It's Friday! Like George the Volcanicity Volcano used to say… it's time to get out there and grab life by the conkers! #ytpmv subs-titute: https://nekocap.com/view/pQ4cWR3QIC download link: https://file.garden/Zp6lvuAeqTJ1hsEe/ytpmv/public/Drink%20It%2C%20Alan.wav BGM: Timbaland (ft. Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake) - Give It To Me (112.246% Speed) no bgm: _switch audio track to "Afar" in player settings_ ─────────────── Brief rundown: tail end of the previous month brought me back to the ads that have long been a fixture in my work, with a George-versus-Alan approach that had a clearer angle than my circa-'21 "Stronger Than You(r Birds)" rough draft. Since the BGM hadn't been a frequent choice for this extent of coverage (see also: https://youtu.be/mJclm5BXK9s), it felt like an alright time to tackle it; audio-wise, the instrumental's clarity didn't require any intensive stem isolation which, mercifully, simplified the workflow. Though I can spot a few visual liberties I would tighten up if given a second pass, it all boils down to my interest in the source itself (+ volcano voice talent) while making the most of its British humour But beyond their status within this niche, there are details independent of https://youtu.be/f7kA4ebNymM that easily warrant their _own_ extent of coverage here: * When agency Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe Y&R decided to steer the brand's motifs "squarely into left field," it was already a departure from the original plan to make a science-heavy, "L'Oréal-institute-type-ad" about minerals. The set may look like an exotic prehistoric wasteland, but it was built inside a hot studio in Acton, West London; puppeteers Jonny&Will collaborated with Owen Gundry & co. to create hundreds of trees, miniature waterfalls, and foam insects by hand to populate the jungle. Director Simon Willows considered the aesthetic enough of a breakthrough that he designated the puppets as the hero image for his iWeb site: https://web.archive.org/web/20090325104553/http://web.mac.com/simonwillows/iWeb/willows/Home.html * While industry reports projected six, only four were finalised for the "Volcanicity" campaign. Since mid-April '07 is cited as the general launch, the specific debut of the eponymous first spot remains elusive, even if https://www.davidreviews.com/Reviews/2007/Volvic_Talking_Volcano/ points toward the 16th. In addition, a higher-quality version of the last one (dubbed _Carnivorous Plotting_ per creative Jonathan Thake) was largely missing from the web until the VHiStory Project digitized fresh masters in early '24: https://youtu.be/Ew2zuJ3AnHI?t=67 * Matt Berry was sought out to portray George the Volcano, and to be a foil, Tom Goodman-Hill was chosen for his "weedy cockney" turn as Tyrannosaurus Alan. Curiously, the latter was long misidentified online as the work of a Rick Buckley... possibly a nom de plume? In any case, Tom's got the talent (linked below) * George's claim that the water "grabs life by the conkers" is a rather British euphemism for "grabbing life by the balls," as if "to take the bull by the horns" with the tough seeds used in one of their traditional children's games. A modern parallel would kick off the second chapter of James Rolfe's """Gnome Cave""" with a nearly identical declaration: "Let's grab the world by the balls!" * Following a debut on the telly, a massive redesign of volvic.co.uk was handled by Saint, a then-new digital agency founded as an offshoot by the creative leads at RKCR/Y&R. As an interactive Flash experience, "The Land of Volcanicity" became the primary source for additional Volvic sound clips, heard through oddities such as a "Stone Age Shootout" game where players help Alan snuff out Sabre-toothed tigers to test their 'alertness gauge,' and an eCard tool where users could sequence aggressive George insults to 'revive' colleagues in a mid-afternoon slump. Save for https://youtu.be/F8Asbk2vq9o, supplementary site footage only exists thanks to the efforts of alanthetrex (linked below) * A forgotten component of the rollout would be the official blog for George on Microsoft Live Spaces (volcanogeorge.spaces.live.com), where much of the 'lore' was explored through absurdist first-person musings from the volcano himself. This was never archived on the Wayback Machine and is considered lost... however, a handful of entries salvaged by a Facebook group reveal a surreal expansion of George's dark wit and part of his day-to-day dynamic with Alan: https://biffy.neocities.org/volcanogeorge.txt Works cited: * https://web.archive.org/web/20070529204933/http://www.framestore-cfc.com/commercials/volvic_volcanicity/ * https://jthake.com/mr-volcano * https://jonnyandwill.com/portfolio/volvic * https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/brand-barometer-prehistoric-duo-give-volvic-boost/668324 * https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/volvic-volcanicity-rainey-kelly-campbell-roalfe-y-r/885685 * https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/work-new-campaigns-uk/672416