Röret - Animated Tv Show

The Birth of Sylvester

‍When Alaska and Snowbird approached us to sketch an animated character for a potential children’s show, we were naturally thrilled and excited. At this early stage, there weren’t any specific ideas about what kind of character we would create, and various animals were proposed.

Andreas quickly developed a style for a bear that everyone immediately loved, and the first version of Sylvester was born. At this point, he was redder in color and had a rather stern appearance.

‍

Brown Bear!

After an initial pitch, we received support from SVT to further develop the project. Our focus then shifted entirely to refining Sylvester, turning him into a character that audiences would genuinely want to see exploring everything from the human body to outer space.

Before long, Sylvester adopted a much browner appearance and was restyled into something much closer to the final version.

‍

The pilot

Later, we produced a pilot. In this version, other children participated and were assisted by Sylvester, but the tone and dynamics between the characters were not as developed as in the final production.

At this stage, Sylvester's dialogue was still not particularly polished, and his personality came across as much grumpier and edgier than it would eventually become. For the pilot, the scriptwriter Petter Bristav temporarily provided the voice acting for Sylvester, before Kodjo Akolor joined the project.

‍

Green Light

When the project finally received the green light for production, we carried out an extensive and thorough refinement of Sylvester. It was during this phase that he received his current color palette, which enhanced his visual identity.
We fine-tuned everything from his facial expressions to his movement patterns to ensure the character seamlessly aligned with Kodjo Akolor’s voice acting. This allowed Sylvester to convey emotions and humor in a natural and engaging way.
This update marked a significant milestone for the project and set the tone for the remainder of the production.

Storyboard

The storyboards for all episodes were created internally at Konkret before the actual production began. The storyboard process is a central part of our workflow, where we visualize the entire episode in detail, scene by scene, to ensure the story works both visually and narratively.

Once the storyboards are completed, we transition to creating animatics—a moving version of the storyboard with basic timing and movements. Animatics act as a blueprint for the final animation, allowing us to test and adjust rhythm, transitions, and compositions before moving on to the more time-intensive animation phase.

It’s in these early stages that we lay the foundation for what will later become the finished animated sequence. Episode 8’s storyboard, which focuses on trash and recycling, captures these details and sets the stage for the episode's exploration of environmental themes.

‍

Cel animation

During the animation process for Röret, we primarily used After Effects for character rigging, environments, and general 2D animation. To enhance certain scenes, we also incorporated elements of 3D animation, especially when depth and dynamics were needed in the environments.

In addition to these approaches, we extensively used traditional cel animation, where each frame in a sequence is hand-drawn.

The combination of these techniques gave Röret its final style and allowed us to achieve the desired quality while maintaining a good production pace. This blend of methods enabled us to balance efficiency with the craftsmanship required for the project’s unique visual identity.

‍