Kong Studio animate book promo ‘Masquerades Of Spring’

Kong Studio, whose recent high-profile projects include Quentin Blake’s Box of Treasures series for the BBC, Don’t Shoot music video for Fulham FC midfielder Alex Iwobi, and animation and design for Smart Energy and Royal Mail campaigns, announced the release of a ‘ritzy’ music video inspired by the latest novel from best-selling author Ben Aaronovitch.

Taking inspiration from key scenes from Ben’s latest novella The Masquerades of Spring, the animated book promotion blends influences from both the Harlem 1920s art scene and the Art Deco movement. The fun fusion of literature, music, and animation, set against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance, is Kong’s second musical creation of 2024.

The animation, produced by Kong Studio’s directing duo Elliott Baker, showcases the studio’s signature of top-quality hand-drawn animation blending with seamless motion design, built on the foundations of researching a new and informa8ve subject matter. In this case the history, aesthetics and music of 1920s New York. Viewers will be transported to a reimagined Manhattan, where magic shimmies beneath the city’s vibrant diverse surface.

Ben’s ‘Rivers of London’ book series displays a clear fascination and deep knowledge of location and history. When Ben approached us about this project, it lent itself to many of Kong’s strengths. A love of art, history, and the joy of taking a deep dive into a fascinating subject matter. In this case, the location had changed from London to 1920s New York, a time and era we were happy to explore. And getting to read the yet-to-be-published novella for our pitch, is as good as a pitch gets.

–Bill Elliott, Kong Co-Founder

The collaboration between Kong Animation Studio and author Ben Aaronovitch represents a ‘novel’ approach to book promotion, creating a piece of wizardry somewhere between a music video and a book teaser.

It’s an astonishing experience to wave your hands about and gabble in an incoherent manner and then have a talented group of people produce exactly what you imagined.

-Ben Aaronovitch