moamed Sampson
Compositing Artist: Santiago Suarez, Pedro Fernandez, Bernardo Vaz, Walter Silva, Gabriel Rocha
Prep/ Paint Artist: Felipe Balista, Lucas Felipe Pereira, Nícolas Nicolak
Rotoscoping: Leo Fion
Design: “Xinoby” Alexander Mojavi Dias
Account: Carol Cherobim, Camila Pires e Lu Krasa
Finance Department: Iza Lubiazi
Project manager: Amanda Oliveira
Production assistant: Eduardo Harger
Printing Studio: Farbewerk Fine Art Lab
Printing producer: Daniel Farbewerk
Still Frames: Felipe Novello, Johann Stollmeier
Finishing Editor: Ricardo Jug, Donmar
Making-of Filmmaker: João Paulo Derbli Marcowicz, Felipe Novello
Making-of Editor: Rodrigo Lazzareschi Aranha
Music Composition:
Studio: Supersonica
Compositors: Antonio Pinto e Gabriel Ferreira
Executive Producer: Marília Franco
Producer coordinator: Marília Franco e Cassia Garcia
Sound Production: Satelite Audio
Music Direction: Roberto Coelho, Hurso Ambrifi
Client Services: Fernanda Costa, Daniel Chasin, Renata Schincariol, and Karen Nakamura
Music Production: Roberto Coelho, Hurso Ambrifi, Daniel Iasbeck, Bruno Zibordi, Koitty, Alexandre Avicena, Pedro Pelotas, Luna França
Finishing: Carla Cornea, Vithor Moraes, Arthur Dossa, Andre Giannini, and Esteban Romero
Production Coordination: Camila Guedes, Letícia Oliveira, Bea Vieira, and Mariana Tardelli
W+K Mexico
Creative Director: Daniel Palala, María Lempicka
Art Director: Emilio Espinosa, Oswaldo Rodríguez
Copywriter: Rodrigo Ruiz Sparza, Ana Arce
Chief Creative Officer: Jessica Apellaniz
LatAm Chief Creative Officer: Rodrigo Jatene
Head of Production: Rodrigo Bonilla
Senior Producer: Ana Mijares
Senior Strategist: Sofía Gamiz
Strategist: Edalí Gutierrez
Head of Strategy: Jan Erhardt
Group Account Director: Samantha Herrera
Account Director: Estefanía Morgado
Account Executive: Michelle Castañeda
Project Manager: María Capozzi
President: Pablo de Arteaga
LatAm President: Andre Gustavo
Victoria
Marketing VP: Felipe Ambra
Head of Core Brands: Yune Aranguren
Victoria and National Brands Director: Gabriel Díaz Burgueño
Victoria Brand Manager: Elizabeth Rodriguez, Adolfo López
Victoria Brand Coordinator: Alfonso Borel
Special thanks: Floki, Meg
