WILLIE NELSON FEAT. DIANA KRALL /// I WON'T DANCE (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
In February 2026 Willie Nelson released the album “That’s Life”. The entire record consisted of Frank Sinatra covers. To support the release of the album the company wanted to create an animated video for the song “I Won’t Dance”, which is a duet with the great Diana Krall. This song was made famous in the movie Roberta, with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. it was recorded by Sinatra in 1957 and has since been covered by many other artists.
They wanted the video to be playful and fun, full of drama, romance, and the flavor of old movies from the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s. The idea was to think less of Outlaw Country Willie and more of Old School Standard Willie. It was clear that aesthetically we had to move back into the era when the song became famous.
In addition to the animated versions of Willie and Diana, they asked us to include other legends of the time and we used small cameos from Frank Sinatra and a larger presence from Fred and Ginger as an homage to the film Roberta.
DESIGN
The basis of this work were the characters. From the first sketches we worked on them, inspired by the cartoons of the time towards which we are heading. We also established a double color palette: one in black and white and the other in color, both reduced but very effective.
![recop-02 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance character sheet pencils](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/recop-02.png)
![recop-01 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance color palette](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/recop-01.png)
![recop-03 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance character sheet black and white](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/recop-03.png)
![recop-04 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance character sheet color](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/recop-04.png)
We think that using a color palette based on the black and white of those fi lms can be very charming, although there will be color details in certain elements. The interesting thing will be that little by little the video will fill with color: we start with black and white and end in full color, as a tribute to the evolution of color in classic cinema.
In addition, we find it funny to make changes to the format: we will have scenes in 4: 3 and others in 16:9, another small tribute to classic cinema and its evolution.
![03_PIANO (0-00-00-00) willie nelson diana krall i wont dance diana and willie piano](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/03_PIANO-0-00-00-00.png)
![03_WILLIE-GUITAR (0-00-00-00) willie nelson diana krall i wont dance willie guitar](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/03_WILLIE-GUITAR-0-00-00-00.png)
![03_FRANK (0-00-00-00) willie nelson diana krall i wont dance frank sinatra bar](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/03_FRANK-0-00-00-00.png)
![02_SALON (0-00-00-00) willie nelson diana krall i wont dance frank sinatra willie and diana](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/02_SALON-0-00-00-00.png)
![02_PARIS (0-00-00-09) willie nelson diana krall i wont dance willie paris fred astarire ginger rogers](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/02_PARIS-0-00-00-09.png)
![03_Fred-Ginger (0-00-00-00) willie nelson diana krall i wont dance fred and ginger dancing](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/03_Fred-Ginger-0-00-00-00.png)
The backgrounds were also very important: hotels, dance halls, bars, fantastic stages and… Paris!
![escenarios-rough_1 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance rough background 3](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/escenarios-rough_1.png)
![escenarios-rough_3 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance rough background 1](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/escenarios-rough_3.png)
![escenarios-rough_2 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance riugh background 2](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/escenarios-rough_2.png)
FINAL FRAMES
A quick look at the video through the styleframes we made for the project.
![Capa 2 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance cheers](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Capa-2.png)
![Capa 6 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance running bar stars](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Capa-6.png)
![Capa 11 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance dreaming](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Capa-11.png)
![Capa 3 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance swan run contest](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Capa-3.png)
![Capa 9 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance hiding hotel](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Capa-9.png)
![Capa 4 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance willie hides planet](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Capa-4.png)
![Capa 5 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance star and bar](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Capa-5.png)
![Capa 16 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance willie dances still](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Capa-16.png)
![Capa 14 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance runnning](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Capa-14.png)
![Capa 12 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance dream](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Capa-12.png)
![Capa 8 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance hotel bar](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Capa-8.png)
![Capa 15 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance party](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Capa-15.png)
![Capa 10 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance running hotel](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Capa-10.png)
ANIMATIONS
Some animations taken from the video, including the working process of Willie and Diana’s running cycles.
![WILLIE-WALK_CYCLE-DESGLOSE_1 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/WILLIE-WALK_CYCLE-DESGLOSE_1.gif)
![BTS-RUN-EXPLICACION_1 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance diana and willie run](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BTS-RUN-EXPLICACION_1.gif)
![WILLIE-DANCE_pospo_1 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance willie dances](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/WILLIE-DANCE_pospo_1.gif)
![ESCENARIO+COPA+ESPACIO_pospo_1 willie nelson diana krall i wont dance star bar](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ESCENARIOCOPAESPACIO_pospo_1.gif)
MAKING OFF
The label was so happy with the end result that they asked us to make a video explaining our process.
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME!
![THANKS willie nelson diana krall i wont dance goodbye blink](https://locomotion-graphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/THANKS.png)