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The Art of Aardman – Shaun the Sheep and Friends plots up in The Netherlands

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The international exhibition, The Art of Aardman – Shaun the Sheep and Friends has opened at Forum Groningen in the Netherlands, the latest leg of a tour that has so far seen it entertain fans across Paris, Melbourne, Frankfurt, and Seoul.

The popular exhibition offers fans of Aardman an insight into the work of the Academy Award winning Aardman Studios. Its latest exhibition in Groningen officially opened today, Friday, September 18th.

The latest iteration brings to life the weird and wonderful characters and creations from the Aardman portfolio that includes Shaun the Sheep, Chicken Run, and Wallace & Gromit, and takes visitors on a journey of discovery past original versions of Gromit’s famous vegetable garden, the flying machine from chicken Run, and the five metre tall galleon from The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

In addition to a host of clay models and film sets, Forum Groningen has also added a number of interactive elements to the exhibition. 

Hans Poll, director of programming and marketing, said: “Standing in their shoes for a bit helps you appreciate and understand Aardman’s work even more. In our exhibition, you can learn how to make a storyboard and create your own work in our stop-motion studio.” 

Throughout the exhibition, Forum will also be showing Aardman’s entire film oeuvre in its cinemas, while a programme of claying workshops will also be organised.

The Art of Aardman is the second major exhibition at Forum, the landmark culture giant in the centre of Groningen. The programming is spearheaded by popular visual culture, current affairs and technology. The previous exhibition, AI: More than Human, was about artificial intelligence. 

Ngaio Harding-Hill, head of attractions & live experiences, Aardman, added: “We are delighted that, after journeying to the other side of the world, to venues in South Korea and Australia, the Art of Aardman exhibition is returning to Europe.  The stunning Groningen Forum is the perfect cultural venue to host the exhibition and we hope it delights its visitors in The Netherlands as it has around the world.”

The Art of Aardman – Shaun the Sheep and Friends will be on show until 9 May 2021.

Aardman goes next level personalisation with funwisher.com to offer customised Shaun the Sheep ‘episodes’

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Aardman has partnered with the wish-fulfillment platform, funwisher.com, an initiative that offers personalised wishes from sports stars, actors, influencers, musicians, and now animated characters. From today, fans can order customised wishes from Shaun the Sheep online in the form of their own personalised videos.

The five minute episodes, which are set on the farm, will be sent to the lucky recipient to enjoy again and again. All that users will need to create their bespoke videos are some photos of that special someone, along with providing basic information about them: their name, age, interests and Shaun will come up with a script and, together with his friends, they will develop a unique video greeting.

Rachael Peacock, senior brand manager at Aardman, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Funwisher to offer our fans something truly unique with their very own personalised Shaun the Sheep episode. What a baa-rilliant birthday gift!”

Initially, it will be birthday messaging available for personalisation, but in the coming months fans will be able to have Shaun and his flock deliver bespoke videos for every occasion: name day, Children’s Day,  exams, end of the school year and the holidays.

Through this innovative platform, not only will consumers receive an exclusive gift but there is also the added benefit of supporting a charity that Aardman support at the same time. A percentage of sales from each video will go to one of the following charities; The Grand Appeal, The Children`s Sleep Charity or Brake the Road Safety Charity, and can be selected by the consumer on purchase. 

Custom wishes from Shaun the Sheep will launch in English-speaking territories around the world from Friday 21st August. Polish and German language versions will also be available soon.

Aardman strikes major deal with Tencent for Shaun the Sheep streaming in China

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The iconic British animation studio, Aardman has just struck up a new deal with Tencent Video in a new move to grow the audience for its hit Shaun the Sheep property in China.

Tencent Video is the leading online video streaming platform in China. Under the new deal, it will become the home of Shaun the Sheep’s library of 170 episodes, including series six which launched earlier this year. The placement with Tencent Video complements Aardman’s worldwide deal with Netflix for the entire Shaun the Sheep catalogue.

Robin Gladman, senior distribution and acquisitions manager, said: “Our new deal with Tencent Video is a truly exciting next step for our business in China and a great moment for the studio.

“Tencent Video will become a fabulous new home for our biggest global brand ‘Shaun the Sheep’ and help us reach millions of families across the territory.”

The studio continues to build its Chinese licensing programme for the brand alongside its agents UYoung, securing prestigious partnership and building a strong and loyal fan base. Most recently Shaun the Sheep has collaborated in a creative promotional partnership in China with a line of children’s clothing with Italian high fashion sportswear brand FILA.

The Shaun the Sheep x FILA Kids ‘Shake it with Shaun’ themed campaign was announced with a vibrant teaser video on Children’s Day (China), which achieved an impressive 11M views in just 24 hours. The new product range consists of a complete range of apparel, footwear and accessories for children and the launch will be supported by in-store activities featuring Shaun the Sheep character costumes and interactive dance machines for shoppers to enjoy, as well as a Tik Tok online Dancing Challenge followed the Shake it with Shaun video expected to attract millions of fans to participate.

