Apple’s holiday film this year is about a boy who stops drawing. “The Dreamer” follows him from a small child covering the house in art to a teenager who hides his sketches from everyone, until a Christmas gift brings them back to life. The gift is a MacBook Neo.
A Childhood Covered in Colour
The film opens with a baby watching a colourful mobile above his cot. As he grows, he paints, sketches and invents his own characters. His parents encourage every bit of it. They record his early work and fill the house with his pictures.
He paints a wall with his mother, and his father buys him a necklace with a small painter’s palette charm. Art is part of who he is.
The Years He Kept It Hidden
School changes that. As a teenager, he quickly swaps an illustration on a school iMac for a class budget spreadsheet when his teacher walks past. In art class, a classmate knocks over his sculpture, and the two clash.
He goes home upset and tears his drawings off his bedroom walls. Years pass. He works in a shop and comes home after dark, while his mother quietly looks through the old drawings he left behind.
The Gift Under the Tree
At Christmas, his parents give him a MacBook Neo. He photographs his old drawings with an iPhone and puts them together into an animation on the laptop. A character that began on paper starts to move on screen.
The final shot mirrors the opening years. His mother stands in the doorway, watching him create again.
Told Without a Single Line
The film runs nearly four minutes and has no spoken dialogue. The boy’s changing habits and the music carry the story. The soundtrack is “Give Me a Dream” by Strawberry Guy.
Apple sums up the film’s message in its description: “sometimes all it takes to remember what makes us special is someone who believes in us.”
The Artists Behind the Art
Melina Matsoukas directed the film, and Bradford Young was the cinematographer. Artist Hebru Brantley created the drawings, designed to look like the work of the same person at different ages, from childhood scribbles to older, more confident pieces.
Apple released a companion video, “Creating the Art,” on Instagram, showing how the artwork was made.
A Mac Takes the Holiday Spot
Apple’s recent holiday ads have centred on the iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. This one puts the Mac at the heart of the story, with the MacBook Neo, Apple’s entry-level laptop, as the gift. AppleMagazine links the model to first-time Mac buyers. Eagle-eyed viewers will also spot an iPhone 3GS in a flashback and a school iMac from around 2010.
“This is a personal take, but it might be the company’s best in years,” wrote Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac.
The product shows up late, and only once the boy has something worth making. Apple’s pitch is that the laptop doesn’t create the art; it gives back the confidence to share it.
Campaign Name: The Dreamer
Agency Name: Not mentioned
Brand Name: Apple
Location: Global
