"Herding Cats," a 60-second epic tale created by Minneapolis-based Fallon McElligott, is set in the genre of the great American Western Movie -- only with house cats assuming the role generally held by cattle. It follows the brave men and women responsible for moving thousands of house cats across the Great Plains. As the spot unfolds, the viewer sees a realistic portrayal of the life of a cat herder -- riding the range, herding and roping, even quelling the occasional stampede.

The Talent
The balance of subtle humor and incredible special effects needed to create this commercial required a unique combination of talent. Director John O'Hagan was chosen for his documentary-style direction and ability to work with real people. This experience was highly valuable, considering most of the stars of this commercial are not actors, but real cowboys from ranches in California, Colorado and New Mexico.

Creatively, this was an extremely challenging concept to execute. For example, the cats and horses didn't act together -- their scenes were shot separately and compiled in post-production. There were actually only about 60 cats (specially trained sleeping cats, running cats, swimming cats, etc.) and 13 cat trainers on the set. Through the magic of cutting edge computer graphics, Hollywood special effects house Sight Effects digitally cloned the cats, making it look like there were thousands of cats being herded in the finished spot.