On Thursday, March 12, the U.K.’s animation industry gathered in London to celebrate its recent achievements at the British Animation Awards. And just in time: within days, sweeping measures to combat the coronavirus had been implemented, ensuring that nobody will be publicly celebrating much for a while.
The awards, which have been held every two years since 1996, recognize work across the industry. This year’s winners list was dominated by the stalwart Aardman Animations, which picked up four awards, including best long-form animation (A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon) and the children’s choice award (“Squirreled Away” from Shaun the Sheep). They made for fitting winners of the statuettes, which feature sheep (as a nod to the “BAA” acronym). In addition, the inaugural Lamb Award, which honors rising stars, was presented to Roxy Linklater, an Aardman rigger.
The award for best children’s series went to Moominvalley, a cg revival of Tove Jansson’s classic stories directed by Aardman veteran Steve Box (who we spoke to about the show last October). The Adventures of Paddington was named best preschool series, and Jonathan Hodgson’s BAFTA-winning Roughhouse best short film.
