Red Wings
Reawakening a sleeping giant. Explore how Tenet crafted a dark, powerful, and mysterious in-arena teaser for the legendary Detroit Red Wings hockey club.
(YEAR)
2025
(TIMELINE)
2 Weeks
(SERVICES)
Experiential
Character Animation
Working with a legendary Original Six team like the Detroit Red Wings was a dream come true. Our task was to begin the reawakening of their iconic mascot, Al the Octopus, in a powerful teaser for the team’s inevitable return to playoff contention. The concept was a visual metaphor: a sleeping giant, ready to rise and reclaim its territory.
The goal was to create pure, unfiltered hype for a passionate home crowd. The specific challenges were:
Ignite an Arena: How to create a piece that would electrify 20,000 fans at Little Caesars Arena, building a palpable sense of hope and power for the future.
Reimagine an Icon: How to reintroduce "Al the Octopus"—a beloved, classic mascot—in a way that felt menacing, modern, and formidable, not nostalgic or cartoony.
Build Suspense, Not Spoil: How to make the idea of Al more powerful than his full appearance, using restraint to build massive anticipation for the moment he would one day be fully revealed.
Our solution was to treat the project like a classic monster film: the true power lies in what you don't see.
A Metaphor for Resurgence: We approached the animation as the story of a team on the brink. Al wasn't just a character; he was the embodiment of the Red Wings' latent power, an unstoppable force stirring from the depths and getting ready to dominate once again.
An Atmosphere of Dread & Power: We crafted a dark, mysterious world directly on the ice surface. By focusing on the immense scale of the fluid, octopus-like tendrils and deep red colors that crept across the rink, we created a tangible sense of an unseen beast's presence.
Restraint as a Creative Weapon: Our core creative choice was to show Al's power through his effect on the world, not by showing him directly. This intentional restraint built a powerful tension and a deep sense of dread and anticipation that a simple character reveal could never achieve.
The final piece became a bone-chilling and effective teaser that accomplished its mission perfectly.
A Powerful In-Arena Experience: The animation electrified the home crowd at Little Caesars Arena, setting a tense, hopeful, and powerful tone for the game.
A Modern Reawakening: We successfully reintroduced a beloved mascot for a new era, reimagining him as a formidable and mysterious force to be reckoned with.
A Story of Anticipation: The teaser masterfully captured the hopeful energy of the team and its fanbase, creating a powerful piece of storytelling about a comeback on the horizon.
