‘Stick Man,’ ‘Shaun The Sheep: The Movie’ and ‘Children of the Holocaust’ battle for honours in Best Long Form; ‘Clangers,’ ‘Hey Duggee’ and ‘Lily’s Driftwood Bay’ nominated in Best Preschool; ‘Amazing World of Gumball,’ ‘Scream Street’ and ‘Rastamouse’ lock horns for Best Children’s Series.
LONDON -- The finalists were announced today for the prestigious British Animation Awards 2016 in the twentieth year since their inception. Held every two years, the British Animation Awards (BAAs) reward the very best in British animation across a variety of categories. This year’s ceremony will be held at London’s BFI Southbank on March 10th, 2016. Previous winners across 20 creative, groundbreaking years for the industry include such illustrious names as Tim Burton, Nick Park, Simon’s Cat creator Simon Tofield, Harry Potter and the Gorillaz.
This year’s finalists include internationally acclaimed actors Martin Freeman and Chris O’Dowd who are up for a BAA in the Best Voice Performance category for their work on Stick Man and Puffin Rock respectively. They face stiff competition from William Vanderpuye for his lively voice performances in hugely popular children’s animation Rastamouse.
Magic Light Pictures’ epic Christmas story Stick Man is also up for honours in the Best Long Form category where it takes on Aardman Animations’ joyful Shaun the Sheep: The Movie and Fettle Animation’s moving film for BBC Learning Children of the Holocaust.
In the children’s categories Coolabi Productions & Factory The Clangers will be over the moon if they pick up the award for Best Pre-school Series. Other contenders in the category include Studio AKA’s Hey Duggee and Sixteen South’s Lily’s Driftwood Bay. Meanwhile, the Best Children’s Series category will be contested by Coolabi Productions & Factory’s Scream Street, Three Stones Media/The Rastamouse Company’s Rastamouse and Turner Broadcasting’s multi-award winning The Amazing Adventures of Gumball.
Sainsburys’ adorable festive feline Mog the Cat is hoping to spring to success in the Best Use of Animation in a Commercial category but faces competition from Anchor Butter’s Little Elephants and the Mariposa sofa family.
In the Best Music Video Benjamin Scheuer: Cookie-tin Banjo, James: Moving On and Amaro and Walden’s Joyride are up for honours while the Best Short Film category will be contested by Daniel Gray and Tom Brown’s Teeth, Robert Bradbrook’s Dead Air and Kristian Andrews’ Let’s Play Nomad X.
Several animation studios are in the running for multiple awards this year. Magic Light Pictures and Moth Collective, a rapidly rising young studio set up by recent graduates, have both been nominated for three awards, while Coolabi Productions & Factory and Three Stones Media/The Rastamouse Company each have two nominations. And The Royal College of Art in London and the University of Creative Arts in Farnham have each produced two finalists in the Student Award categories.
The animation students and fans will also have a chance to reward their favourite work in the Public Choice Awards for Favourite Short Film and Music Video and the very youngest viewers will also have their say in the Children’s Choice Award, where a panel of young children will choose from the finalists in both the children’s categories.
“We are incredibly excited to be putting on this wonderful celebration of British animation in the 20th year since the British Animation Awards began,” BAA Director Jayne Pilling commented. “We’ve had some fantastic winners over the years but the calibre of this year’s finalists prove that the animation industry is in better health than ever!”
The BAAs are the only awards to recognise all forms of animation and reward the work of both new and established animators for 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. Artists contributing BAAs this year include: Oscar-winning animators Nick Park and Daniel Greaves and award-winning author/illustrator David Melling.
The full list of BAA Finalists can be seen below:
Best Long Form Animation
- Stick Man
Directors Jeroen Jaspaert & Daniel Sanddon
Producers Michael Rose & Martin Pope
Produced by Magic Light Pictures - Children of the Holocaust
Director Zane Whittingham Animation Ryan Jones, Oana Nechifor & Laura Tattersfield
Producer Kath Shackleton
Produced by Fettle Animation for BBC Learning - Shaun the Sheep: The Movie
Directors/Script Mark Burton & Richard Starzak
Producers Julie Lockhart & Paul Kewley
Produced by Aardman Animations for Studio Canal
Best Voice
- Rastamouse: Discovery Day
Voice William Vanderpuye as Zoomer, Professor, Brandston, Rubba (Twin), Spike Cheez, FATS, Bagga-T and Signora G.
Director Derek Mogford
Producers Eugenio Perez & Gregory Boardman
Produced by Three Stones Media/The Rastamouse Company for CBeebies - Stick Man
Voice Martin Freeman as Stick Man
Director: Jeroeon Jaspaert
Producers Michael Rose & Martin Pope
Produced by Magic Light Pictures - Puffin Rock: Night Lights
Producers Paul Young, John McDaid, Nora Twomey & Laura Campbell
Produced by Dog Ears Ltd for Nick Jr.
