Sacha Beeley directs A Song For Pubes, a funny and playful animated spot for razor brand Venus

The Strange Beast animator has created a one-minute musical that aims to normalise the narrative around pubic hair, commissioned by Townhouse, Venus.

Date
21 May 2021

Share

In a new animation for razor brand Venus, London-based Sacha Beeley – who’s also part of The Greenhouse, a talent development programme for developing directors at Strange Beast – directs a singing and dancing spot around the topic of pubic hair. Created in response to the news that although half of US women feel that it’s more accurate to use the anatomical description, i.e. using the word “pubic”, only 18 per cent are using the term, according to the press release. A Song For Pubes sheds light on this topic and strives to reclaim the narrative around the use of language when describing bodies, presented in signature cartoony Beeley style.

Beeley is known for her playful character development, having previously released a charming and whacky music video for Babeheaven, plus a couple of vibrant idents for Adult Swim’s show Squidbillies. For this latest release, Beeley has directed and animated an equally playful film – a one-minute spot that gives a nod to West End theatrics and the musical ensembles of Disney. “Designing the character was such a funny stage of the project,” Beeley tells It’s Nice That. “I loved playing around with loopy, bouncy limbs to create a kind of character out of a pube. It took some reworking to get her to look the right level between shy and sassy, and not just like a freaky bug on the bathroom wall.”

Above

Sacha Beeley: Still from A Song For Pubes, Venus. (Copyright © Sacha Beeley, 2021)

Beeley was briefed to include Venus’ ongoing theme of the bathroom, a setting that consistently pops up in its campaigns and a place that the razor is typically used. Beeley often builds her own animated scenes in the bathroom, so she was able to draw from her wealth of experience in the field. “To tell you the truth, I looked back at the bathroom from my grad film, Big Toast, for inspiration. It will always be my favourite,” she says. “I usually have a shot with some taps in it, so the landscape was already in my comfort zone.”

Fitting with the musical genre aesthetic, Beeley pulled inspiration from the film Chicago. “I referenced where [the protagonist] weaves around mirrors as she sings. I thought that was a good movement to include at the beginning of the pube song, while the pace was still fairly slow and the pube is feeling a bit downbeat, looking at her reflection in the toothbrush holder. Another theatrical moment I like from the pube film is when the grey pube leaps across the bathtub singing, ‘no need to be ashaaamed!’ The vocals just made me laugh as it’s so operative, it deserved to be an extra goofy movement.”

A Song For Pubes is a lighthearted and comical ensemble, featuring fun characters, a joyful tone of voice, plus a colour palette of golds, blues, blush pinks and pastels. “The colours were a mixture of the brand’s palette and my own, and I added elements of pearly and iridescent colours to match the Venus products which I haven’t done before,” adds Beeley. “It’s something that I’m pleased with and will probably try out in future projects.

Head here to watch the film.

Above

Sacha Beeley: Still from A Song For Pubes, Venus. (Copyright © Sacha Beeley, 2021)

Hero Header

Sacha Beeley: Still from A Song For Pubes, Venus. (Copyright © Sacha Beeley, 2021)

Share Article

About the Author

Ayla Angelos

Ayla is a London-based freelance writer, editor and consultant specialising in art, photography, design and culture. After joining It’s Nice That in 2017 as editorial assistant, she was interim online editor in 2022/2023 and continues to work with us on a freelance basis. She has written for i-D, Dazed, AnOther, WePresent, Port, Elephant and more, and she is also the managing editor of design magazine Anima. 

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.