Uncommon's powerful stop motion ad for WWF highlights the global challenges facing wildlife

Created by London studio Uncommon, the advert uses the meticulous art of stop motion – a first for WWF. Led by award-winning director Noah Harris through Agile Films, the production comprised over six weeks of intricate model-making and set-building, followed by a painstaking two-week shoot to create the film. The work was also crafted in collaboration with an experienced team behind stop-motion masterpieces such as Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs.

In the film, we see the story of a young girl unfold – a symbol of people power – rallying a crowd to protect a threatened wild jaguar as it flees the faceless threat of deforestation amongst the chaos of the burning rainforest.

It concludes in the girl’s bedroom, where we see a charcoal drawing of the endangered jaguar, however, this drawing echoes something far more significant; it was created using charcoal from trees destroyed in a recent rainforest fire. The very rainforests donations go towards protecting. Ending in this familiar environment also emphasises how you at home can make a difference with a single monthly donation, and how collectively, these donations can be world-changing.

"The idea of animal adoption is one people are familiar with, but this is about understanding that you are adopting far more than just a jaguar or a panda, you are adopting a different future," says Nils Leonard from Uncommon. "For all of us. Because it’s all connected. Saving our wildlife is saving ourselves."

Fanny Calder from WWF adds: "We often feel that, as individuals, we are helpless to stop the destruction of nature. But when we think of ourselves as a collective, we have real power. To end deforestation – one of the biggest threats currently facing the future of our planet – it is essential that people and nature work with one another, not against. An area of forest the size of South America has already been cleared to grow the world’s crops, and this destruction is putting treasured wildlife species such as the jaguar in extreme danger."

Launching ahead of Christmas, the new advert made its debut on national television this week. It will also screen in cinemas across the UK from 22 November.