Dotty, the festival's mascot. Photo credit: Chris James (Cardiff Animation Festival)

The thriving Cardiff industry you won’t see filming on the city’s streets

Its stars aren’t real – they’re drawn by hand

CARDIFF may be the home of Doctor Who, but there’s another side to its screen industry that isn’t to be found filming around the city.

With a thriving scene and industry, animation certainly plays a role, though sometimes overlooked, in Cardiff’s status as a leading destination for film and TV.   

Cardiff is home to numerous animation studios, such as Bumpybox wich helped animate the film adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s Kensuke’s Kingdom, which has recently been nominated for a BAFTA award.

Yet, despite their success, co-owner Sam Wright, who set up the studio after university, believes more needs to be done to promote Cardiff’s flourishing animation scene.

“Films aren’t just made in London, they’re made locally,” said Mr Wright, adding that people should be aware of Cardiff’s animation industry “as much as they are of Doctor Who”.

One reason why Cardiff animation may be overlooked is that unlike Doctor Who, animation does not shut down large parts of the city for filming, generating massive media attention in the process.

Jon Rennie, managing director at another studio called Cloth Cat, based above Cardiff Market, said: “The growth of the TV and film industry also brings with it famous people who appear in it who actually come to Wales. So naturally, there’s a focus on those stories rather than the actual production sometimes.”

Set up in 2012 by Mr Rennie, Cloth Cat has worked on a range of children’s TV programmes, such as Luo Bao Bei and The Rubbish World of Dave Spud, which have aired on Netflix and CITV respectively.

The Rubbish World of Dave Spud, animated by Cloth Cat, is currently airing on CITV. Photo credit: Cloth Cat

For him, though his industry is more under the radar compared with film and TV production, he does think that the Welsh Government is working to support animation in Wales.

“Yes, we will want to know whether Benedict Cumberbatch is here or Tom Hardy’s wandering Cardiff streets, but actually there’s a huge amount of work here being done that is based in Wales with Welsh companies.”

One group working to bring attention to the city’s animation scene is Cardiff Animation Festival (CAF), which alongside an annual festival held at Chapter Arts Centre, organises events throughout the year showcasing both Welsh and international animation.

Recent events have included a special preview showing of Memoir of a Snail, an Australian stop motion film recently nominated for an Oscar, accompanied by a Q&A session with its director Adam Elliot, himself an Academy Award winner.

“There’s such a buzz around it, so I think Cardiff can hopefully be a hub for animation,” says Ellys Donovan, one of the festival’s producers who’s been involved with their work from the beginning.

Ellys Donovan, with the festival’s mascot Dottie. Photo Credit: The Cardiffian

An animation lover herself, her favorite film of the past year is the now Oscar nominated Flow, Ms Donovan has been working with the festival since it re-launched in 2018.

The festival was first started in the 1990s and was attended by a number of animators, including Adam Elliot, but after a long hiatus was restarted by animator Lauren Orme, who runs Picl Animation, another studio based in the city.  

The festival is currently on tour around Wales, showcasing nine short films from filmmakers based in Wales.

For Chris Wright, another producer for the festival, the tour is important in order to show people in Wales the amazing animation talent they have in their country- talent which they wouldn’t know about otherwise.

Alongside working with CAF, and when he’s not working on animating episodes of Peppa Pig, he also helps out with Cardiff Animation Nights, another event started by Ms Orme which recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary.

Hosting monthly showcases of international animated shorts both online and in person, its screenings at the Underdog bar just off St Mary Street are regularly attended by more than 100 people.

Having worked in the animation industry for the last 15 years, Mr Wright sees both Cardiff and Wales more generally as thriving spaces for animation.

“There’s so much animation talent in this country…Aardman has such a big global reach but Cardiff has a lot going for it,” he said.

Cardiff Animation Nights at The Underdog. Photo credit: Chris James (Cardiff Animation Nights)

Funding from Creative Wales, set up by the Welsh Government to support creative industries, was essential for Bumpybox in getting Kensuke’s Kingdom off the ground.

Support comes in the form of grants, as well as special tax credits for animated productions, giving money back to studios that helps fund their projects.

“Creative Wales are making a big effort now to promote the wider industry, not just the headline stories and projects, but also the wider media industry in Wales,” said Mr Rennie, who was recently appointed to their board.

Though Cloth Cat has produced work for S4C and the BBC, among other broadcasters, Mr Rennie is hopeful for a hit that helps put Wales on the map.

Cloth Cat is based in the centre of Cardiff, with an office above the market. Photo credit: Cloth Cat

“We want to show that we’re not only capable of making other people’s work but actually funding and making our own.”

Wales has had animation hits before, such as Fireman Sam and SuperTed, but as Mr Rennie points out “that was 30 or 40 years ago and there’s been a huge amount of animation produced in Wales since.” For him, good animation is something that can stay with people for the rest of their lives.

“Animation is the story of your childhood and your happy times. People remember that, though they may grow up and move on and have lives. Things will be difficult; things will be good, but they’ll remember the animation they loved to watch…and they’ll sit down at Christmas and watch Wallace and Gromit.”

Back at Bumpybox, Mr Wright agrees that there is a need for a new Welsh animated hit that can reach international audiences, while still promoting Wales in the process.

“Hopefully we’ll find our own Bluey or Peppa Pig, but it needs a lightning strike of investment for that to happen.”

But in the meantime, it’s through events such as those run by Cardiff Animation Festival and Cardiff Animation Nights that animation is reaching audiences in Cardiff and beyond.

“I think that’s the important thing about the festival is that it’s there to promote animation as an art form and industry in Wales to people who may not have otherwise seen it,” said Mr Rennie.

With plenty of events on the horizon, animation in Cardiff isn’t going away, even if it’s often made behind closed doors.

Cardiff Animation Festival will be hosting its annual festival in May at Cardiff’s Chapter Arts Centre. Cardiff Animation Nights’ next in-person event will be held on the 27th of February, screening short films at The Underdog bar.