Lead The TaleStart their story

A personalized gift

A film where your child is the hero

Share a few photos and Lead The Tale draws your little one into their own 90-second animated adventure, with their name on the title card. A keepsake they will want to watch again and again.

Start their storyHow it works
  • Narrated, in nine animated scenes
  • Only the drawing is animated
Now showingThe Treasure Map

How it works

From one photo to their very own story

Shown on a film Lead The Tale made: Diana’s, The Mermaid’s Moonlight in paper cut-out, from a single photo and a line about her pajamas. Diana isn’t a real child, so her photo is safe to show here.

    • The Treasure Map
    • The Christmas Ornaments
    • The Cloud Garden
    • The Mermaid’s MoonlightDiana’s pick

    Pick a story

    An adventure with a friend, a magical Christmas Eve, or a bedtime dream that begins and ends tucked in bed.

    • A shell pouring moonlight into the sea, in 3d animation3D animation
    • A shell pouring moonlight into the sea, in paper cut-outPaper cut-outDiana’s pick

    Choose the look

    Soft 3D animation, or paper cut-out: every character and place cut from layered cardstock, like a little paper theater. Paper is new, and on the bedtime stories for now.

  3. A smiling child with a brown bob and bangs, in a pink top covered in little drawings
    “Pink pajamas with purple flowers”
    Diana cut from paper: wavy brown hair, pink pajamas with purple flowers and pink slippers
    Her character

    Draw the hero

    One to three photos and a line about what they are wearing. Lead The Tale draws them in the look you chose, and you keep the one that looks just like them.

  4. Diana, her blanket around her shoulders like a cape, meets Marina the mermaid on a moonlit shore
    Name
    Diana
    Bedtime treasure
    Favorite blanket

    Make it theirs

    Their name for the title card, then the story’s own touches: a bedtime treasure to snuggle, a day at the beach, park or playground, or an ornament for the tree.

    1. The title card in a paper bedroom: Diana, a dream by the moonlit sea
    2. Diana tucked in bed under a patchwork quilt, a picture book open beside her
    3. The moonlit sea through a round window
    4. Diana, her blanket around her shoulders, meets Marina the mermaid on the shore
    5. Diana crouches to say hello to a little turtle
    6. Marina holds out a shell with one last spark of moonlight
    7. The shell pours its moonlight into the sea
    8. A shining path lights the little turtle home
    9. Diana and Marina watch the sea go dark again
    10. The sea glows with turtles, seahorses and little fish
    11. Diana asleep in her own bed, back home
    12. The end card: Created with Lead The Tale
    Every scene of Diana’s film, from her name on the title card to goodnight.

    Receive their very own film

    Lead The Tale animates it all into a narrated film of about a minute and a half, opening on their name. A keepsake to watch together, again and again.

Watch

Four stories, two looks

Moments straight from the films. Your child’s film is made around them; these are the moments every film of that story shares.

  • 3D animation

    The Treasure Map

    Two halves of one map, put together at last.

  • 3D animation

    The Christmas Ornaments

    A shimmer from the fireplace, and two presents appear.

  • 3D animation

    The Cloud Garden

    The little star shines again, and the garden blooms.

  • Paper cut-out

    The Cloud Garden

    The same moment, cut from layered paper.

  • 3D animation

    The Mermaid’s Moonlight

    The sea glows again, brighter than before.

  • Paper cut-out

    The Mermaid’s Moonlight

    A shining path lights the little turtle home.

Start their story

Two children's hands joining the two halves of a treasure map, with a golden paper crane on top

The story

The Treasure Map

Half a map. A friend with the other half. A treasure that only appears when you share.

A gentle adventure about friendship and sharing. Your child finds half of an old map and follows its dotted path to a friend holding the other half. Put together, the two halves lead to a treasure they find side by side.

  • At the beach
  • At the park
  • At the playground

A gift they will keep

Made just for them

For a birthday, a first day of school, or a rainy Sunday afternoon.

  • Their name on the title card. The film opens with it.
  • A friend to meet. Juno, Eddy, Matt or Sophie joins the adventure.
  • Their favorite thing. A red rubber ball, a teddy bear or a toy sailboat comes along.
  • Ninety seconds to keep. A film to watch together and share with the people who love them.
Start their story

Your photos

Exactly what happens to their pictures

  • Prepared on your phone

    Photos are resized and their location data removed before anything leaves your device.

  • Sent once, to draw

    They go to Higgsfield, the partner that draws the character. Only that drawing is ever animated, never a photograph.

  • Not kept by us

    Lead The Tale never stores them. Higgsfield keeps a temporary copy at an unlisted link and deletes it on its own schedule, not ours.