Celebrating a Century of Insight: The New Yorker Animated Film

N.Y.C.’s ROOF Studio has collaborated with Le Truc, the creative collective within Publicis Groupe, along with The Condé Nast Creative Marketing Team and Human, to produce an animated film that honors the 100th anniversary of The New Yorker. This film encapsulates the magazine’s unwavering insights and perspectives on literature, art, culture, and current events, turning the pages of history one iconic cover at a time. It presents a sweeping portrait of The New Yorker’s profound impact on the world.

A Multi-Faceted Campaign

The 60-second film is part of a larger campaign that includes 30-second and 15-second versions, as well as social media cutdowns, ensuring a broad reach across platforms.

A Surreal Honor

“It was a surreal honor to work on this project,” shared Guto Terni, Co-Founder of ROOF Studio and the film’s director. “We’re celebrating 100 years of a weekly magazine that hasn’t just reported on history — it has actively shaped it. Each cover serves as a time capsule, and viewing them in sequence feels like witnessing history unfold through the lens of art.”

Artistic Inspiration

The animations flow seamlessly from one pivotal moment to the next, inspired by a poetic script crafted by The New Yorker and Le Truc. This script revolves around the theme “One Hundred Years of…” highlighting the breadth and universality of The New Yorker’s stories throughout the last century. The voiceover embodies a tone of intellectual curiosity, subtle irony, and cultural sharpness, characteristic of The New Yorker, with each line prompting a visual inquiry.

Reflective Storytelling

“The script isn’t a straightforward narrative; it’s a collection of reflections on the world through a human lens that invites you to pause, think, laugh, and cry,” explained Terni. “In visually translating these reflections, we selected covers that resonated with the tone of each line, adding layers of emotion and symbolism for the viewer.”

Innovative Approach to Animation

To create the film, ROOF meticulously reviewed over 5,000 New Yorker covers, departing from conventional storyboarding techniques. They adopted an experimental approach that explored the thematic and tonal connections between each piece of periodical art. The ROOF team skillfully manipulated composition, positioning, scale, and transitional devices to infuse the animation with the dynamism necessary to support the script-driven film.

Emotional Resonance

“We had a blast discovering unique ways to pair the ‘anchor’ covers with the various beats and themes expressed in the script,” Terni added. “With each visual we selected, it was crucial that the emotional connection was there — resonating with the essence of what The New Yorker represents.”

Advanced Search Tools

ROOF developed an internal search tool that tagged each cover with comprehensive metadata — including theme, color palette, composition, keywords, and historical context. For instance, typing “triangle” would instantly reveal decades of geometric layouts. This innovative system allowed the team to efficiently organize their findings and match each script beat with the most impactful image.

A Harmonious Conclusion

The project culminated in a whimsically rhythmic arrangement of “Rhapsody in Blue,” produced by the music company Human.

A Creative Journey

“Creating each chapter of this film was a journey in itself, and blending it all together with fluidity and emotional depth was a creatively fulfilling process,” Terni remarked. “The key was to remain true to the editorial voice of The New Yorker. It’s a magazine that examines the world closely, with both wit and honesty.”