# Magic Light Pictures

Magic Light Pictures Limited is a British independent film and television production company based in London, England. The company was founded in 2003 by producers Martin Pope and Michael Rose.

## Productions

Since 2009, Magic Light Pictures have produced 12 30-minute 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), The Smeds and The Smoos (2022), Tabby McTat (2023) and Tiddler (2024). Overall, their productions have won more than 40 awards, including two Children's BAFTAs and the Prix Jeunesse, and have been nominated three times for an Academy Award for Best Short Animation. Their most recent production, Tiddler, premiered at approximately 2:35pm on BBC One during Christmas Day 2024, and was watched by more than 8.2 million viewers.
Their other productions include: the Oscar-nominated Revolting Rhymes (2016), The Velveteen Rabbit an animated short, (2023), a pre-school animated TV series called Pip and Posy, (2021), and feature films including the Oscar-nominated 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 | A. Film Production | Animated Feature |
| Sparkle | 2007 | Isle of Man Film | Romantic Comedy |
| Glorious 39 | 2009 | BBC Films Quickfire Films Screen East Content Investment Fund Talkback Thames UK Film Council | Thriller |
| The Gruffalo | 2009 | Studio SOI | Animated Short |
| Wild Target | 2010 | CinemaNX Isle of Man Film Matador Pictures | Black Comedy |
| Chico and Rita | 2010 | Fernando Trueba PC Estudio Mariscal | Animated Feature |
| The Gruffalo's Child | 2011 | Studio SOI | Animated Short |
| One Life | 2011 | IM Global BBC Earth Films | Documentary |
| Room on the Broom | 2012 | Studio SOI | Animated Short |
| Stick Man | 2015 | Triggerfish Animation Studios | Animated Short |
| Revolting Rhymes | 2016 | Triggerfish Animation Studios | Animated Short |
| The Highway Rat | 2017 | Triggerfish Animation Studios | Animated Short |
| Zog | 2018 | Triggerfish Animation Studios | Animated Short |
| The Snail and the Whale | 2019 | Triggerfish Animation Studios | Animated Short |
| Zog and the Flying Doctors | 2020 | | Animated Short |
| Superworm | 2021 | Blue Zoo Animation Studio | Animated Short |
| Pip and Posy | 2021 | Blue Zoo Animation Studio | Animated TV Series |
| The Smeds and The Smoos | 2022 | Blue Zoo Animation Studio | Animated Short |
| The Velveteen Rabbit | 2023 | Samson Films Red Knuckles Studio | Live Action/Animated Feature |
| Tabby McTat | 2023 | Red Star 3D | Animated Short |
| Tiddler | 2024 | Red Star 3D | Animated Short |

## Awards and nominations

| Production | Ceremony | Category | Recipient | Result |
| The Snail and the Whale | British Academy Children's Awards | Best Director | Magic Light Pictures | Won |
| The Snail and the Whale | British Academy Children's Awards | Best Animation | Magic Light Pictures | Won |
| The Highway Rat | 46th Annie Awards | Best Animated Special Production | Magic Light Pictures | Nominated |
| The Highway Rat | Rose d'Or | Children and Youth | Magic Light Pictures | Won |
| Revolting Rhymes | 90th Academy Awards | Best Animated Short Film | Jakob Schuh Jan Lachauer | Nominated |
| Revolting Rhymes | British Academy Children's Awards | Best Animation | Jakob Schuh Jan Lachauer Martin Pope Michael Rose | Won |
| Revolting Rhymes | 6th International Emmy Kids Awards | Kids: Animation | Michael Rose Martin Pope Magic Light Pictures | Won |
| Stick Man | British Academy Children's Awards | Best Animation | Production Team | Nominated |
| Stick Man | British Animation Awards | Best Use of Sound | Adrian Rhodes Magic Light Pictures | Won |
| Stick Man | British Animation Awards | Best Voice Performance | Martin Freeman Magic Light Pictures | Won |
| Stick Man | British Animation Awards | Best Long Form | Jeroen Jaspaert Daniel Snaddon Magic Light Pictures | Nominated |
| Room on the Broom | 86th Academy Awards | Best Animated Short Film | Max Lang Jan Lachauer | Nominated |
| Room on the Broom | British Academy Children's Awards | Best Animation | Max Lang Jan Lachauer Magic Light Pictures | Won |
| Room on the Broom | International Emmy Kids Awards | Kids: Animation | Max Lang Jan Lachauer Magic Light Pictures | Won |
| The Gruffalo's Child | British Animation Awards | Best Long Form | Johannes Weiland Uwe Heidschötter | Won |
| The Gruffalo's Child | British Academy Children's Awards | Best Animation | Johannes Weiland Uwe Heidschötter Magic Light Pictures | Nominated |
| Chico and Rita | 84th Academy Awards | Best Animated Feature | Fernando Trueba Javier Mariscal | Nominated |
| The Gruffalo | 83rd Academy Awards | Best Animated Short Film | Jakob Schuh Max Lang | Nominated |
| The Gruffalo | 62nd British Academy Film Awards | Best Short Animation | Michael Rose Martin Pope Jakob Schuh Max Lang | Nominated |
| The Gruffalo | Prix Jeunesse International | Prix Jeunesse 7-11 Fiction | Magic Light Pictures | Won |
| The Gruffalo | Prix Jeunesse International | Prize of the Children's Jury 7-11 Fiction | 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. Launched in 2009, the 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.
Magic Light has won five Licensing Awards 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, Forestry Commission England and Arla milk.
The Chessington World of Adventures Resort currently hosts the Gruffalo River Ride Adventure, 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.
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.
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.

## Apps

Since 2013, Magic Light Pictures has developed a range of mini-game and augmented reality apps based around the Gruffalo brand family. 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.
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.