Some of the World’s Biggest Animations are UK-made, but do you know which ones? 

Annecy this year will be screening a new animated version of Animal Farm from director Andy Serkis (Breathe, The Lord of the Rings). No one knows how to get an emotional performance from animal characters better than the man who made his career playing apes, in the likes of King Kong and Planet of the Apes, and who already directed Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, so this should be pretty special.  

Some of the other UK entries at the Festival include director Ida Mellum’s satirical Ovary-Acting, about the pressure on 30-something women to have kids; Yasmine Djedje-Fisher-Azoume’s inventive Dédé (Ancestor); Jean-Philippe Vine’s heartwarming Cardboard, about an overwhelmed pig dad; and VR film Impulse: Playing With Reality, from rising directors May Abdalla and Barry Gene Murphy.  

They’ll join a thriving sector. The most famous studio in the country of course is Aardman Animations, the home of man and dog inventors Wallace & Gromit and their many adventures. The studio has been nominated for 13 Oscars and has won four: for Creature Comforts back in 1990, and then for Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers in 1993, A Close Shave in 1995 and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit in 2005. That’s only the tip of the Aardman iceberg, however. Shaun The Sheep was first introduced in A Close Shave but now he has his own self-titled TV show and two gorgeous, wordless films: 2015’s Shaun the Sheep Movie and 2019’s A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon. A third will follow next year.  

Aardman also brought us the perennial favourite Arthur Christmas, the prison break (but with hens) drama Chicken Run and its sequel, Dawn of the Nugget, and the lesser known but brilliantly funny The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists. Not to mention Early Man, Flushed Away and Robin Robin. They even made a Star Wars short: the Visions episode I Am Your Mother. 

Aardman may be the biggest dog in town, but they’re not the only ones. Relative newcomer Locksmith Studios brought us the charming robot caper of Ron’s Gone Wrong, and recently the Richard Curtis Christmas movie That Christmas, featuring the voices of Brian Cox (Coriolanus, Prisoner's Daughter), Bill Nighy (Living) and Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who). Lupus films last year released a beautiful adaptation of the Michael Morpurgo story Kensuke’s Kingdom to widespread acclaim, and also made a cute Christmas film in The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland. 

Other British animated hits of recent years include The Amazing Maurice, a star-studded adaptation of the Terry Pratchett story, and Sherlock Gnomes, which dares ask, “What if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s heroes were garden gnomes?”  

There are daring animations for grown-ups too: Flee chronicles a refugee’s search for safety, while Peter and the Wolf brings the classical music composition to life. Loving Vincent was a hugely ambitious oil-painted animation that recreated Van Gogh paintings to tell the artist’s life story, while the short film Affairs of the Art sees creators Joanna Quinn and Les Mills continue the hand-pencilled adventures of the eccentric character, Beryl, who they’ve been following for 40 years. 

Short films naturally bring us to TV animation, where some of the biggest hits in the world right now have a UK connection. You may know the all-conquering Bluey as an Australian staple, but creator Joe Brumm began work on it in London and now co-produces it with BBC Studios. The adventures of the titular six-year-old puppy are adorable, hilarious, often deeply moving and a positive example for both children and their parents. Only just behind Bluey in popularity is the lively Peppa Pig, a UK creation, and Hey Duggee, the cheery story of a dog-managed kindergarten. 

Long-standing British icons are also onscreen in animated form right now, and winning over new generations. The Adventures of Paddington takes its inspiration from the same Michael Bond stories that inspired the cult favourite films, Paddington and Paddington 2. Mr Bean: The Animated Series is the junior version of Rowan Atkinson’s (Love Actually, Mr Bean’s Holiday) hapless live-action creation, while there’s a new Thomas & Friends to introduce modern kids to the legendary Thomas The Tank Engine. The wildly popular children’s books of Julia Donaldson have also been adapted, including such hits as The Gruffalo, Stick Man and Zog and the Flying Doctors. Another best-selling illustrated book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse was adapted to Oscar-winning effect in 2022. 

From Cartoon Saloon’s lovely Puffin Rock, an animated series and film based in the local wildlife of the UK and Ireland, to the toddler favourite Cocomelon and more teenage Wolf King and young adult Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, the UK animated scene has never been stronger or more diverse. The films at Annecy this year are just the tip of the iceberg. With a wealth of UK entries in the short, commissioned films and graduate films categories, it all bodes well for the talent rising through the industry and many more strong years to come.