An animated film about the benefits of trees to reduce flooding has been chosen as part of the programme of a prestigious North West festival.
Wood You Believe It, which features Cumbrian red squirrel Twiggy, has been selected for the highly acclaimed Manchester Animation Festival.
The film has already been featured at 15 festivals in 29 countries this year.
David Kennedy is a local Environment Agency flood advisor whose day job involves working in Cumbria, using natural methods, like trees, to reduce the impacts of flooding.
He is also the mastermind of Wood You Believe It, as both the producer and scriptwriter of the animation, as well as the voice of Twiggy’s sidekick – Gregory the Woodpecker.
David said: “it is tremendous that the film has been selected for the prestigious Manchester Animation Festival.
“While the film is aimed at raising awareness of how our amazing natural world can help us combat the effects of flooding and climate change, it is also really brilliant that it has been recognised for the quality of the animation and the storytelling too.
“This is testament to the importance of that message and to truly incredible north west talent that brough the story to life – the team of animators and creatives involved is world class.”
One of the key things David wanted, was to use Cumbria-based animators, so he was delighted to find Cadi Calow and her sisters had a studio in the county – StudioDok.
The 2D animation was all done in Cumbria, with the 3D being shot in Bristol due to the type of studio needed.
Cadi said: “Making this film was an absolute joy for me because it combined two of my personal passions – wildlife and research!
“Twiggy was built as a life-size, anatomically correct Red Squirrel puppet, with a huge amount of attention to detail, right down to the number of toes on each foot, though her face was gently worked into a slightly cartoonish direction around the eyes and mouth to help with the animation.
“Her cheerful, expressive voice actually belongs to a real expert working in the field, and the character animator used this as a great foundation for adding bags of extra personality through physical performance.”
Wood You Believe It is part of a series of four Creature Comforts-style animations to highlight how natural flood management can help protect homes, businesses and farms and help in the fight against climate change.
All the voiceovers for the film series were done by local people working in various sectors ranging from flood reduction, conservation, farming and water quality and all showcase methods being explored in the CiFR project.
Twiggy the Red Squirrel was voiced by Bolton-born Annabel Rushton, who is now based in Cumbria, working for the RSPB at Wild Haweswater.
Annabel said: “It’s absolutely incredible that Twiggy’s film has been selected for Manchester Animation Festival.
“The film has been around the globe this year, including at Annecy Film Festival (which is like the Oscars for animations), but it is particularly special for me that it has been chosen for Manchester, as it is close to where I grew up, so it feels like coming home. I’m so proud of this little red squirrel sharing such an important message far and near.”
