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By Movieguide® Staff
Aardman Animations marked its 50th anniversary in style Sunday at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, unveiling a BBC-commissioned series expanding the world of Mossy Bottom, a feature in development about a girl who must rewrite her own story to survive and fresh footage from the studio’s Pokemon collaboration.
“Our animation might be ‘old school,’ but we do it for the love of the craft,” co-founder and director Peter Lord said at the event. “Our teams are so good at their jobs, and this love shines on the screen. Basically, we keep doing what we love, and people love it too.”
Lord appeared alongside fellow co-founder David Sproxton and Executive Creative Director Sarah Cox for a packed masterclass in Annecy’s lakeside Bonlieu theater. Lord and Sproxton, recently knighted in the King’s Birthday Honours, got their start animating together as teenagers — their first short sold to the BBC’s VISION ON series back in 1972, the year they registered the name Aardman Animations.
The biggest TV announcement of the day was LET’S GO TIMMY!, a new stop-motion and 2D hybrid series commissioned by the BBC. Set against the familiar fields of Mossy Bottom, its 30 five-minute episodes follow Bitzer the sheepdog as he attempts to get Timmy and best friends Yabba and Apricot to school on time each morning — a task that predictably derails into surrealist adventure at every turn. The series is directed by Merlin Crossingham and Daniel Bins, produced by Stephanie Miller with Lucy Pryke as BBC commissioning executive.
“Returning to Mossy Bottom with LET’S GO TIMMY! brings a wonderful opportunity to expand a world that’s already cherished by young audiences,” said Kate Morton, Senior Head of Commissioning for CBeebies. “The series captures the humour, warmth and boundless imagination that defines Aardman’s storytelling, while introducing a playful new dynamic with Bitzer at the helm.”
Cox also lifted the curtain on THE ALMOST (UNTOLD) STORY OF DANGER DELILAH, adapted from Oliver Jeffers’ book series Once Upon an Alphabet. The script is written by Lord himself, with director Åsa Lukander and Senior Development Executive James Higginson shaping the story alongside him. It follows a girl named Danger Delilah who discovers she’s a character in someone else’s forgotten story — and must seize her own narrative to survive.
“She has to literally seize the narrative and rewrite her own story,” Cox said. “We’ve just finished a phase of development, so we’ll be ready to start pitching it soon.”
The panel also featured Phil Rynda, Director of Original Animation at The Pokémon Company International, who showed never-before-seen footage from POKÉMON TALES: THE MISADVENTURES OF SIRFETCH’D & PICHU. Set in the Galar region — which shares a distinctly British geography with the real-world UK — the claymation series arrives next year and reportedly features a nod to Gromit’s trademark silent deadpan.
“This project gives us a unique opportunity to tell stories from the point of view of Pokémon, made possible by Aardman’s extraordinary craft and remarkable artistry,” Rynda said. “Their warmth and affection for this much-loved Pokémon cast are evident in every brilliantly crafted frame.”
Aardman is also heading back to theaters this fall with SHAUN THE SHEEP: THE BEAST OF MOSSY BOTTOM, the third Shaun feature acquired by GKIDS for a global theatrical release in September.
Movieguide® has long recognized Aardman’s particular gift for storytelling that families can actually trust. CHICKEN RUN earned a four-star quality rating and a Best Movie for Families nomination at the Movieguide® Awards in 2001. A decade later, SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE landed on Movieguide®’s Top Ten Family Movies list, with Movieguide® noting its “very strong allegorical Christian, moral worldview” — the sheep, after all, will do anything to get back to their shepherd. That’s not a coincidence. Aardman has built a half-century on the kind of craft, warmth and decency that good stories are made of, and they’re not done yet.
Read Next: SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE
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