Toys”R”Us Studios and Native Foreign Utilize OpenAI’s Sora to Narrate the Origin Story of the Beloved Toys”R”Us® Brand

By DaMarko Webster

Toys”R”Us is setting new standards by creating the first-ever brand film with OpenAI’s groundbreaking text-to-video tool, Sora. The film was a collaboration between Toys”R”Us Studios and the Emmy-nominated creative agency Native Foreign. The agency’s Chief Creative, who has early access to Sora, partnered with the global toy brand to debut the film at the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival during an exclusive LBB Beach event in France.

The film, titled “The Origin of Toys”R”Us,” was co-produced by Kim Miller Olko, Toys”R”Us Studios President and four-time Emmy Award-winning producer, and directed by Nik Kleverov of Native Foreign. Sora’s capabilities include generating realistic one-minute videos with multiple characters from text descriptions. The film tells the story of founder Charles Lazarus and how his vision revolutionized toy stores, featuring the beloved mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe in a dream sequence that encapsulates the brand’s magic. The full film is available at https://toysrus.com/studios.

“Charles Lazarus was ahead of his time, and we wanted to honor his legacy with cutting-edge technology,” said Kim Miller Olko, Toys”R”Us Global Chief Marketing Officer and President of Toys”R”Us Studios. “Our goal is to capture the nostalgia and emotional connection of Toys”R”Us in innovative ways. Partnering with Native Foreign to push the boundaries of OpenAI’s Sora is thrilling. Toys”R”Us is about dreams and endless possibilities.”

Nik Kleverov, Chief Creative Officer at Native Foreign, added, “The creative industry is undergoing a renaissance, similar to Toys”R”Us. Using Sora, we told this story with incredible speed and efficiency. Toys”R”Us is the perfect brand to adopt this AI-forward strategy, and we are excited to lead the next wave of innovative storytelling with them.”

The collaboration with OpenAI’s Sora allowed Toys”R”Us Studios and Native Foreign to realize their concept within weeks, reducing hundreds of iterative shots to a few dozen. The film was primarily created using Sora, with additional VFX and an original score by Aaron Marsh of Copeland.