South African animation wins big once again

Cape Town, 16 February 2017: Stick Man, Triggerfish Animation Studios’ collaboration with Magic Light Pictures, won four awards at the Kidscreen Awards last week, bringing its total number of international awards up to 11.

Stick Man beat stiff competition from the likes of Shaun the Sheep and Bruno & Boots to win Best One-Off, Special or TV Movie for Kids. The 26-minute short film also took home Best Direction for Jeroen Jaspaert and South African co-director Daniel Snaddon; Best Music; and Best Design, making it the most awarded animation on the night.

The 11 international awards Stick Man has won on three continents so far include the Cristal for a TV Production at the world’s leading animation festival, Annecy.

What’s up with Stick Man?

Animated in Cape Town by Triggerfish Animation Studios, Stick Man is an adaptation of the bestselling picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, the award-winning children’s author-and-illustrator team behind The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo’s Child, all of which have also been adapted into beautiful short films.

“Stick Man lives in the family tree with Stick Lady Love and their stick children three,” until he’s taken further and further away from home on an epic adventure across the seasons. He runs from a playful dog, gets thrown in a river, escapes from a swan’s nest, and even ends up on top of a fire, as he tries to get back to his family in time for Christmas.

Martin Freeman (who stars in Emmy Award-winning series Fargo) voices Stick Man, with Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) as Santa and Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) as the narrator.

Stick Man, which premiered on BBC One at Christmas 2015, is currently streaming on Showmax, along with the other three animated shorts based on Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler’s masterpieces.

What’s next for Triggerfish?

The Cape Town-based film and entertainment company behind Adventures in Zambezia and Khumba, both among the top five highest-grossing South African films of all time, are about to start production on their third feature-length animation Seal Team.

They also recently produced their second BBC One Christmas collaboration with Magic Light Pictures, Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, which will have its African premiere on 2 March 2017 at the Artscape in collaboration with Cape Town International Animation Festival and Design Indaba, less than a week after its international festival premiere at the opening of the New York International Children’s Film Festival. It will also screen on 4 March 2017 at the Labia as part of the Cape Town International Animation Festival.

Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Dahl’s birth, Revolting Rhymes combines the classic fairy tales of Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk and Cinderella, serving them with a mischievous twist.

Triggerfish is currently underway on a third BBC One Christmas collaboration with Magic Light Pictures, The Highway Rat, another Donaldson/Scheffler adaptation.

To stream or download the animated shorts Stick Man, The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s Child and Room on the Broom, sign up to Showmax – you’ll get a 14-day free trial »