An animated version of Stick Man, the much-loved children’s picture
book, will premiere on BBC One in the 16h45 Christmas Day slot – a prime time slot
that has previously attracted ten million viewers.
Stick Man was produced by Magic Light Pictures, an Oscar-nominated,
BAFTA and International Emmy-winning production company in the UK, and
animated in Cape Town by Triggerfish. The 26-minute film was directed by London-
based Jeroen Jaspaert and co-directed by South African Daniel Snaddon.
The cast of British acting talent includes Martin Freeman (The Hobbit)
as Stick Man, Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) as Santa, and
Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) as the narrator, as well as
Rob Brydon, Sally Hawkins and Russell Tovey.
Stick Man lives in the family tree with Stick Lady Love and their three stick children
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.
The Stick Man book was written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by
Axel Scheffler, creators of the modern classic The Gruffalo.
The story is Magic Light’s fourth adaptation of a book by the UK picture
book team, following Room On The Broom, The Gruffalo
and The Gruffalo’s Child.
Stick Man will have its African premiere at The Cape Town
International Animation Festival in February 2016.
Triggerfish and Magic Light Pictures have already started collaborating on a new
project, Revolting Rhymes, based on Roald Dahl’s classic poems,
which were illustrated by Quentin Blake. The two half-hour animations, which retell
and interweave classic fairy stories such as Cinderella and Jack
and the Beanstalk, are for Christmas 2016, the author’s centenary year.
