Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

2018 Oscar-nominee Revolting Rhymes now streaming first and only to Showmax

11/06/2018

11 June, 2018 - 06:05

The small girl smiles. One eyelid flickers. She whips a pistol from her knickers. There's the story of Little Red Riding Hood that everyone knows and then there's the Roald Dahl version. Dahl may be best known for bestselling children's books like Matilda, The BFG, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, James and The Giant Peach and Fantastic Mr Fox, but it's Revolting Rhymes, his collection of rebooted fairy tales, that is the most fun to read as a parent.

I guess you think you know this story. You don't. The real one's much more gory, Dahl writes at the beginning of the first story in the collection, a subversive reworking of Cinderella. The phoney one, the one you know, was cooked up years and years ago, and made to sound all soft and sappy, just to keep the children happy.

Now Dahl's wicked sense of humour has been brought to life in Revolting Rhymes, a two-part animated special that is screening first and only on Showmax in Africa. Like Dahl did, the animation has reimagined the familiar stories anew, this time structuring them around the friendship of the pistol-packing Red Riding Hood and her resourceful best friend Snow White. The Big Bad Wolf, seven jockeys with gambling debts, and three little property-developing pigs all feature, as does Cinderella's fairy godmother, Jack and a beanstalk and his nasty mother.

Whether you're looking for an animation to enjoy without the kids or a story to discourage your daughter from waiting for a prince to solve all her problems, this is the animated special for you.

Revolting Rhymes was nominated for an Oscar and won 15 of the world's biggest animation awards, including the International Emmy Kids Award for Animation; Best Animation at the BAFTA Children's Awards; Best Animated Special at the Annie Awards; and Best One-Off Special at Kidscreen.

Quentin Blake's illustrations were brought to life in Cape Town by Triggerfish, who animated Revolting Rhymes for Magic Light Pictures alongside Magic Light's Berlin office.

Revolting Rhymes was directed by Jakob Schuh (Oscar-nominated for The Gruffalo) and Jan Lachauer (Oscar-nominated for Room on the Broom) and co-directed by Bin Han To. It's voiced by a stellar cast that includes Dominic West (The Affair) as The Wolf; Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones) as Red Riding Hood; and Gemma Chan (Humans) as Snow White.

Showmax now has all three of the BBC Christmas specials that Triggerfish has animated for Magic Light Pictures: Stick Man (2015), Revolting Rhymes (2016) and The Highway Rat (2017), which is also first and only on Showmax in Africa.

An adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's bestseller, The Highway Rat is a swashbuckling tale of a greedy rat who craves buns and biscuits and comes to a sticky end. People's Choice winner David Tennant (Doctor Who, Broadchurch) leads an impressive cast in the title role. After screening to 7.5m people over Christmas on the BBC, The Highway Rat recently won the Audience Award for 3-6 year olds at New York International Childrens Film Festival.

TravelStart Flight and Hotel Bookings

TravelStart Bookings for the Film Industry

Get More Film Business South Africa

Select your Membership

Next week, The Highway Rat will compete for Best TV Film at Annecy, the world's most prestigious animation festival, which runs from 11-16 June 2018 in France. This is the third year in a row that a Magic Light Pictures production with animation from Triggerfish is in line for the award; their previous collaborations Revolting Rhymes and Stick Man won the Grand Cristal Award in Annecy for TV in 2017 and 2016 respectively.

Showmax also has Magic Light's previous Donaldson/Scheffler adaptations: The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child and Room On The Broom, which also all won at Annecy.

Africa's leading animation studio, Triggerfish has produced two of the top five highest-grossing South African feature films of all time: Adventures in Zambezia (2012) and Khumba (2013). Triggerfish is currently in production on their third feature film, Seal Team, and on Zog, another Donaldson/Scheffler adaptation produced by Magic Light Pictures for BBC for Christmas 2018. Jeremy Collins and Kelly Dillon's short film, Belly Flop, is also screening at Annecy, as part of the closing ceremony.

Stream Revolting Rhymes and The Highway Rat first and only on Showmax in Africa.

Revolting Rhymes trailer: https://youtu.be/sSNv88xP7wk

The Highway Rat trailer: https://youtu.be/cGmYqOcaNyw

About Showmax

Showmax is an internet TV service. For a single monthly fee, get all-you-can-eat access to a huge online catalogue of TV shows, movies, kids' shows and documentaries. Start and stop when you want. No ads. Cancel anytime - there's no contract.

