BBC audiences are treated to a new animated adaptation of a children’s book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler this Christmas. Produced by Magic Light Pictures, Tabby McTat follows a street performer named Fred and his musical cat Tabby who enjoy entertaining audiences in London until tragedy strikes. The charming special is produced by Barney Goodland and Michael Rose.
Goodland was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about this new venture:
The Origins: This is Magic Light Pictures 11th adaptation of a Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler picture book. The Gruffalo was the first animated film I worked on as an assistant and I’ve been with Magic Light ever since. Tabby McTat has always been a favorite with us and with fans, so when our script writers, Max Lang and Suzanne Lang, came up with a way of approaching the adaptation it was a very easy decision to keep going and make this our next special.
Production Details: From the first treatment to delivery, the film took close to two years to produce. We spend a couple of months on the script and, then, six to nine months on the animatic. Lots of the stages then overlap, but design, modeling, animation, lighting and comp all take about six to eight months each. We do cast recordings before animation starts and music composition begins in the second half of the animation’s schedule. Recording the music, completing the sound mix and grade then takes three to four weeks at the end.
The special was animated by Red Star (The Amazing Maurice) in Sheffield. This is our first collaboration with them, but they have a highly skilled and experienced team who picked this project up magnificently. We used Maya Autodesk, Houdini, Substance, Photoshop, Fusion and ZBrush. Across all departments approximately 120 people have worked on the film.
Project Highlights: I love that it’s a story about friendship and family and the strength of relationships. It’s also about change and learning how to accept it. The story shows us how relationships can change and evolve and how they can become stronger for it.
Animation Style: The film is fully CGI, but the style is in a stop-motion and clay aesthetic. This follows all of our previous Donaldson and Scheffler specials and harks back to The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s Child and Room on the Broom. Those specials were made using a combination of model sets and CGI characters. It’s an aesthetic that gives the film a fantastic texture and, we think, the feeling that the books have come to life.
Biggest Challenges: Animating cats (with four legs, a tail, whiskers, and expressive ears) is always challenging. The animators also had to contend with cats interacting with humans and them both being key characters for the story. I’m sure there are areas of the U.K. where cat video analytics have spikes from all our animators analyzing cat videos on a loop for reference. Bringing London to life was also a challenge. It not only had to feel believable as London, but also feel true to Axel Scheffler’s drawings and a natural part of the Magic Light aesthetic. I think the directors, Sarah Scrimgeour and Jac Hamman, and the artistic and design teams have all done an incredible job. To me, the London in Tabby McTat feels realistic and rich in detail, whilst maintaining a connection to Axel’s work.
Early Inspirations: From my childhood, I fondly remember watching Disney’s Robin Hood (1973) and The BFG (1983, Cosgrove Hall). At home we had these recorded to videotape from Christmas TV and I remember watching them again and again all year round. The thing that really engaged me was the energy and vibrancy of the films and how I could get swept up in the story. They didn’t have a conscious influence on me looking to work on Christmas specials, but maybe that’s one of the reasons why I love producing Magic Light’s films so much – that focus on shared viewing and Christmas joy.
Project Goals: I hope audiences will feel good about themselves and the people in their lives. That they feel touched by a beautiful and engaging story and that some holiday warmth has emanated from their screens. And, if they don’t already have a cat, I hope they’ll be thinking about adopting one.
Tabby McTat premieres on BBC One this Christmas Day (December 25), available to stream on iPlayer.