Best Children’s Series and Children’s Choice Award
- Scream Street: Resus Rocks
Director Geoff Walker Animation
Producer Phil Chalk
Produced by Coolabi Productions & Factory, in association with ZDF Enterprises for CBBC Co-funded by the European Union - The Amazing World of Gumball: The Shell
Directors Mic Graves & Ben Bocquelet
Producer Sarah Fell Animation
Produced by Turner Broadcasting for Cartoon Network - Rastamouse: School of Rock Director Derek Mogford
Producers Eugenio Perez & Gregory Boardman
Produced by Three Stones Media/The Rastamouse Company for CBeebies
Best Pre-School Series
- HEY DUGGEE: The Omelette Badge
Director Grant Orchard
Producer Janine Voong
Produced by Studio AKA for CBeebies - Clangers: I am the Eggbot
Directors: Mole Hill and Chris Tichborne
Series Producer Dan Maddicott
Produced by Coolabi Productions Ltd & Factory for CBeebies - Lily’s Driftwood Bay: Goodbye
Directors Colin Williams & Darren Vandenburg
Producer: Colin Williams
Produced by Sixteen South for Nick Jr.
Best Music Video
- Amaro & Walden’s Joyride
Director Tim McCourt & Max Taylor
Producers Electric Theatre Collective
Produced by The Line in collaboration with Hugo Chegwin & Fred Berry - James: Moving On
Directed and produced by Ainslie Henderson
Produced by An Independent Production for BMG - Benjamin Scheuer: Cookie-tin Banjo
Directed and produced by Peter Baynton
Produced by Radish Pictures for Escapist Records
Best Commissioned Animation: Promotional
- HIAS: For The Refugees
Directors Moth Collective
Producer Sovev Media
Produced by Moth Collective for HIAS - What Do You See?
Director Sally Arthur
Producer Melissa Blackburn
Produced by Unchosen for Unchosen - Forest 500
Directors Moth Collective
Producer Moth Collective
Produced by Moth Collective for the Global Canopy Programme
Best Commissioned Animation: Documentary
- Hiroshima
Director Angus McKeown
Producer Lewis James (BBC)
Produced by Made in Colour for CBBC/BBC Newsround - Modern Love: A Kiss
Director Moth Collective
Producer Nicholas van der Kolk
Produced by Moth Collective for The New York Times - Animated Minds: Stories of Postnatal Depression
Series Directed and produced by George Sander-Jackson
Produced by Mosaic Films for Wellcome Trust & Maudsley Charity
Best Short Film
- Teeth
Directors Daniel Gray & Tom Brown
Produced by Holbrooks Films - Dead Air
Director Robert Bradbrook
Producer Casey Herbert
Produced by Bright Cold Day Films & Bradbrook Films with support from the Arts Foundation - Let’s Play Nomad X
Directed and produced by Kristian Andrews
Produced by Kristian Andrews Production
Best Animation in a Commercial
- Sainsbury’s: Mog Christmas Calamity
Director James Rouse (Outsider)
Senior Producer Heather Kinal (Framestore) & Benji Howell (Outsider)
Produced by Outsider & Framestore for AMV BBDO - Anchor: Little Elephant
Directors Kyra & Constantin
Producer Matt Saxton
Produced by Passion Picture for Creature London - Mariposa: Family
Director nextdoor (Jack Cunningham)
Producer Jo Bierton
Produced by Nexus Productions for Barber Osgerby
Best Film/TV Graphics
- Food Network: Criminal Baking
Director Andrew Kelleher
Producer David Anderson
Produced by Dog & Rabbit for Food Network - The Power of Privacy
Directors: Callum Cooper & Matthias Hoegg
Producer Carrie Budge
Produced by Carrie Budge for The Guardian - Hiroshima: Bun’s Story
Director Angus McKeown
Producer Lewis James (BBC)
Produced by Made in Colour for CBBC/BBC Newsround
Best Use of Sound
- Stick Man
Sound Designer & Mixer Adrian Rhodes Music René Aubry
Directors Jeroen Jaspaert & Daniel Snaddon
Producers Michael Rose & Martin Pope
Produced by Magic Light Pictures - Dead Air
Sound Barnaby Templer, Fonic
Director Robert Bradbrook
Producer Casey Herbert
Produced by Bright Cold Day Films & Bradbrook Films with support from the Arts Foundation - Sarah & Duck: Paisley Sea
Music Tamera Dawkins
Audio Effects & Mix Ben Hood at Platform Post
Director: Tim O’Sullivan
Producer Jamie Badminton
Produced by Karrot Entertainment for CBeebies & BBC Worldwide
Best Student Film: Undergraduate
- Coupling
Director Cat Hayes
Produced at Staffordshire University - Pollock
Director Henry Dunbar Animation
Produced at University of the Creative Arts, Farnham - Man Up You
Director Katie Lenton
Produced at University of the Creative Arts, Farnham
Best Student Film: Postgraduate
- The Bigger Picture
Director Daisy Jacobs
Produced at the National Film & Television School - Small People with Hats
Director Sarina Nihei
Produced at the Royal College of Art - Mr Madila
Director Rory Waudby-Tolley
Produced at the Royal College of Art
Source: British Animation Awards
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
