© 2021 by Matt Doering

Zombies: The

Re-Animated Series

I had the pleasure of Art Directing Zombies: The Re-Animated Series (Disney Channel / Disney+) a CG-animated continuation of the hit Zombies franchise produced by Disney TV Animation in partnership with vendor animation studio Atomic Cartoons in Vancouver.

Art Direction Overview

Set in the town of Seabrook, the franchise follows humans and monsters (zombies, werewolves, and aliens) learning to coexist.


When I joined the project, the team – led by development Art Director Sierra Lewis and EPs Jack Ferriolo and Aliki Theofilopoulos – was reworking concept art based on feedback from an early animation test. I was brought on to help evolve the show’s visual direction and guide our vendor studio toward a stronger CG translation of the franchise for series production.

Characters

We wanted to explore a “stylized naturalism” for our CG characters models – grounded, comic-book-inspired proportions paired with expressive facial features.


To kick off production, I painted CG-style character busts of Addison, Zed, and Eliza, to get an idea of how Philip Light’s 2D designs would translate into CG while preserving their live-action likenesses (a top priority for our EPs).


During early design production with Atomic Cartoons, I provided detailed draw-overs on Addison, Zed, and Eliza’s turnarounds to guide their live-action likenesses, appeal, and consistency for successful modeling. This stage was also key in locking down their comic book–inspired hero proportions, reinforcing the show’s stylized naturalism.


Note – Click & drag the arrows below for before & after reveal


Below are Addison, Zed, and Eliza’s final models which include notes I provided through modeling and look dev stages!


Completing the Cast

Finalizing Addison, Zed, and Eliza gave our partner studio design team a strong foundation for designing the rest of the cast. Bucky and Willa proved the most challenging – I worked closely with our partners to help define their final looks and ensure they aligned with the show’s set character style.


Our partner studio – gaining confidence – was then able to design the rest of our main character cast members with reduced levels of notes and draw overs from me. For example, the final designs of Bree and Wynter were quite close to their original roughs passes.


Here is the final line up of main characters which includes my character design and color art direction.


Below is a selection of stills from the series featuring our main cast members!


Environments

When we began designing key environments for the series, we had a few early concept pieces to work from – our favorite being a painting of Seabrook High School by artist Amy Q. Huang. That artwork gave us a solid foundation for developing new locations. I collaborated closely with our partner studio to bring the concept to a final, producible level – warming up the color palette, defining the front quad, and finalizing the loose design of the werewolf wing on the school's right side.


Note – Click & drag the arrows below for before & after reveal


Below are examples of the completed CG Set Design of Seabrook High School!


Our standard design process between the Disney TVA team (myself) and Atomic Cartoons followed a consistent rhythm. I’d gather reference materials and outline design goals based on feedback from our EPs and writing team. As design passes came in, I provided a mix of handwritten notes, additional references, draw-overs, and paint-overs to help guide our partner studio. Depending on the need, my feedback ranged from loose notes – like in the "rough design" example below – to more polished paint-overs that clarified color relationships, as seen in the "color design" example. The level of detail varied based on schedule, resources, and EP direction.


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Below are examples of the completed CG Set Design of the Cafeteria!


Occasionally, some designs needed more specific direction. In those cases, I provided tighter draw-overs, more specific reference materials, and clear color direction to help guide our partner studio forward. For example, in the Hanukkah themed set design shown below, the team delivered a strong final execution based directly on my notes.


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Below are examples of the completed CG Hanukkah Set Decor in the Gymnasium!


Color and Style Guides

As we expanded the world of Zombies, it became clear we needed a unified color theory and design system to ensure each "faction" – Humans, Zombies, Werewolves, Aliens, and Witches – had distinct, instantly recognizable visual identities. I reverse-engineered the live action films’ color logic and created a series of color guides for our partner studio, removing as much guesswork as possible and helping streamline the design process.


Note – Click the edges of the guides to flip through guide pages.


Below is a gallery of Human World assets color designed with the help of this guide.


Below is a gallery of Zombie World assets color designed with the help of this guide.


Below is a gallery of Witch World assets color designed with the help of this guide.


Below is a gallery of Alien World assets color designed with the help of this guide.


Music Sequence Design

While our partner studio was focused on world building, I used intermittent free time early in Season 1 to plan out and elevate our show's music sequences, one of my favorite elements of the show! Below are examples of music sequences that I either designed myself, or art directed in partnership with a small internal team of Disney-side artists. This exploration set the standard of creativity and imagination for later Season 1 music sequences.


Below is a selection of stills from the final "When Worlds Collide" music sequence!

Note – Click the edges of the guides to flip through guide pages.

Below is a selection of stills from the final "Free Period" music sequence!

Below is a selection of stills from the final "Endless Summer" music sequence!

Production Design

While many Zombies episodes used standard daytime lighting and existing model assets, a few outliers required full start to finish production design to achieve unique visual goals – my favorite part of the job! The episode "The Dining” was the most rewarding challenge, as it demanded a wide tonal range: from bright and cheerful to eerie and outright horrific. Each moment needed to feel appropriately spooky for our audience, while staying playful and cohesive within the world’s color language. Note – Click the edges of the guides to flip through guide pages.


Model Revisions

As assets moved into modeling, I put together detailed draw-overs to help our partner studio get a clearer sense of the character appeal we were aiming for – refining structure, anatomy, and ensuring style consistency along the way.


Note – Click & drag the arrows below for before & after reveal


Below are episode stills of the finalized Barky, Bucky, Zoey, Harley, and Stefan models.


Bucky and Barky – “When Bucky met Barky”

Zoey with Addison – “When Bucky Met Bark”

Harley – “Youngins and Dragons”

Stefan – “When Bucky Met Barky”

Look Dev Revisions

The partner studio’s Look Dev department – led by the talented Sonia Fornasari – had a strong grasp on asset surfacing and look development, requiring minimal oversight. I occasionally stepped in to provide detailed guidance, such as a comprehensive guide for consistent zombie complexion, fine-tuning costume details for main cast members, or quick paint-overs to balance character makeup.


Note – Click the edges of the guides to flip through guide pages.


Lighting Post Production

While staying involved in production, I worked closely with our Executive Producers and Production Teams to review lit animation coming in from our partners. I’d flag lighting retakes and provide draw-overs or artwork when needed to help bring each episode to final. Most of the time, the notes were simple – like tweaking shadows on a character’s face or fixing lighting continuity between shots. But occasionally, we’d need to plus a moment to improve appeal, make the storytelling clearer, or help a scene feel more grounded in reality.


Note – Click & drag the arrows below for before & after reveal


Thank you!!


Thank you for taking the time to review this portfolio! Pictured right is Matt with the California (Disney) side Zombies: The Re-Animated Series Team on our series launch day summer 2024.

All "Zombies: The Re-Animated Series" images © Disney Television Animation.