Cozy up to a Christmas carol treat with the warm ‘n fuzzy music video for “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year” — a brand-new track for the deluxe re-release of Ingrid Michaelson’s 2018 album Songs for the Season, recorded as a duet with her friend, actress/singer Zooey Deschanel.
“Anyone who knows me knows that I start celebrating Christmas in September and I cherish this time of the year so very much,” said Emmy-nominated singer-songwriter Michaelson.
Michaelson wanted to bring the song to life with a stop-motion video that would remind viewers of all things Christmas. Deschanel recommended the perfect artistic match in Hornet director Andrea Love, who specializes in animating with needle felted wool.
“For this video, I told Zooey I wanted an old-fashioned stop animation video like Rudolph,” Michaelson recalled. “She showed me Andrea Love’s work and I was smitten. We reached out to Andrea and she was on board instantly! It all just fell into place in such a lovely, natural way. I love all of it so much.”
Love recruited the help of her Tulip co-creator Phoebe Wahl, and they set out to create an ode to all things merry and bright: crackling fires, cozy sweaters and a charming duo of woodland creatures in search of the perfect Christmas tree. Love and Wahl came up with the concept for Bunny and Rabbit’s holiday quest, creating the character illustrations and set designs.
“My goal was to make it the cutest, coziest, warmest video ever,” said Love. “It’s supposed to be a little over the top, but almost in a ‘I can’t stop watching this and I need more’ kind of way.”
The film was completed over the course of three months in Love’s home studio. “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year” combines Love’s touchably soft wool fiber aesthetic with illustrator Wahl’s whimsical, folksy designs to create seasonal magic. Of course, there were a few tricky bits to contend with.
“I had never done felted-snow before. So figuring out how to make it different shades and colors rather than one blob of white, and figuring out the lighting so as not to overexpose it — that was a fun & challenging learning experience,” Love noted. The director also had to figure out how to make sturdy set pieces like furniture, ladders and clock-hands out of soft felt.
Learn more about the making of “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year” at hellohornet.com. You can also find more of Andrea Love’s work here and on Instagram @andreaanimates.
