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Peake Rolls Out Snowball Fan Video

aaron — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:46:55 +0000

Peter Peake, who is the creator/writer/animator of the Aardman series Pib & Pog, not only knows his away around the stop-motion realm, but he’s proficient in both CG and Flash. Aside from directing numerous TV spots for Aardman in recent years, he’s also been working on a “fan video” for his favorite band, Elbow. Here’s his take on a music video for Snowball, a track he calls “achingly beautiful.”

Lazenby’s Animation Treatment For Cancer Patients

aaron — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:36:33 +0000

How do you make cancer fun and interesting to children? Yikes – that sounds nearly impossible. Apparently Emma Lazenby (Mother of Many) wasn’t quite so doubtful, as you can see in this 5-minute educational film titled One of a Kind – A Guide to Radiotherapy. The often charming little film was designed and directed by Lazenby and animated by Alex Potts, Ginny Robertson and Matthew Walker. It was a co-production from both ArthurCox and Aardman Animations. (for those in North America – “radiotherapy” is otherwise known as “radiation therapy”)

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Ruffle’s Recycling Spot

aaron — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:23:30 +0000

Along with Bus Productions, Aardman Animations commercial director Tim Ruffle recently directed a series of 5 recycling spots for the Catalonia Government. The campaign promotes the concept that little actions can make a big difference, and Ruffle and his team animated the spots in Flash and then composited the material together in After Effects. The animation team included Joe Wood, Tom Evans, Zoran Jankovic, Robin Davey and Felix Massie, with illustrations by Adrian Johnson. Here’s one of the ads…

Aardman Spots Spotted

aaron — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:28:22 +0000

The Aardman Animations commercials division has posted a number of their spots on YouTube, and several were produced in Flash. We’ve featured the McLeod’s Aardman work before (IPA Effectiveness), but here’s a commercial Tim Ruffle directed for Webbliworld. It’s titled Wij’s Discovery, and it was discussed briefly in our message boards, where we learned the project team also included Joe Wood (mentioned earlier this week), Dave Connolly and Garth Jones.

Next up is a spot directed by Peter Peake for YoToy. The product, called Zoomz, is a secret toy that hides in your shoes. I myself prefer a secret shoe that hides in my toy, but that’s neither here nor there. The agency on the spot was St Luke’s Communications.

Aardman Team Spawns Spanish Spot

aaron — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:19:14 +0000

Tim Ruffle, one of the lucky few listed on the Aardman Animations Director’s Roster, was called upon to animate a spot for Spanish TV. The Flash-animated commercial was for Hipotecas, a company offering home loans. Ruffle and his team produced the animation back in 2006. His animation team was four-strong – Tom Evans, Joe Wood, Steve Whittle and Dave Cropley. Tim and Louis Jones designed the characters and the world.

No Claymation For Aardman’s Next Flash Series

admin — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:03:00 +0000

Aardman Animations, the amazing UK team behind Wallace & Gromit, Creature Comforts and Chicken Run, has chosen to animate their next TV series in Flash. Little J, an 11-minute series, will be a collaboration with Jamie Oliver, the British celebrity chef.

According to the BBC News, the series will go back in time and follow a 10-year old Jamie as he fights off a mad scientist named Eggs Benedict and jams with his band The Vulgar Vegetables.

McLeods Create Effective Shorts

admin — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:25:00 +0000

The Brothers McLeod, who recently premiered Fuggy Fuggy 2 here at CHF, have produced a two new shorts for the 2007 IPA Effectiveness Awards. Working through their rep’s Aardman Animations, Greg and Myles teamed up with MCBD, an ad agency in London to create 2 Flash-animated ‘viral’ shorts. Here is one titled Helen, which features an Advertising Planner with a planet sized brain.

M Man Falls From the Sky

aaron — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:08:00 +0000

Back in December of 2005, the Brothers McLeod teased us with a sneak peak at ‘The M Man.’ He’s their quirky Flash-animated superhero, who “embarks on a mission packed with paper mache barbeques and crop dusting equipment.”

It’s a staggered release, with part 1 out now, and parts 2 and 3 coming within the next 10 days.

You also know ‘Fuggy Fuggy,’ the Brothers McLeod’s hysterical pint-sized ninja who’s reportedly waiting in the wings with his own fresh installment (more info on that in a bit).

According to the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival website, the brothers are represented by Aardman Animations as commercial directors.

Aardman Plants Flowerheads

aaron — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 16:51:00 +0000

Aardman Animation may be the top dogs in claymation, but they’re now starting to flex their 2D muscle too. You may have noticed their Cartoon Category nomination at the 2006 Flashforward Film Festival, and last year, Aardman announced ‘Planet Sketch,’ a show animated in both Flash and CGI formats.

And now Aardman is moving forward on ‘Flowerheads,’ a Flash-animated show created and directed by Nick Mackie. Aimed at 2 and 3 year olds, ‘Flowerheads’ is planned as a series of 5-minutes cartoons, and according to an article over at C21 Media, the show is set to launch in 2007. I’ve found mentions of the project dating back to 2004, and further information on Nick Mackie’s personal website. Character designs can be found there as well, and I also spotted another Mackie project that was surely produced in Flash – ‘Cold Calling.’ It’s not unlike Comedy Central’s ‘Crank Yankers,’ with the animated phone conversations, and it’s also quite clever. Have a look at the two episodes Mackie has on his site – ‘Blind’ and ‘Gay Brian’ (mp4s).

Planet Sketch Lands on Cartoon Network

admin — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 15:47:00 +0000

‘Planet Sketch,’ Decode Entertainment’s co-production with Aardman Animation, has been picked up for the Latin American market by Cartoon Network. This CGI and Flash-animated show is already slated to air on Canada’s Teletoon and ITV in the UK. According to an article on the World Screen website, ‘Planet Sketch’ is targeted at the 7-11 year old market. The show is built a sketch-comedy program, and the Decode website adds that “sketches feature different characters, but the series is cohesive thanks to the design style and to the creation of a neighbourhood where the characters all live and operate.”

The ‘Planet Sketch’ website is now up, and it features several Flash models and short animated bits. It seems as if the show is predominantly CGI, but it’s still being billed as a hybrid production.