Sixty40: Making Myer’s magical Christmas rocket ship lift

This year, Myer Sydney has transformed its sixth floor into a magical place by IdeaWorks, called Wonderland. The entire floor, including kids apparel, toys, the famous Giftorium, Santaland and the Christmas Shop has been recreated “for shoppers to experience their land of wondrous imaginings”.

IdeaWorks: Myer becomes Wonderland

And to get there, Myer customers whoosh skyward in a magical rocket ship ride. The sixth floor lift has been transformed into a fantasy experience by Sydney animation house, Sixty40, led by director, Kyra Bartley.

The experience is designed to get people excited about exploring Wonderland by Myer. Not only does it simulate soaring beyond the CBD’s skyscrapers, it also gives riders a taste of the characters and whimsical environment awaiting them.

Bartley and her team of artists, from Sydney, Paris, Columbia and Phnom Penh, created a series of experiential animated films for the lift that brought to life the hand-illustrated world of Wonderland.

The experience was built around the illustrations created by Dean Mortensen, Bartley and her team imagined how they could be brought to life as animations, adding characters, ships and details to flesh out the immersive world that covers a 270 degree view from the lift.

“We wanted to populate our lift world with quirky elements that would really draw people into the space,” Bartley explained.

“There’s so much intricately drawn detail included that you’d be hard pressed seeing every detail, meaning no ride is ever the same, giving passengers a new experience each and every time.”

Sixty40 creative director, Simon Robson, added, “As soon as we took the brief, it was immediately apparent that it was a quintessential Kyra Bartley job…knowing her well and her love for the detailed and eccentric, I had no doubt that she would excel on the treatment and give the job every minute she could.”

For the Myer rocket ship lift, IdeaWorks creative director, James Griffiths, wanted to create a grand entrance to Wonderland by Myer above the clouds, “From the moment you step in and are greeted by our little critter, you are transported to a retail entrance like nothing else on Earth and really feel like you are being rocketed to another world,” Griffiths says. “It has been a pleasure to work alongside Kyra and the Sixty40 team and craft new ways to tell our Wonderland story.”

Creative Credits:

Client: Myer

Agency: IdeaWorks Sydney
Creative director: James Griffiths
Copy lead: Jen Dobbie
Art lead: Tom Denton
Illustrator, Dean Mortensen @ Scenes by Dean
Content producer: Jay Jenkins
Managing director: Danny Lattouf

Production company: Sixty40
Director: Kyra Bartley
Executive creative director: Simon Robson
Executive producer Sixty40: Will Alexander
Executive producer Heckler: Bonnie Law
Producer: Charu Menon