Magic Light Pictures

Magic Light Pictures (founded in 2003 by producers Martin Pope and Michael Rose) is an English London-based independent production company, which produces films and manages the children's brand The Gruffalo.[1]

Magic Light Pictures
TypeFilm Production Company
Brand Licensing
Founded2003; 20 years ago
FoundersMartin Pope
Michael Rose
HeadquartersLondon
Websitewww.magiclightpictures.com

Productions

Since 2009, Magic Light Pictures have produced ten half-hour animated specials based on the best-selling children's story books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler: The Gruffalo (2009), The Gruffalo's Child (2011), Room on the Broom (2012), Stick Man (2015), The Highway Rat (2017), Zog (2018), The Snail and the Whale (2019), Zog and the Flying Doctors (2020), Superworm (2021) and The Smeds and The Smoos (2022). Their films have won over 40 awards between them, including two Children's BAFTAs[2] and the Prix Jeunesse,[3][4] and have twice been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Animation.[5][6]

Their most recent production, The Smeds and The Smoos, premiered on BBC One on Christmas Day 2022 at 2:30pm and was watched by more than 8.7 million viewers. They are currently producing an adaptation of Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler's Tabby McTat, due for broadcast on BBC One over Christmas 2023.

Their other productions include: the Oscar-nominated[7] Revolting Rhymes (2016), a two-part animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl book of the same name; and feature films including the Oscar-nominated[8] Chico & Rita (2010), a Spanish language animated feature; Wild Target (2010), a comedy thriller starring Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt; The English version of Terkel in Trouble, a Danish language animated feature; and Sparkle (2007), a romantic comedy feature starring Shaun Evans and Stockard Channing.

Filmography
Title Year Co-produced with Type
Terkel in Trouble (English UK dub) 2006 Animated Feature
Sparkle 2007 Romantic Comedy
Glorious 39 2009 Thriller
The Gruffalo Studio SOI Animated Short
Wild Target 2010 Black Comedy
Chico and Rita Animated Feature
The Gruffalo's Child 2011 Studio SOI Animated Short
One Life Documentary
Room on the Broom 2012 Studio SOI Animated Short
Stick Man 2015 Triggerfish Animation Studios
Revolting Rhymes 2016 Triggerfish Animation Studios
The Highway Rat 2017 Triggerfish Animation Studios
Zog 2018 Triggerfish Animation Studios
The Snail and the Whale 2019 Triggerfish Animation Studios
Zog and the Flying Doctors 2020 Giant
Superworm 2021 Blue Zoo Animation Studio
Pip and Posy Blue Zoo Animation Studio Animated TV Series
The Smeds and the Smoos 2022 Blue Zoo Animation Studio Animated Short
Pip and Posy 2023 Blue Zoo Animation Studio Animated TV Series
Tabby McTat (in production) 2023 Animated Short
Pip and Posy: Let's Learn 2023 A Productions Animated TV show
The Velveteen Rabbit 2023 Magic Light Pictures Animation/live action

Awards and nominations
Production Ceremony Category Recipient Result
The Highway Rat 46th Annie Awards[9] Best Animated Special Production Magic Light Pictures Nominated
Rose d'Or[10] Children and Youth Magic Light Pictures Won
Revolting Rhymes 90th Academy Awards[11] Best Animated Short Film Jakob Schuh

Jan Lachauer

 Nominated
British Academy Children's Awards 2017[12] Best Animation Jakob Schuh

Jan Lachauer

Martin Pope

Michael Rose

 Won
6th International Emmy Kids Awards[13] Kids: Animation Michael Rose

Martin Pope

Magic Light Pictures

 Won
Stick Man British Academy Children's Awards 2016[14] Best Animation Production Team Nominated
British Animation Awards[15] Best Use of Sound Adrian Rhodes

Magic Light Pictures

 Won
Best Voice Performance Martin Freeman

Magic Light Pictures

 Won
Best Long Form Jeroen Jaspaert

Daniel Snaddon

Magic Light Pictures

 Nominated
Room on the Broom 86th Academy Awards[16] Best Animated Short Film Max Lang

Jan Lachauer

 Nominated
British Academy Children's Awards Best Animation Max Lang

Jan Lachauer

Magic Light Pictures

 Won
International Emmy Kids Awards Kids: Animation Max Lang

Jan Lachauer

Magic Light Pictures

 Won
The Gruffalo's Child British Animation Awards[17] Best Long Form Johannes Weiland

Uwe Heidschötter

 Won
British Academy Children's Awards Best Animation Johannes Weiland

Uwe Heidschötter

Magic Light Pictures

 Nominated
Chico and Rita 84th Academy Awards[18] Best Animated Feature Film of the Year Fernando Trueba

Javier Mariscal

 Nominated
The Gruffalo 83rd Academy Awards[19] Best Animated Short Film Jakob Schuh

