South African animation up for BAFTA

26 October, 2016 - 08:15

Stick Man, Triggerfish Animation Studios' collaboration with Oscar-nominated UK production company Magic Light Pictures, is one of four nominees for Best Animation at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Children's Awards.

Directed by London-based Jeroen Jaspaert and co-directed by South African Daniel Snaddon, Stick Man is up against Cartoon Network's The Amazing World of Gumball, Aardman Animations' Shaun The Sheep: The Farmer's Llamas, and Disney's Counterfeit Cat.

Animated in Cape Town, Stick Man is an adaptation of 2015's number one bestselling backlist picture book, by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (The Gruffalo).

Stick Man lives in the family tree with his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three, until he's taken further and further away from home on an epic adventure across the seasons. He runs from a playful dog, gets thrown in a river, escapes from a swan's nest, and even ends up on top of a fire, as he tries to get back to his family in time for Christmas.

Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) voices Stick Man, with Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) as Santa, Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) as the narrator, and Rob Brydon, Sally Hawkins and Russell Tovey completing the all-star voice cast.

The BAFTA nomination is just the latest accolade for the 26-minute short film, which has won seven international awards on three continents so far, including the Cristal for a TV Production at the world's leading animation festival, Annecy.

Stick Man premiered on BBC One last Christmas to nearly 10m viewers. Triggerfish is finishing off its second BBC One Christmas collaboration with Magic Light Pictures, Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes, and is underway on a third, The Highway Rat, another Donaldson/Scheffler adaptation.

About Triggerfish Animation Studios:

Established in 1996, Triggerfish Animation Studios is a Cape Town-based film and entertainment company.

The studio has produced two feature films: Adventures in Zambezia (2012), starring Jeremy Suarez, Abigail Breslin and Samuel L. Jackson, and Khumba (2013), starring Jake T. Austin, AnnaSophia Robb and Liam Neeson. The two movies are among the top five highest-grossing South African films of all time. They're about to start production on their third feature, Seal Team.

In 2015, the studio launched The Triggerfish Story Lab, a pan-African search for storytellers, supported by the Department of Trade and Industry and The Walt Disney Company. They are currently developing four feature films and four TV series out of the 1 378 entries they received from 30 countries across Africa. A teaser for one of the projects, Mike Scott's A Dogshow with Cat, has already been licensed by The Walt Disney Company.

For more information, visit http://www.triggerfishstudios.com/ and follow the animation studio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About Magic Light Pictures

Magic Light Pictures makes imaginative entertainment for audiences, families and children worldwide.

This includes the Oscar-nominated animations Chico & Rita, The Gruffalo and Room On The Broom; and Annecy winners The Gruffalo's Child and Stick Man.

The company directly manages production, licensing, global distribution and marketing, as well as running an international merchandising programme with over 40 licensees and 250 products.

About Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler are the UK's number one picture book author/illustrator team, responsible for bestsellers like Stick Man, The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child, Room On The Broom, and The Highway Rat. Donaldson was Children's Laureate from 2011-2013.

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