With its increasing global appeal for families, the team at Aardman continues to develop its portfolio of Shaun the Sheep attractions and live experiences in the territory, including the national touring stage show Shaun the Sheep – The Alien Visitor in partnership with Hand in Hand Theatre Company and Shaun the Sheep Go To Sanya, launching at the Mangrove Tree Resort World, Hainan in summer 2020.

Aardman promotes Rob Goodchild and Alison Taylor to new director roles

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The independent animation studio, Aardman, has promoted Alison Taylor and Rob Goodchild to the positions of director of distribution and business development and commercial director, respectively.

These newly created roles in the sales and marketing arm of the business form part of a departmental restructuring to consolidate all the studio’s sales, marketing, and brand management expertise. Both Taylor and Goodchild will be central to providing market insight, financing, distribution and licensing for Aardman’s portfolio of brands.

In her new role, Taylor will be responsible for driving the financing, distribution and long-term content exploitation strategy for each brand. She joined the firm’s broadcast and development department in 2004, where she advanced through the sales team before being promoted to head of sales and acquisitions in 2016.

Since then, Taylor has led the international distribution team and is responsible for global distribution of Aardman’s own award-winning series such as Shaun the Sheep and Timmy Time, along with third party distribution for children’s properties such as Digby Dragon(Blue Zoo Animation) and Brave Bunnies(Glowberry / Anima Kitchent) across all content platforms.

Taylor also played an integral part in securing Aardman’s first Original with Netflix, Robin Robin, with financing content for new and existing brands being a key part to her new role.

Meanwhile, Goodchild joined Aardman as UK licensing manager in 2008 before progressing to head of licensing. In that time he secured major partnerships for all of Aardman’s key brands supporting global business growth, particularly in Japan and China, as well as working to deliver innovation-led projects such as The Big Fix Up, a new Wallace & Gromit immersive story told through AR (augmented reality) in collaboration with Fictioneers.

In his new position as commercial director, Goodchild will assume strategic responsibility for the selling and marketing of the studio’s services including third party commercials and short films, the rights exploitation for all Aardman brands, and defining new business opportunities such as the development of IP and animated content for third party brands, theme parks and attractions.

He will be tasked with delivering revenue across different categories and markets, influencing growth in key territories across Europe and Asia. Goodchild also directs the development of Aardman’s branded interactive business, working to increase its presence in the gaming space and with pioneering companies to grow the studio’s output in new technologies including AR and Blockchain.

Both will report to Sean Clarke, managing director at Aardman.

Clarke said: “Behind each of our beloved brands is a wealth of knowledge across rights, distribution, sales and marketing that, over recent years, has allowed us to start very successfully representing third party brands in addition to our own IP.

“The restructuring of our sales and marketing arm is the natural next step in maximising this industry-leading expertise, to continue to realise the full potential of Aardman’s IP alongside developing our studio service work for third party brands. Alison and Rob will make a formidable partnership, working alongside Lucy Wendover who will continue to lead the Marketing and Brand team.”

Upcoming Aardman projects include the recently announced Robin Robin, a half-hour, festive, musical tale coming to Netflix in 2021, and a Shaun the Sheep half hour special also for Christmas 2021.

In autumn of this year, the studio will launch Wallace & Gromit: The Big Fix Up, a brand-new AR immersive experience created in collaboration with Fictioneers backed by funding from UK Research & Innovation (UKRI). Rendered in CG using the latest technology, fans will be able to interact in a host of new ways and get closer than ever to the iconic duo.

Shaun the Sheep and The Snail and the Whale among winners at British Animation Awards 2020

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The talent behind some of Britain’s best animation over the past year, including The Snail and the Whale, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, The Adventures of Paddington, and A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon were celebrated at the British Animation Awards 2020 this week.

Held at London’s BFI Southbank, the BAAs was hosted by comedian and actor Miles Jupp who kicked off a ceremony dedicated to recognising all forms of animation and honour the achievements of the British animation scene from the past two years.

Top awards went to Sally Hawkins for her work on the animated adaptation of the Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler book, The Snail and the Whale, David Arnold for Best Original Music for The Tiger Who Came to Tea, and to Nick Jr for its pre-school series, The Adventures of Paddington.

Hawkins scooped up the award for Best Voice Performance for her portrayal of Snail in Snail and the Whale, Magic Light Pictures’ festive animation about a mollusc on an epic adventure.

Meanwhile there were three major awards for acclaimed studio Aardman Animations, which picked up the prestigious award for Best Long Form Animation for its hugely successful madcap caper A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmaggedon (directed by Will Becher and Richard Phelan), the Children’s Choice Award for an episode from its CBBC series Shaun The Sheep: Squirreled Away(directed by Carmen Bromfield-Mason), and Best Music Video for Coldplay’s “Daddy” (directed by Asa Lucanda).

Staying in the children’s TV categories, Adam Shaw and Chris Drew picked up the Best Children’s Pre-School Series award for their charming Nick Jr. series The Adventures of Paddington – which features the voice of Ben Wishaw as Paddington and a song written and performed by Gary Barlow.

Erstwhile awards and audience favourite The Amazing Adventures of Gumball added another two BAAs to its collection picking up Best Use of Sound and the Writers Award for Richard Overall, Mic Graves and Tony Hull.