Max Lang

 Nominated
62nd British Academy Film Awards[20] Best Short Animation Michael Rose

Martin Pope

Jakob Schuh

Max Lang

 Nominated
Prix Jeunesse International[21] Prix Jeunesse 7-11 Fiction Magic Light Pictures Won
Prize of the Children's Jury 7-11 Fiction Magic Light Pictures Won
The Snail and the Whale BAFTA Film Awards[22] Best Director Magic Light Pictures Won
BAFTA Film Awards[23] Best animation Magic Light Pictures Won

Licensing

Magic Light Pictures runs a licensing programme and carries ranges in Sainsbury's, Debenhams, John Lewis, Waterstones, and M&S, among others.[24] Launched in 2009, the licensing programme has markets in Germany, Australia, Scandinavia, New Zealand and the USA. Products available in The Gruffalo brand include plush, stationery, homewares, games, toys and apparel.[25]

Magic Light has won five Licensing Awards[26][27][28] for their branded apparel, furniture and Forestry Commission trails.

Brand partnerships

Magic Light Pictures has several award-winning brand partnerships with organisations including Chessington World of Adventures Resort,[29] Forestry Commission England[30] and Arla milk,[31] among others.

Chessington World of Adventures Resort currently hosts the Gruffalo River Ride Adventure (a dark ride), themed hotel rooms, an arena dedicated to the films and characters, and a food outlet. In March 2019 Chessington launched a Room on the Broom attraction with specifically themed hotel rooms.[32]

Since the year 2014, The Forestry Commission has worked with Magic Light on providing free, self-lead trails based on the Gruffalo brand family on over 20 sites around the UK, as well as offering Gruffalo orienteering, Gruffalo sculptures in several forests, and an augmented reality app, The Gruffalo Spotter.[33]

2019 marked the 20th anniversary of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's Gruffalo book and 10 years since the premiere of the animated special on BBC One. As part of the celebration, Magic Light partnered with the Royal Mint to release a set of commemorative silver and gold fifty pence collectors' coins, and with the Royal Mail to release a set of bespoke Gruffalo stamps.[34]

Apps

Since 2013, Magic Light Pictures has developed a range of mini-game and augmented reality apps based around the Gruffalo brand family.[35] Room on the Broom: Games and Gruffalo: Games were both nominated for a Children's BAFTA in the Interactive Adapted category in 2014 and 2015 respectively.[36][37]

The Gruffalo Spotter app, launched in early 2017, is an augmented reality app that works alongside the Forestry Commission trails, where users can follow a set of clues and signs to locate animated characters from the book and take photos with them. The app was nominated at the 2017 BAFTA awards in the Interactive category.[38]

References
  1. "Magic Light Pictures". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  2. "Children's in 2013 BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  3. "2010". prixjeunesse.de. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  4. "'The Gruffalo' Wins Special Prix Jeunesse International Award". Animation World Network. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  5. "The 83rd Academy Awards 2011". Oscars.org Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  6. "The 86th Academy Awards 2014". Oscars.org Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  7. "Revolting Rhymes heads to the Oscars". 3 March 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  8. "The 84th Academy Awards | 2012". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  9. "46th Annual Annie Awards". annieawards.org. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  10. "News". www.rosedor.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  11. "2018". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  12. "Children's Awards Winners 2017". www.bafta.org. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  13. "'Revolting Rhymes' Wins International Emmy for Best Kids' Animation". Animation World Network. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  14. "2016 Children's Animation | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  15. "British Animation Awards (2016)". IMDb. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  16. "The 86th Academy Awards | 2014". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  17. Zahed, Ramin (19 March 2012). "'Gumball,' 'Gruffalos' Child' Win British Animation Awards". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  18. "The 84th Academy Awards | 2012". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  19. "The 83rd Academy Awards | 2011". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  20. "2010 Film Short Animation | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  21. "2010". www.prixjeunesse.de. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  22. "Winners announced: 2022 BAFTA Children & Young People Awards". bafta.org. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  23. "'Dodger,' 'The Snail and the Whale' Lead BAFTA Children and Young People Awards Nominations". variety.com. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  24. Langsworthy, Billy. "Magic Light Pictures on 15 years of The Gruffalo". Licensing.biz. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  25. "Official Gruffalo Shop". Gruffalo. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  26. "2011 Winners | The Licensing Awards". www.thelicensingawards.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  27. "2013 Winners | The Licensing Awards". www.thelicensingawards.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  28. Burke, Jade. "Licensing.biz People Awards 2017: Winners revealed". Licensing.biz. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  29. "The Gruffalo at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in 2017". Chessington World of Adventures Resort. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  30. "Gruffalo". Forestry Commission England. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  31. "Arla BIG Milk Gruffalo". www.arlafoods.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  32. "Room on the Broom - A Magical Journey - new for 2019 at Chessington World of Adventures Resort". Chessington World of Adventures Resort. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  33. "Forestry Commission". www.forestry.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  34. Andrews, James (14 February 2019). "Gruffalo 50p coin to launch - when it goes sale and how much it will be worth". mirror. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  35. Dredge, Stuart (28 August 2014). "Oh help! Oh no! It's a Gruffalo Games app for children". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  36. "2014 Children's Interactive: Adapted | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  37. "2015 Children's Interactive: Adapted | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  38. "2017 Children's Interactive | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
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