Christmas looms ever closer and the festive ad war is in full swing. Sainsbury’s storytelling had much to live up to following their smash-hit Mog the Cat of last year, which saw off the much lauded competition in the ratings battle to become their most successful Christmas ad to date.

Back with another feel good festive offering, this year’s musical style ad tells the tale of a father who’s struggling to spend time with his family, so creates toy versions of himself so he can leave work over Christmas and return home for the festivities.

Again proving we have plenty of talent to rival the capital’s best, Manchester-based animation company Mackinnon and Saunders created the stunning three-minute stop-frame animation ad. The intricate sets and puppets took 16 weeks to build, with more than 180 staff involved from conception through to final film delivery! The ad also contains the first use of full colour 3D printed puppets in animation, in the UK.

The ground-breaking campaign will raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital’s charity with profits from a gingerbread “Dave” and an animation kit sold in-store.

If you fancy getting in the Christmassy spirit, watch the ad here.