Meanwhile, the Best Children’s Series was awarded to Gutsy Animations’ Sky One series Moominvalley (directed by Steve Box), which was praised by the judges for its “undeniable beauty” and “top-notch vocal performances”.

The Best Original Music Award went to multi award-winning duo David Arnold and Don Black for Lupus Films’ The Tiger Who Came to Tea.

 Some of the leading British animation courses were represented in both Best Undergraduate and Best Postgraduate Student film categories including nominees from Falmouth University School of Film and Television, University of Creative Arts in Farnham, Arts University Bournemouth and the Royal College of Arts London.

The winner of the all-female nominated Best Undergraduate Student Film category was Megan Earls from UCA, Farnham for Border/Line and the victor of the Best Postgraduate Student Film was Alex Widdowson, also from RCA, for his film Music and Clowns.

 In other categories: The Best Short Film was awarded to Jonathan Hodgson for Roughhouse, which the judges described as a “masterful piece of short form storytelling”. The Best Animation in a Commercial award went to Thomas Harnett O’Meara and Matthew Day for their charming take on The Wind in the Willows for The Wildlife Trusts; The Best Film or TV Graphic, Motion Design was awarded to Second Home Studios for its “varied and imaginative idents” for DaVinci Learning.

The Best Commissioned Animation was picked up by Moth Studio for the “beautifully delicate animation” in Conception: Catie & Jen: The Best Immersive Category was won by Marshmallow Laser Feast for We Live in an Ocean of Air, which was praised for “inspiring us to think about nature in a different way”.

Finally, in a new category for 2020, the Best Social Good Award rewarded Danny Capozzi for his animation for United for Global Mental Health – New Mindset.

BAA Director, Helen Brunsdon, said: “This is my first year at the helm of the BAAs and I was blown away by the quality of the entries this year. The BAAs are a brilliant way to showcase the incredible talent we have here in the UK and help cement Britain’s position as one of the leading countries in the world for animation.”

Held every two years, the British Animation Awards (BAAs) reward the very best new and established British animators across a variety of categories including short films, animated graphics for film and television, children’s series, music videos and commercials.

The awards themselves (the BAAs) are unique artworks, featuring sheep, created especially for the occasion by a range of leading international and UK animation artists: a measure of the world-wide respect felt for British animation.

The Snail and the Whale, Shaun the Sheep, and Moominvalley among finalists in British Animation Awards 2020

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The Snail and the Whale, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, and The Tiger Who Came to Tea have all been named among the finalists in this year’s British Animation Awards.

Rewarding the very best in British animation across a variety of categories, the British Animation Awards – now in its 24th year – attracts the great and the good from across the industry to its biennial celebration of the craft.

This year’s ceremony will be held at London’s BFI Southbank on March 12th 2020, where it will unveil the latest names to join the list of illustrious winners from past years.

This year’s finalists included in the Best Voice Performance category are renowned British actors Sally Hawkins (Paddington, The Shape of Water) and Bella Ramsey from Game of Thrones, who are nominated for their work on The Snail and the Whale and as Hilda in Hilda – The Hidden People respectively.

They are up against strong competition from the cast of The Rubbish World of Dave Spud and young newcomer Clara Ross for The Tiger Who Came to Tea.

The Best Long Form category includes nominations from the likes of Aardman Animations and its A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon; two festive favourites from Magic Light Pictures, Zog and The Snail and the Whale; The Tiger Who Came to Tea from Lupus Films, and Aliens Love Underpants And…Panta Claus from Tiger Aspect.

Contenders for the Best Children’s Series award include The Amazing World of Gumball from Cartoon Network, the Shaun the Sheep series from Aardman, Moominvalley from Gutsy animations, The Rubbish World of Dave Spud from Illuminated Films and 101 Dalmatian Street from Disney.

Up for the Best Animation in a Commercial award is The Wind in the Willows for The Wildlife Trusts, the commercial Whatever You Call It by Moth Studio for Marie Curie and the organic baby food NatureNes by Studio AKA for Nestle.

Meanwhile, the family favourites Hey Duggee, The Adventures of Paddington and Clangers are each nominated for the Best Children’s Pre-School Series award.

Some of the leading British animation courses are represented in both Best Undergraduate and Best Postgraduate Student film categories including nominees from Falmouth University School of Film and Television, University of Creative Arts in Farnham, Arts University Bournemouth and the Royal College of Arts London. In an encouraging sign for the industry, all four finalists in the Best Undergraduate category are women.

New for 2020 is the Best Social Good Award, while four additional award categories will be announced on the night.

BAA director, Helen Brunsdon, said: “Animation leads the way in visually imaginative and innovative forms of storytelling. From a record number of submissions, I am delighted to see rich and diverse talent make it through to the final stages of the various categories.

“The nominated finalists for 2020 are shining examples of the best in the business. I wish them all the best of luck and look forward to the big night on March 12th at the BFI South Bank where all will be revealed.”

The awards themselves (the BAAs) are unique artworks, featuring sheep, created especially for the occasion by a range of leading international and UK animation artists: a measure of the worldwide respect felt for British animation.