Watch a Chimp Ponder Eternity for Royal Ontario Museum

Channeling 2001, sans monolith

Broken Heart Love Affair’s epic campaign for the Royal Ontario Museum just evolved in a surprising direction, brimming with CGI swagger and Kubrickian style.

Following this impressive 6-minute film from 2022, ROM returns this week with “Opera.” It’s half the length of its predecessor, but manages to cram 3 billion years of Earth history into 180 seconds.

The story follows an inquisitive chimpanzee—named Luna by the production crew—who surely ranks as the most impressive adland primate since Cadbury’s gorilla kept the beat.

Set to the sweeping strains of “L’elisir d’amore,” the work takes a novel route to convey a deep sense of wonder.

“The choice of the aria was deeply personal and intentional, and rooted in my childhood memories, Jaimes Zentil, co-CCO at Broken Heart Love Affair, tells Muse. “My dad used to play opera on Saturday mornings—always with a glass of wine in hand—and it became part of the atmosphere of our home.”

“From the beginning, the aria was woven into the script, not as an afterthought, but as an emotional anchor,” Zentil says. “When the team played it for the clients, it was clear how effortlessly it connected with the story and its themes of life, death, love and joy.”

He adds: “Even without understanding the language or lyrics, you can feel the emotion behind it. This heartfelt connection helped shape the campaign’s ability to convey the profound drama of nature and the stories within ROM’s collection.”

Juxtaposing that grand, yearning score with the saga of a chimp pays off. It forces a shift of mental perspective, inviting viewers to consider weighty subjects in fresh ways.

With a human focus, the mind-bending scenario—staged by Revolver director Rune Milton—wouldn’t work as well. The message would feel too familiar.

Instead, we watch our simian cousin—an element sure to spark conversation—seeking to make sense of the unknown. By extension, she encourages us to learn more about our place in the natural world. (With help from the museum, of course.)

“The production team worked carefully to infuse the chimpanzee with a sense of humanity, starting with using a real actor and dancer to bring the character to life,” recalls Craig McIntosh, also an agency CCO.

That performer, Jennifer Rose, “meticulously mimicked the chimpanzee’s movements while mouthing the lyrics of the operatic aria,” he says. “Every take was a full performance, with the actor embodying the emotion and physicality of the role, adding depth and authenticity.”

Though her image was ultimately replaced by digital graphics, “the humanity she conveyed remained intact,” McIntosh says. “Her expressive portrayal allowed audiences to emotionally connect with the chimpanzee, representing humanity’s shared experiences with nature.”

Watching the chimp sing along with the aria “enables viewers to project their own empathy onto the character in a way that felt poignant and personal,” he adds.

It’s a tad jarring. But never ridiculously. In context, the approach simply fits.

“We got complete creative freedom to do what we felt is necessary and right for the film,” says Chemistry CD Michael Baile. “Everything you see is human-made. No AI has been used. Everything was animated by hand.”

“The performer was crucial for realistic and beautiful movement, but we were also challenged with a torso that is different from that of a human,” he says. “Finding that balance of beauty, but not being uncanny, took a lot of fine-tuning.”

The film will air across cinemas and online venues around Toronto, with OOH providing support.