Acme Imaging Co.

America’s biggest advertisers are producing lavish ads for the Super Bowl, the most-watched TV program of the year. A team of more than 100 people worked on the seven-figure spot for Pontiac. In the commercial from D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, Wile E. Coyote chases the elusive Road Runner in his lastest weapon--a Grand Prix. Here is how San Rafael, Calif.-based Industrial Light & Magic animated the spot:

1. Using sketches provided by Warner Bros., animators created a 3-D computer model of a desert landscape.

2. The animators, still working on computer, painted the landscape using color guides from Warner Bros. They added cactuses and bushes.

3. Meanwhile, photographers filmed a Grand Prix driving on an airport runway. The image was fed into a computer.

4. The various pieces were brought together. The car was digitally placed on the image of the road, trailing the Road Runner. Clouds of dust were added to enhance the look, and the Coyote was digitally inserted behind the wheel in place of the actual driver.