Magic Light Pictures (founded in 2003 by producers

Martin Pope Martin Pope (born Isidore Poppick; August 22, 1918March 27, 2022) was an American physical chemist and professor at New York University. His discoveries of ohmic contacts and research in the fields of organic insulators and semiconductors le ...

and Michael Rose) is a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-based independent

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and v ...

, which produces films and manages the children's brand ''

The Gruffalo ''The Gruffalo'' is a British children's picture book by author Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Its tells the story of a mouse taking a walk in the woods and deceiving different predators, including the Gruffalo. ''The Gruf ...

''.

Productions

Since 2009, ''Magic Light Pictures'' have produced ten half-hour animated specials based on the best-selling children's story books by

Julia Donaldson Julia Donaldson (born Julia Catherine Shields; born ) is an English writer and playwright, and the 2011–2013 Children's Laureate. She is best known for her popular rhyming stories for children, especially those illustrated by Axel Scheffler, ...

and

Axel Scheffler Axel Scheffler (born ) is a German illustrator and animator based in London. He is best known for his cartoon-like pictures for children's books, in particular ''The Gruffalo'' and ''The Gruffalo's Child'', written by Julia Donaldson. He has ...

: ''

'' (2009), ''

The Gruffalo's Child ''The Gruffalo's Child'' is a British children's picture book by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson, and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It is the bestselling sequel to '' The Gruffalo''. Plot The story is about the Gruffalo's daughter who ...

'' (2011), '' Room on the Broom'' (2012), ''

Stick Man ''Stick Man'', written by former Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, is a children's story about an anthropomorphic wooden stick who becomes separated from his family home and his '' Odyssey''-like adventure ...

'' (2015), ''The Highway Rat'' (2017), '' Zog'' (2018), '' The Snail and the Whale'' (2019), '' Zog and the Flying Doctors'' (2020), '' Superworm'' (2021) and '' The Smeds and the Smoos'' (2022). Their films have won over 40 awards between them, including two Children's BAFTAs and the Prix Jeunesse, and have twice been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Animation. Their most recent production, ''The Smeds and the Smoos'', premiered on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

on Christmas Day 2022 at 2:30pm and was watched by more than 8.5 million viewers. They are currently producing an adaptation of

and

's ''The Smartest Giant in Town'', due for broadcast on

over

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

2023. Their other productions include: the Oscar-nominated ''

Revolting Rhymes ''Revolting Rhymes'' is a 1982 collection of Roald Dahl poems first published in 1982 originally under the title ''Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes''. A parody of traditional folk tales in verse, Dahl gives a re-interpretation of six well-known fa ...

'' (2016), a two-part animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl book of the same name; and feature films including the Oscar-nominated ''

Chico & Rita ''Chico and Rita'' is a 2010 Spanish adult animated music romantic film with Spanish and English languages directed by Tono Errando, Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal. The story of Chico and Rita is set against backdrops of Havana, New York City ...

'' (2010), a Spanish language animated feature; ''

Wild Target ''Wild Target'' is a 2010 black comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn and starring Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint, Eileen Atkins, Martin Freeman, and Rupert Everett.

'' (2010), a comedy thriller starring

Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with '' The Illuminatus!'' in 1977. There he ...

and

Emily Blunt Emily Olivia Leah Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awar ...

; The English version of ''

Terkel in Trouble ''Terkel in Trouble'' ( da, Terkel i knibe) is a 2004 Danish adult computer-animated musical comedy film starring Anders Matthesen. It is the first Danish computer animated feature film. The film is an adaptation of Matthesen's 2001 comedy albu ...

'', a Danish language animated feature; and ''

Sparkle Sparkle may refer to: * Sparkle (catamaran), a catamaran designed by Angus Primrose * Sparkle (drink), a lemon-flavored soft drink * Sparkle, a brand of paper towels owned by Georgia-Pacific * Sparkle Plenty, a character in the ''Dick Tracy'' c ...

'' (2007), a romantic comedy feature starring

Shaun Evans Shaun Francis Evans (born 6 March 1980) is an English actor and director. He is best known for playing a young Endeavour Morse in the ITV drama series '' Endeavour''. Early life Shaun Francis Evans was born on 6 March 1980 into an Irish fam ...

and Stockard Channing.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Licensing

Magic Light Pictures runs a licensing programme and carries ranges in

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

Waterstones Waterstones, formerly Waterstone's, is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries. As of February 2014, it employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe. An average-sized Wa ...

, and M&S, among others. Launched in 2009, the licensing programme has markets in Germany, Australia, Scandinavia, New Zealand and the USA. Products available in The Gruffalo brand include plush, stationery, homewares, games, toys and apparel. Magic Light has won five Licensing Awards for their branded apparel, furniture and

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

trails.

Their Brand Partnerships

Magic Light Pictures has several award-winning brand

partnership A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...

s with organisations including Chessington World of Adventures Resort, Forestry Commission England and

Arla Arla may refer to: * ''Arla'' (moth), a genus of moth * Arkansas Library Association * Arla, Greece, a village * Ärla, a village in south-eastern Sweden * Arla Foods, a large Scandinavian producer of dairy products ** Arla (Finland), a subsid ...

milk, among others. Chessington World of Adventures Resort currently hosts the Gruffalo River Ride Adventure (a dark ride), themed hotel rooms, an arena dedicated to the films and characters, and a food outlet. In March 2019 Chessington launched a ''Room on the Broom'' attraction with specifically themed hotel rooms. Since the year 2014, The Forestry Commission has worked with Magic Light on providing free, self-lead trails based on the Gruffalo brand family on over 20 sites around the UK, as well as offering Gruffalo orienteering, Gruffalo sculptures in several forests, and an augmented reality app, The Gruffalo Spotter. 2019 marked the 20th anniversary of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's Gruffalo book and 10 years since the premiere of the animated special on BBC One. As part of the celebration, Magic Light partnered with the Royal Mint to release a set of commemorative silver and gold fifty pence collectors' coins, and with the Royal Mail to release a set of bespoke Gruffalo stamps.

Apps

Since 2013, Magic Light Pictures has developed a range of mini-game and augmented reality apps based around the Gruffalo brand family. ''Room on the Broom: Games'' and ''Gruffalo: Games'' were both nominated for a Children's BAFTA in the Interactive Adapted category in 2014 and 2015 respectively. The Gruffalo Spotter app, launched in early 2017, is an augmented reality app that works alongside the Forestry Commission trails, where users can follow a set of clues and signs to locate animated characters from the book and take photos with them. The app was nominated at the 2017 BAFTA awards in the Interactive category.

References

External links

IMDB Magic Light PicturesMagic Light Pictures
{{Authority control 2003 establishments in the United Kingdom British animation studios Children's television Entertainment companies of the United Kingdom Film production companies of the United Kingdom