South African animated and directed series ‘The Snail and the Whale’ is up for another prestigious international award this week.
Cape Town, South Africa (12 April 2021) – South Africa has an incredible film industry that sees both local and international productions made here each year.
One locally animated international production has been nominated for an Annie Award. On 16 April 2021, The Snail and the Whale is competing for Best Animated Special Production at The Annie Awards, one of the biggest awards globally for the animation industry.
Based on the bestselling picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler (creators of the modern classic The Gruffalo), The Snail and The Whale follows the amazing journey of a tiny snail who longs to see the world and hitches a ride on the tail of a huge humpback whale. Radio Times calls the animation “a beautiful visual treat”; Animation World News hails it as “enchanting”, and Variety describes it as “ audacious… adorable… charming.”
The Snail and The Whale won the 2020 Venice TV Award for Children/Youth, as well as Best Voice Performance (for Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins as the snail) at the 2020 British Animation Awards, where it was also nominated for Best Longform Animation and Best Use of Sound.
Animated in Cape Town by Triggerfish and produced by Magic Light Pictures, The Snail and the Whale is directed by Max Lang and South African Daniel Snaddon, who previously collaborated on the Annecy-winning Stick Man and the International Emmy-winning Zog.
The Snail and the Whale has already won eight international awards at the likes of the British Animation Awards, Cartoons on the Bay, New York International Children’s Film Festival, The Venice TV Awards, and the BANFF Rockie’s Awards.
The Snail and the Whale was voiced by a starry British acting cast including Sally Hawkins (Paddington, The Shape of Water) as Snail, Rob Brydon (Gavin & Stacey, The Trip) as Whale, Cariad Lloyd (Peep Show) as Teacher and the late Dame Diana Rigg (Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones) as the narrator.
This is yet another win for the South African animation industry in the long run. We hope to see many more animations from our shores soon! You can watch the trailer for the show below and catch it on the South African streaming service, Showmax.
by 