Stream Showmax using apps for smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, computers, media players and gaming consoles. Showmax also works with Chromecast and AirPlay. Manage data consumption using the bandwidth capping feature. No internet? No problem - download up to 25 shows to smartphones and tablets to watch later offline.

Showmax was born in 2015 and is part of the Naspers group. Showmax is currently available in more than 70 countries. For a free, no-risk trial, visit www.showmax.com.

Embedded video for 2018 Oscar-nominee Revolting Rhymes now streaming first and only to Showmax

Animation

Africa South Africa
LINK: http://www.filmcontact.com/news/south-africa/2018-oscar-nominee-revolt...
See more stories from filmcontact

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

14/02/2026

Cineverse Acquires TV Monetization Platform IndiCue

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/02/2026

ESPN's Audiences for College Basketball On Track for Major Growth

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/02/2026

TCL Display Technologies Deployed at Winter Olympics

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/02/2026

Boston Conservatory Orchestra Helps Peter and Leonardo Dugan Complete Their Dream Piece

Boston Conservatory Orchestra Helps Peter and Leonardo Dugan Complete Their Dre...

13/02/2026

OBS Accelerates Shift to Cloud

Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) has provided an update on its adoption of the cloud as it continues on its journey to fully migrate to IT-based systems by 2...

13/02/2026

France Tlvisions Launches France 2 UHD with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to Max out AC-4 Experiences for Winter Olympics Fans

France T l visions has successfully launched France 2 UHD featuring Dolby Vision...

13/02/2026

OBS Expands Athlete Moment,' Family Reunions to Capture Human Side of Winter Games

Partnering with Worldwide Olympic Partner TCL, OBS deploys connected Athlete Mom...

13/02/2026

Men's Figure Skating Photo Gallery

The men's figure skating long-form program is tonight, and it promises to be an exciting night for fans in the stands, fans at home, and even the production...

13/02/2026

Entertainment Takes the NBA Court in a Big Way

With new partnership between the league and NBC, workflows distinguish more between live, broadcast sound There'll be a lot new for the 75th NBA All-Star W...

13/02/2026

SVG GameDay, Episode 3: Sean Tabler - Producing Hockey in the City of Angels

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level have one major thing in common: the intensity and attention to detail ramps up dur...

13/02/2026

Teradek Introduces RF-X, Revolutionizing Mission-Critical Signal Redundancy

Teradek announces the launch of RF-X Auto Switcher, a revolutionary appliance designed to deliver flawless, uncompromised signal integrity for the world's m...

13/02/2026

Synamedia & Globecast Selected for FA Cup Cloud Distribution

Globecast and Synamedia announces that Pitch International (Pitch), the leading London-based sports marketing agency, has gone live with cloud-based distributi...

13/02/2026

Ratings Roundup: NBC Sports' Legendary February Hits Record Viewership Levels

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

13/02/2026

NBC Olympics' Amy Rosenfeld on the Drone Craze, Friends & Family Moments, Stamford's Role for Milano Cortina

Far from the action in the snow and on the ice, the team controls the production...

13/02/2026

2026 Daytona 500: FOX Sports' Mike Davies, George Grill on Working Within an IP-Based Compound, Solving the Ops Puzzle of the Super Bowl of Racing

The Daytona 500 is called The Super Bowl of Racing for a reason. Whether it's the culmination to five days of action on the track, the sheer size and scop...

13/02/2026

OBS Expands AI-Powered Content Workflows

For the Milano Cortina Games, Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) is delivering more than 6,500 hours of content, with more than 900 hours of live action, sprea...

13/02/2026

NBC Sports Director Pierre Moossa Previews NBC's First NBA All-Star Production in 24 Years

After 24-year absence, NBC Sports returns to NBA All-Star Weekend with unique ca...

13/02/2026

Film Festival Watch: 18 Sundance Institute-Supported Projects To Watch at the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival

By Jessica Herndon We may have just wrapped an unforgettable 2026 Sundance Film...

13/02/2026

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Amanda Kramer, the Writer-Director Behind By Design

By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Fest...

13/02/2026

Women in Podcasting Craft New Connections at Spotify's Galentine's Day Celebration in LA

This Wednesday in Los Angeles, Spotify brought together a group of podcast creat...

