5 March, 2019 - 08:02
Proudly presented by Animation SA, The Cape Town International Animation Festival (CTIAF) kicks off this Friday, 8 March 2019, with the African premiere of Zog, Triggerfishs latest BBC Christmas special with Magic Light Pictures.
Here are eight reasons to book your tickets while you can:
#1. Zog is based on the Julia Donaldson bestseller
Zog is based on Julia Donaldson and Axel Schefflers much loved 2010 picture book, which won the Galaxy National Childrens Book of the Year Award and has sold over 1.5 million copies.
Zog tells the tale of a keen but accident-prone dragon who gets himself into mischief while learning how to fly, roar and breathe fire in his first three years at Dragon School. Each year he meets a kindly young girl who patches up his bumps and bruises, but can she help him with his trickiest challenge yet: its Year Four, and he has to capture a princess!
#2. It stars Kit Harington as Sir Gadabout
Hugh Skinner (Harlots) plays the title role; Patsy Ferran (Jamestown) is the princess with medical ambitions; Sir Lenny Henry (Broadchurch) is the narrator; Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) is the bumbling knight Sir Gadabout; Tracey Ullman is Madame Dragon; and Rob Brydon is many characters, as usual for a Magic Light special.
#3. Its from the team behind the Oscar-nominated Revolting Rhymes
Zog is the latest BBC Christmas special to be produced by Magic Light Pictures and animated in Cape Town by Triggerfish, following on from their multi-award-winning adaptations of Donaldson and Schefflers Stick Man (2015) and The Highway Rat (2017), and Roald Dahls Revolting Rhymes (2016), which was nominated for an Oscar last year.
#4. It was nearly as popular as the Queen at Christmas in the UK
Zog placed fifth on the UKs viewing chart this Christmas, with only 200 000 less viewers than the Queens Christmas broadcast. The Telegraph gave the hypnotising, inspiring tale for all the family five stars; Den of Geek called it a thing of perfectly spherical loveliness; it is lovely from every conceivable angle; The Guardian warned parents once this has been added to iPlayer you may never be allowed to watch anything else again on your TV - ever!; and Donaldson told The Herald that Zog was her favourite BBC adaptation to date.
#5. Its directed by South African Daniel Snaddon, who co-founded CTIAF
Zog is directed by two-time Oscar-nominee Max Lang (The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom) and South African Daniel Snaddon (Stick Man). Fridays screening is particularly special for Snaddon as he was the founding director of Kunjanimation, which grew into CTIAF. When we started the festival in 2011, it was one day of workshops at Wits and two nights of screenings at Alliance Francaise. Its been amazing to watch it grow and be accepted by the international community. This year, they have Peter Ramsey, director of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - just after he won the Oscar! And Aron Warner, who produced Shrek and The Book Of Life... Im proud of the small role I played, but festival director Dianne Makings really deserves all the credit - what shes done with the festival is remarkable.
#6. Youll relate to the clumsy dragon who just wants a gold star
Snaddons looking forward to Cape Town audiences falling in love with Zog, the keenest but clumsiest pupil in the class, who longs to win a gold star at Dragon School. Hes super enthusiastic and he loves what hes doing; hes just not very good at it, says Snaddon. I think a lot of us feel like that. Hopefully not all the time but certainly there are times when you know youre falling short of your aspirations.
Get More Film Business South Africa
Select your Membership
#7. Itll make your daughter want to be a doctor, not a princess
Snaddon describes Zog as this great playing-against-type, progressive story about two people who are told by society that this is the way you do things and say, No, were going to make up our own minds.
But he says hes found it funny that Zog has been hailed as a feminist story. Im delighted, but I do think its an awfully low bar if all were advocating is that women can be doctors, he says. Maybe its because were saying that being a doctor is more aspirational than being a princess. Thats cool. My father-in-law is a doctor and my sister-in-law is studying to be a doctor - its a very worthwhile, noble pursuit.
He recommends Cape Tonians go watch Zog, because its funny, sweet, short and sharp, and it has really good values, especially if you have kids and dont want them to be slaves to other peoples opinions.
#8. Itll make you feel patriotic
Zog really is the product of some of South Africas finest digital artists, says Snaddon. We can get behind the Springboks or the Proteas or Ryk Neethling or any of our athletes because they are exceptional people on top of their game, doing amazing things on a world stage. You should go see Zog for that same reason; itll make you feel proudly South African!
Zog will have its African premiere at 8pm this Friday, 8 March 2019, at The River Club in Observatory, Cape Town. The screening will be followed by Studio Ponocs animation anthology Modest Heroes. Tickets cost R50; bookings can be made at http://www.webtickets.co.za.
About Triggerfish
Established in 1996, Triggerfish is a Cape Town-based film and entertainment company. The studio has produced two of the top five highest-grossing South African feature films of all time: Adventures in Zambezia (2012) and Khumba (2013).
In collaboration with Magic Light Pictures, Triggerfish has also animated four BBC Christmas adaptations: Julia Donaldson and Axel Schefflers Stick Man (2015), The Highway Rat (2017), and Zog (2018), as well as the Oscar-nominated Revolting Rhymes (2016), based on the Roald Dahl classic.
For more information, visit https://www.triggerfish.com/ and follow the animation studio on Facebook,
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
IPC Expands Brazilian Presence with New Channel Partner CCATech
Industry veterans Carlos Abrah o and Bruno Lopes strengthen local support and expand IPCs prese...
20/08/2026
Zixi Enters Mauritius Market Through Strategic Deployment with MTC Jockey Club
Worlds Oldest Horse Racing Club in the Southern Hemisphere Selects Zixis Softwar...
20/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research assistant professor Tiantian Liu has received a five-year NIAID DP2 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Di...
20/08/2026
Audiences reveal appetite for multicultural Australia on-screen 20 August 2026
Dr Georgie McClean, Dr Rebecca Huntley (L-R)
By Dr Georgie McClean and Dr Rebec...
20/08/2026
How Mavis Studio Is Expanding Live Production Teaching at Sussex
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays a student about to mix be...
20/08/2026
Vertical Unscripted Series Legal Queens Captured with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Reality TV veteran Eric Gardner create...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
5 March, 2019 - 08:02 
