Fans anticipating the DreamWorks/Aardman Wallace & Gromit feature film can also look forward to more Creature Comforts on the small screen. Granada Int’l has secured worldwide TV and home video rights to Aardman’s new series based on the original Academy Award-winning short film and the subsequent behind-the-scenes documentary Creating Creature Comforts.
Brokered by Jane Dockery, VP of sales for Granada Intl’s kids and animation division, the deal provides the distributor with television and DVD/VHS licensing rights around the world (excluding the U.K., Australia and the U.S.).
“The original Creature Comforts short film was a huge success but left you wanting more,” says Granada managing director Nadine Nohr. “Now we have that and are delighted to be working with Aardman to take it to viewers around the world.”
Aardman exec. producer Miles Bullough comments, “This representation deal with Granada fits perfectly with Aardman’s philosophy of combining commercial expertise with creative animation programming. We’re very excited to be bringing Creature Comforts back to the small screen, and Granada Int’l will ensure our new and existing programs get maximum global exposure.”
The 13×10 Creature Comforts series is due to be broadcast in primetime on the U.K.’s largest commercial channel, ITV1, this Autumn. The show will be produced in the distinctive Aardman style of clay animation and will feature many of the original stars, including the infamous Frank the Tortoise, and more than 100 new characters such as Pickles the Guide Dog, Dennis the Dung Beetle, Megan and Gladys the Seagulls and Matilda the Cow.
Director Nick Park’s original Creature Comforts, winner of 1990 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, will also be distributed by Granada Int’l, along with Creating Creature Comforts. Park’s Wallace & Gromit feature will be released by DreamWorks in 2005.
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