Character Design + Animation Studio for Top Global Brands

Don’t just animate unforgettable characters.

Create invaluable IP
for your brand.

Turn characters into moneymaking monsters.

Creatures that sell. Icons that scale. Spokes-characters that never die.

To your audience, they’re unforgettable.

To your brand, they’re priceless.

Think of them as immortal ambassadors — the most valuable property your brand can own.

Stop renting attention. Start owning it.

Campaigns vanish. Ads get skipped. Media buys run out. But characters endure. A brand without character is a brand without a heartbeat. A brand chasing attention fades. A brand that wins builds relationships.

We love to help our clients create an indelible impact. And get promoted.

At Zookeeper, we believe the most valuable thing a brand can own isn’t a campaign — it’s a character. An icon. A face audiences rally around, trust instinctively and come back to long after the ads disappear. Because when you give a brand a character, you give it a story engine. A voice. A living asset that sells, scales and sticks in culture.

That’s why we don’t just animate. We engineer brand icons — characters that outlive slogans, outlast media buys and out-earn one-hit ads. Characters that never age, never quit and never get canceled.

This is what happens when you stop playing it safe. When you break out of the cage. When your brand finally is uncaged.

Our animation of Gritty, the NHL Philadelphia Flyers’ wildly popular mascot who’d never been animated before, was viewed by over a million eyeballs.

Zookeeper makes brands move.

What’s our story?

Zookeeper is your brand’s secret weapon — a rapid-response creative strike team trusted by world-class brands to move fast without sacrificing craft.

From pitch to post, we bring strategy, clarity and firepower when the stakes are high and the deadlines are pressing.

Our characters don’t just tell stories — they become the story. They grow into mascots, spokes-creature, and revenue-driving IP that brands use for years. Characters that carry campaigns, build platforms and become assets no competitor can steal.

Characters that deliver the goods, win attention and earn their keep.

And always like to rock.

Our Approach

Blend in with the herd. End up as a steak.

That’s the unspoken rule of marketing. Camouflage feels safe — until the butcher shows up.

We never design to blend in. We design characters that stick in culture, spark fandoms and make your brand impossible to ignore.

Because in a marketplace of copycats, only the unforgettable survive.

Our Approach

Featured Work

Chateau Marmont Hospitality Hotel Animation

Building Excitement for Komatsu

When Komatsu Europe debuted its new excavator at Bauma 2025, they turned to Zookeeper. Our animations didn’t just explain complex features — they drove results. Komatsu’s sales teams credited them with increasing sales directly. And on social? Our animations outperformed every other format they post — live-action, photos, everything — with the most likes and comments on their feeds.

Explore case study

There was huge customer interest in the PC220LCi – we had to put a barrier around the machine in the exhibition hall to control the crowds!

Once they got a closer look at it and sat in the new cab the feedback was off the scale! They clearly are all desperate to get their hands on the machine!

Onwards and upwards and thanks for all your help in creating the interest!

—Rob Macintyre, Komatsu

LIVE-ACTION PUPPET CASE STUDY

As seen on TV

Character Design

Characters Live Forever

We believe personality is what forges character — and character is what makes brands unforgettable.

We think character-first — strategy, style and story all built around a personality audiences can’t forget.

Because when you own a character, you don’t just run a campaign.

You own a universe.

PLAY OUR GUNSLINGERS GAME!

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Storytelling

Story Fuel

Characters spark emotion. Motion adds energy. Together, they fuel stories that move audiences — and move brands.

We take the complex and make it clear. The abstract and make it human. The ordinary and make it legendary. (And yes, we love hiding Easter eggs along the way.)

Because when animation connects, it doesn’t just draw an audience in. It makes them yours — forever.

Sports

MASCOTS ARE GAMEBREAKERS

We animated Gritty for the Philadelphia Flyers. We brought Southpaw to life for the Chicago White Sox. We’ve worked with ESPN, Nike, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Yankees — even designed logos for pro hockey teams and leagues. Why? Because mascots aren’t just costumes. They’re fan engines. They win hearts, ignite passion early and turn supporters into die-hards for life.

In sports, characters aren’t sidekicks. They’re gamebreakers. They thrill, unite and keep fans coming back for more and more and more.

Breakthrough Technology

THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL

When NBC calls needing a full animated show open in under a week — we deliver. When Gritty needs to be bigger than life — we make it happen.

By leveraging game-changing technologies like Rive, Spline and many more, we animate faster and more efficiently than ever to meet the exploding demand for content. We move at the speed brands now demand.

We deliver rapid-response animation at a monstrous scale. Character-driven. Story-fueled. Built to connect with fans on every screen, in every experience, everywhere.

Uncaging creative firepower since 1999

For over 25 years, Zookeeper has been infusing brands with personality and character. Along the way we’ve partnered with Fortune 100 companies, entertainment giants, ad agencies, production houses and sports teams to create work that doesn’t just win awards — it wins fans.

Today, we specialize in designing and animating characters that drive revenue and grow into brand assets used year after year.

Because campaigns vanish. But characters endure.

More about us

Brand Design

We speak brand

We’ve designed hundreds of logos, systems and creatures for brands that wanted more than just a mark — they wanted to build something unforgettable.

A brand isn’t a logo. It’s a voice, a stance, a story. Done right, it becomes a living asset that grows in value year after year.

From discovery to campaigns, from identity to interactivity, we fuse strategy with creative firepower to build brands that move. Strategy that turns a logo into a launchpad. It’s how brands scale, adapt and become iconic.

And when strategy meets character design and motion? That’s when brands stop blending in — and start sticking.

What our clients say

Love, love, love the look of it! You guys have been phenomenal to work with on this project! I think it turned out great. Thanks so much. Response has been terrific!
—Carole Angelo, NBC Universal

Working with Zookeeper has been a pleasure. The team has great artistic abilities and keeps a keen eye on where the medium is headed.
—Jesse McLean, TBS

Wanted to let you know how impressive the level of these illustrative animations are—especially with my background in motion design and graphics. This is a really nice looking cohesive package, so please pass along another artist’s congratulations and thank you to everyone involved.
—Tina Shaw, NBC Universal

Thanks again for all of your help on this, what you guys provided was key to visually explaining the story. Everyone I’ve talked to said they loved the animations, thought they were very cool and unique looking.
—Matt Schlef, Fox Sports

We worked with Zookeeper for our brand design and feel. They did such a great job with the logo that we’ve sold almost as many T-shirts as beers!
—Dan Malech, StormBreaker Brewing