Dairy Farmers of Canada "Mia & Morton" (2017) 3:39 (Canada)

Set to a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Don't stop," this animated short tells the story of Morton and his daughter Mia. Big bearded Morton owns a traditional cheese shop, and is a nice guy but a little glum and really tied to tradition. Mia wants to see him win the international cheese competition but with each entry his traditional cheese only ever comes in third or second. The years go by and Mia learns a lot about cheesemaking from Morton as she grows up and even makes her own creative kind. The red flecks of crayon she used to draw on the cheese paper as a child have now been replaced by actual colored paper. Morton is going grey and his disappointment has grown, too. Mia's optimism isn't working on him as she believes her cheese could win but he just isn't convinced. But one night as he's tucking her in, the family cat goes prying at Mia's cheese in its perfect red and white wrapper. Morton shoos it away and then tries it. A look of appreciation covers his face. Next morning, they go to the cheese competition. Unbeknownst to Mia, Morton has entered her cheese. The traditional cheese has been replaced with creative cheese. And not only does Mia win the first place ribbon, and the respect of Morton, she pins the first place ribbon him. The film ends with the traditional cheese shop now adorned in red and white, (nice nod to Canada's flag, by the way) as daughter has taken over. What's brilliant about this, beyond the great emotional storytelling, is the idea that Canada's approach to cheesemaking is routed in traditional but they've gone beyond it to craft something unique. Mia had to learn the rules before she broke them but when she did, she made something really great.

Client: Dairy Farmers of canada
Agency: DDB Canada