The brief

When the producers at Pandora Films and The Gatos Media brought me onto their documentary about Girls In Wonderland, the job was clear: create the 2D animation that carries viewers back to where it all began.

The animation had to set the scene, introduce the story, and give the film a visual identity that felt as bold and joyful as the event itself.

Why the ’90s

The story is rooted in Miami in the 1990s, so the look had to belong there too. Not a polished, modern take on the decade, but something that felt found: club flyers, newspaper clippings, photocopies, and snapshots from nights out on South Beach.

Girls In Wonderland has grown into a recognized name among women who love women and the wider LGBTQ+ community. That history matters to the people watching. The animation needed to honor it, and feel like a memory they could step back into.

Building the look

I styled the whole animation as a moving collage, a scrapbook of Miami that assembles itself on screen. Every element had to look like it was cut, printed, or taped by hand.

• Halftone everything. Skylines, Art Deco hotels on Ocean Drive, palm trees, and party photos are all printed in black-and-white halftone, like they were torn from a newspaper.

• Real paper texture. Classified ads, yellowed clippings, and vintage event flyers sit behind each scene, so the frame always feels layered and lived-in.

• Tape and stickers for type. Titles like “MIAMI 1999” and the Girls In Wonderland logo appear as wrinkled stickers and posters slapped onto the collage, which gives the text the same handmade feel as the images.

• Checkered tape strips. A nod to ’90s club and skate culture that ties every scene together.

• Pink and red hand-drawn lines. Loose, looping strokes that move through each frame and lead the eye from one element to the next. They became the thread of the whole piece.

• A bold pink ground. In scenes like the convertible cruising past the palms, a flat pink base adds energy and keeps the black-and-white images from feeling too serious.

Working with the producers

The producers set the direction, from there, I developed the visual style for the entire animation, from the collage technique and color palette to how each element moves on screen.

My role: 2D animation and visual style · Production: Pandora Films & The Gatos Media

What was harder than it looked

• Making a collage move. Collage is usually a still medium, and digital animation can easily make it look too smooth and perfect. I animated everything in After Effects, and the challenge was giving it an organic, handmade feel, so every cut-out piece moved like real paper rather than a clean digital layer.

• Keeping it readable. With so many layers of texture, paper, and photos, the titles could easily get lost. I used bold type, kept the movement on the text to a minimum so it stayed readable, and gave every title enough time on screen for viewers to take it in. The background could stay busy because the type stayed calm.

• Getting the ’90s right. A ’90s look can easily feel like a costume if it’s based on clichés. So I went to the source: footage of Miami from the ’90s, magazines from the time, and the event’s own archival material. Grounding the style in what the decade actually looked like is what made it feel authentic.

• Archival images. The producers sent me a large collection of old flyers and photos from the event. Before animating anything, I organized the archive and went through it piece by piece, choosing the images that looked right visually and fit the story being told. Using the real material is what makes the collage feel like their history, not just a ’90s aesthetic.

What I learned

This project reminded me that style is storytelling. The halftone, the torn paper, and the looping pink lines weren’t just decoration. They told viewers when and where they were before a single word was spoken, and gave a community’s history the bold, joyful look it deserves.

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