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Characters drawn by Bristol children to star in the Tate Movie Project

Government Communications (NDS)

16 June 2011

David Walliams, Miranda Hart, Catherine Tate and Rik Mayall will lead the stellar cast of The Itch of the Golden Nit, voicing the characters devised by children. The Tate Movie Project is the first of its kind - an animation made by and for children. The animation has been created from thousands of drawings, sound effects and story ideas by children from across the UK.Funded by Legacy Trust UK and BP, with additional support and resources from the BBC, the film has been brought together by Tate and the creative magic of Aardman Animations. The Itch of the Golden Nit follows 11 year old hero Beanie on his mission to save his parents from Evil Stella and to return the Golden Nit to its rightful place at the heart of the sun, thereby saving the universe. It's a surreal and spectacular adventure that only the wild imaginations of kids could dream up! Emma and Fiona come from a family of six children, most of whom have uploaded drawings to the site. About their experience, Emma said: "The Tate Movie Project has been FANTASTIC! It's been loads of fun to do as a family. Since last summer I have been learning how to record sounds and songs and even make my own animations. But most of all I have absolutely loved drawing pictures for them! I can't wait to see my mad dad singing on the big screen."Fiona said: "I have really loved drawing and painting and using pastels to make pictures every week. I can't wait to try to spot all of my drawings in the movie. Miranda Hart plays my Mum in the movie, her voice sounds very kind. I'm so excited to go to London to see the movie because I have never been to London before." Isobel said: "I'm very excited about going to the premiere, because I can't wait to see the whole film and the celebrities." Isobel drew Beryl on the Tate Movie Project truck when it was at Bristol Harbour Festival. She has always been a keen drawer but has never done any art classes before. Her involvement in the movie has prompted her to take part in other workshops. The stellar cast has provided the voices for the lead characters chosen from the many drawings submitted by children aged 5- 13 the result of over 250 workshops and individual uploads to the Tate Movie Project's online movie studio. The online studio has had more than 500,000 hits since it went live last July and a touring movie studio has spent months on the road visiting galleries, schools and festivals across the country encouraging children to use art as inspiration for their drawings and story ideas. The project is part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and has been made possible through £3million of funding from Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to create a cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. BP, as one of the Premier Partners of the Cultural Olympiad, is providing further substantial funding and is helping to evaluate the process to further inform Tate's future youth projects. As well as broadcast support through CBBC and the entire project being recorded by Blue Peter, BBC Learning has produced fun, accessible resources for kids and teachers alike.The cream of British comedy has provided additional voices for the film including Sanjeev Bhaskar, Ralf Little, Miriam Margolyes, Lucy Montgomery, Vic Reeves and Alexei Sayle. Two children will provide the voices of Beanie - Bobby Fuller, known for his role of Jake on CBBC's Sadie J - and his older sister Beryl - Rachel Rawlinson. Tate asked children to vote online for which celebrities they would like to see play cameo roles as pirates and superheroes in the final feature. The website (www.tatemovie.co.uk) was inundated with suggestions including Stacey Solomon and Pixie Lott to play 'moody mermaids'. Multiple drawings are composited to make a single scene, for example each element of a high street from the shop windows to the cars driving by. The final film will include thousands of different drawings by the children. The vast bank of material has been brought together by Tate, Aardman and Fallon in the most impressive way possible using the latest animation technology. Music is by composer John Browne who has been working with young British musicians including the National Youth Orchestra, West Everton Children's Orchestra, Folkestra and The Young'uns. The children will attend a red carpet premiere for the film in Leicester Square on Wednesday 29 June and the finished film will be broadcast on the BBC this summer as well as at screenings at galleries, on London 2012 Live Sites (big screens) in cities across the UK and at Vue cinemas nationwide over the August Bank Holiday. Story Synopsis11 year old Beanie's bland life changes forever when Evil Stella and her flaming side-kick Fireboy show up in his back garden one day after school. Evil Stella is after The Golden Nit and kidnaps Beanie's Mum and Dad thinking they have it.But this is no ordinary nit. The Golden Nit is the battery that powers the sun and if Beanie doesn't get it home by sunset the sun will die and the universe is doomed. Aided by his shouty older sister Beryl, who has been shrunk to the size of a doll by one of Stella's electric bubbles, Beanie sets out on a crazy adventure to rescue his parents and save the universe. Armed only with a tube of lazer lip gloss and some blend-in pants, their quest takes them across galaxies via a superhero supermarket, through wormholes, and up the Hairy Scary River escaping from moody mermaids and gold-thirsty pirates along the way. Beanie is helped, and hindered, by Ten Heart Hero who isn't quite the hero Beanie first thinks he is. When it comes down to it - there really is only one hero who can save the day!The cast so farThe Golden Nit - David WalliamsMum (Julie) - Miranda HartDad (Bill) - Harry EnfieldEvil Stella - Catherine TateMummy Socks - Miriam MargolyesCaptain Iron Ears - Vic ReevesNarrator/President Pinky - Rik MayallTen Heart Hero - Sanjeev BhaskarFireboy - Ralf LittlePlanet Jimmy - Alexei SayleStressed Alice - Lucy MontgomeryBeanie - Bobby FullerBeryl - Rachel Rawlinson"Children have always enjoyed exploring Tate's Collection and finding inspiration to fuel their own creativity. Drawing on some of the world's greatest art works, the Tate Movie Project has allowed them to express their ideas and vision on the scale of a wide screen. What's exciting about the Tate Movie Project is that we can see their flashes of imagination come to life in animation. Only children would have the faith to send a 'golden nit' on an adventure to save the planet. This project has provoked some astonishing work by children of all backgrounds, some of whom may well be the artists and creatives of the future." Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate"I am delighted that less than 18 months after we announced our funding for the Tate Movie, the project has successfully worked with so many children up and down the UK to produce an inspiring and exciting film, with an incredible cast to match. As with all our projects, the Tate Movie plays an important role in creating a cultural legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games across the UK, and clearly demonstrates that the Games are about much more than just sport. The thousands of children who have been involved in this project will know that their artwork has been part of a ground-breaking film which will live on long after the Games have ended." Dugald Mackie, Chair of Legacy Trust UK "BP has a long history with the arts and culture in the UK and is delighted and excited to be involved in the Tate Movie Project. We Look forward to seeing the completed film." Peter Mather, Regional Vice President, Europe & Head of Country, UK"The Tate Movie Project has given thousands of children across the UK the opportunity to bring their creativity and imagination to life. At CBBC we aim to produce entertaining and engaging programmes for children, which is exactly what this project is about and I am thrilled that we have been able to support it." Damian Kavanagh, Controller of CBBC "The success of The Tate Movie Project is phenomenal; thousands of young people across the UK have been developing skills through animation workshops and digitally through the website. The announcement today of this wonderful cast and story is thrilling - congratulations to everyone." Ruth Mackenzie, Director, Cultural Olympiad.For further PRESS information please contact Rebecca Ward for Tate Press Office on 020 7613 3306, press@rebeccaward.co.uk. Or Kate Moores at Tate Press Office on 020 7887 8730, kate.moores@tate.org.uk.For further information about Legacy Trust UK, please contact Julie Morrow on julie.morrow@legacytrustuk.org or 020 7920 6430For further information on the Cultural Olympiad please contact Paul Woodmansey in the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 469, paul.woodmansey@london2012.com, or visit the website at www.london2012.com. Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ on our blog http://blog.london2012.com or follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/london2012For further information on CBBC, please contact Valerie Taylor on valerie.taylor@bbc.co.uk or on 07889 666594. For further information about Aardman Animations please contact Anna Harding at anna.harding@aardman.com or call 0117 984 8919.Notes to EditorsTate Media complements the four Tate galleries by working beyond the traditional gallery context, and actively engaging large audiences through both traditional communications and innovative online and multimedia programmes, for which it has won numerous awards, including four Baftas. Tate National An important aspect of Tate's national role is to collaborate with other galleries and museums for the benefit of the widest public across Britain. In addition to running a large programme of loans to public organisations across the United Kingdom and organising touring exhibitions from its galleries, Tate collaborates with a wide range of galleries and museums in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, sharing and exchanging expertise, knowledge and ideas to develop joint initiatives. Legacy Trust UKLegacy Trust UK is an independent charity whose mission is to support a wide range of innovative cultural and sporting activities which celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and which will leave a lasting legacy in communities throughout the United Kingdom.The Trust is the only organisation in the UK dedicated to ensuring a lasting community legacy from the Games, with the funding to make this happen. It has been set up with a £40 million endowment which it is channelling through twelve regional and four national programmes. It is funded by the Big Lottery Fund (£29m), Department for Culture Media and Sport (£6m, ringfenced for UK School Games) and Arts Council England (£5m). The Trust is a principal funder of the Cultural Olympiad and 2012 Festival. BP's UK Arts and Culture programmeBP has supported arts and culture in the UK for over 30 years and currently focuses its support on long-term partnerships with four world class institutions; The British Museum, The National Portrait Gallery, The Royal Opera House and Tate Britain. More than 2.4 million people across the UK engaged with BP supported activity in 2010. A Premier Partner of the Cultural Olympiad, BP's support of the London 2012 Open Weekend and other London 2012 Festival projects is helping to showcase the UK's cultural excellence and diversity to an even wider audience.London 2012 Cultural OlympiadThe London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic Movements. Spread over four years, it is designed to give everyone in the UK a chance to be part of London 2012 and inspire creativity across all forms of culture, especially among young people. Millions of people around the UK are already part of the Cultural Olympiad, through the Inspire programme and Open Weekend. The finale of the Cultural Olympiad will be in a twelve week UK-wide Festival in the summer of 2012, bringing together leading artists from all over the world. The Cultural Olympiad has benefited from a National Lottery grant of £16.6 million from the Olympic Lottery Distributor. Other funders include Legacy Trust UK and Arts Council England. British Council will commit £3million to the international development of London 2012 Cultural Olympiad projects. BP and BT are Premier Partners of the Cultural Olympiad. Panasonic are the presenting partner of Film Nation: Shorts. For more details visit www.london2012.com/culture CBBC is one of the most-loved channels for children, and it reaches more six to 12-year-olds than any other children's channel in the UK. Over a third of its target audience in digital homes in the UK tune in every week. Working with BAFTA and Film Education, it seeks to promote film-making and media literacy amongst its target audience.Aardman based in Bristol (UK), co-founded and run by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, is a world leader in animation. It produces feature films, television series and television commercials for both the domestic and international market. The studio has won over 400 international awards including 4 Oscars(r). Aardman's multi-award winning productions are novel entertaining, brilliantly characterised and full of charm that reflects the unique talent, energy and personal commitment of the very special people who make up the Aardman team. The studio's work is often imitated and yet the company continues to lead the field producing a rare brand of visually stunning and amusing independent and commercial productions. www.aardman.com. Fallon is part of Publicis Group, the world's 4th largest communications group. In 2008, the company won over 80 awards, including 12 Gold BTAA (British Television Advertising Awards) and a Black Pencil at D&AD (Design & Art Direction), and were named Agency of the Year by BTAA, Creative Circle and Creative Review. Fallon brings to this project the creativity behind commercials such as Sony 'Balls', Skoda 'Cake' and Cadbury's 'Gorilla' - the most awarded ad globally, including the Film Grand Prix at Cannes.