13/02/2026

Spotify and LoveShackFancy Bring Galentine's Glam to NYC, Featuring Special Performance by Joshua Basset

Yesterday, Spotify and LoveShackFancy hosted a Galentine's and Gents Lunch a...

13/02/2026

L3Harris Successfully Completes First Phase of P25 Transition for Florida SLERS

The upgrade to a Project 25 network provides state agencies communicating on the Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System flexibility to tailor the network to the...

13/02/2026

Riedel Opens Kuala Lumpur Office to Strengthen Global 24...

Riedel Communications has officially opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, marking a strategic expansion of its global Customer Success and IT software...

13/02/2026

ES Broadcast Hire duo celebrate 10-year anniversary with...

Two of ES Broadcast Hire's longest-serving employees recently celebrated a decade working for the company. Annie Breislin, Operations Manager, and Charles ...

13/02/2026

Disguise Opens Experience Center and Office in Atlanta

Disguise, the award-winning technology company powering global experiences, today unveils a new 8,000-square-foot office and Experience Center in Atlanta, creat...

13/02/2026

Mavis Expands External Camera Support with Accsoon SeeMo...

At BSC Expo 2026, Mavis announced full support for the Accsoon SeeMo series of iOS camera adapters across Mavis Camera and Mavis Monitor apps. This new integrat...

13/02/2026

Butcher Bird Studios Keeps Signals Flowing Seamlessly Acr...

Executing technically ambitious live streams, virtual productions, and immersive media today requires talent, creativity, and the right supporting technology. L...

13/02/2026

LTN makes key appointments and introduces new Technology...

Michal Miskin-Amir, Jonathan Stanton and Bobby Bond to lead technical advances amid surge in demand for LTN's IP video transport services as satellite capac...

13/02/2026

NATO Upgrades Broadcast Studio with Grass Valley Cameras

Grass Valley, the pioneering media and entertainment technology innovator, has won a competitive NATO-wide tender to provide the new camera system for NATO'...

13/02/2026

Digital Azul strengthens remote production strategy with...

Wireless IP intercom underpins agile, multi-location live production workflows Digital Azul, the independent production powerhouse specialising in complex liv...

13/02/2026

Actus Digital Sets a New Standard for QA Monitoring and C...

Actus Digital, a LiveU company, will unveil major new enhancements to its Actus X Intelligent Monitoring Platform at NAB Show (LiveU booth N1740), reinforcing i...

13/02/2026

FA Cup goes IP with Pitch International plus Synamedia an...

Globecast, a worldwide leader in broadcast services, and leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that Pitch International (Pitch), the leadi...

13/02/2026

Rai Selects Imagine Selenio Network Processor for IP Migration

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

CIMM Details Research Plans for 2026 and New Board Appointments

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Teradek Unveils RF-A Auto Switcher

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Spectrum Launches 'Invincible Wifi'

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Actus Digital to Introduce Actus X Platform Enhancements At NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Sennheiser Wireless Spectera Solution Tackles Super Bowl LX With Ease

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Nate Bargatze to Receive 2026 NAB Television Chairman's Award

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

UKTV Highlights Saturday February 14th - Friday February 20th 2026

What can I watch on UKTV this week?What can I stream on U this week? This guide highlights romantic dramas for Valentine's Day, alternative relationship t...

13/02/2026

New RT series tells stranger-than-fiction stories of Irish con artists

New RT series tells stranger-than-fiction stories of Irish con artists Swindlers airs Wednesday 18 February, 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player Swindlers, a...

12/02/2026

Chyron Merges Live Web Content and CG Graphics with PRIME 5.3

Chyron unveils PRIME 5.3, the latest software release of the company's powerful engine for live production graphics. PRIME 5.3 delivers the first official i...

12/02/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Interra Systems' Anupama Anantharaman on Protecting Live Sports Quality Across IP and OTT Workflows

The vendor's VP of Product Management explains how quality assurance, monito...

12/02/2026

LTN Makes Key Appointments and Introduces New Technology Organization

LTN announces the appointment of three experienced executives to lead its new Technology organization: Michal Miskin-Amir as EVP and Head of Technology, Jonatha...

12/02/2026

Riedel Opens Kuala Lumpur Office to Strengthen Global 24/7 Software and IT Support

Riedel Communications has officially opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur, Malays...