Horsing around: film editors help a donkey realize its dream.(Video)

Almost every little boy dreams of scoring the game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl. During this year's big game, these youngsters weren't the only ones with huge ambitions.

In Budweiser's "Born a Donkey" commercial, which aired during the game, alowly dreams of one day walking hoof to hoof alongside the famous Clydesdales while driving the Budweiser beer wagon. Finally, with lots of hard work, determination--and postproduction effects--the animal makes the world-famous team.

This humorous spot, which was voted the viewers' favorite during the fiercely competitive "ad bowl," is hardly considered a visual effects piece. While it appears as if everything was captured in camera, the truth is that the commercial required a tremendous amount of postproduction, compositing, and rotoscoping to achieve the desired result.

Whereas the donkey and the massive Clydesdales appear in many of the same shots, rarely were they filmed in close proximity to one another. In fact, the beginning sequence showing the donkey behind a fence in a field was the only one in which the animals were filmed together.

"Shooting with animals is difficult because they are so unpredictable," says John Myers, executive producer at Ring of Fire, the West Hollywood, California, effects studio responsible for the postproduction work. "But in this instance, the animal handlers were especially concerned for the safety of all the animals because of the size discrepancy between the donkey and the Clydesdales."

Ring of Fire, therefore, had to contend with a ...