The Illuminated Film Company is a British animation company founded in 1993 by Iain Harvey. It has produced the series '' Little Princess'' (2006-2022) and the ITV children's surreal comedy series '' The Rubbish World of Dave Spud'' (2019–present) and other 2D-animated productions such as ''

The Very Hungry Caterpillar ''The Very Hungry Caterpillar'' is a 1969 children’s picture book designed, illustrated, and written by Eric Carle. The book features a hungry caterpillar that eats a variety of foods before pupating and emerging as a butterfly. It has won m ...

& Other Stories'', ''War Game'' and ''On Angel Wings''.

History

Early in 1993, Iain Harvey formed The Illuminated Film Company, now located in Hammersmith, London. Under Illuminated, he produced ''

& Other Stories'', based on

Eric Carle Eric Carle (June 25, 1929 – May 23, 2021) was an American author, designer and illustrator of children's books. His picture book '' The Very Hungry Caterpillar'', first published in 1969, has been translated into more than 66 languages and sol ...

’s books. This programme was released in America on the Disney video label. Illuminated has completed four series, as well as two 22 minutes specials, of the four times BAFTA nominated animated pre-school series Little Princess (135 x 11 mins and 2 x 22 mins). It was first broadcast in the UK in October 2006 by Channel 5 on its Milkshake platform. Little Princess has now been sold and broadcast to over 140 territories around the world. The show won a Cairo Golden Award for Best TV Film, the first prize for Best TV film in The Fifth Tehran International Festival and first prize in the Best Animated Series category at The 14th Stuttgart International Festival. It has also received four BAFTA nominations. In 2014, Illuminated Films completed production on a 30-minute animated special – On Angel Wings which is based upon a picture-book by world-renowned author

Michael Morpurgo Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo ('' né'' Bridge; 5 October 1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as ''War Horse'' (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytell ...

. In 2019, Illuminated produced a commercial for the designer brand Barbour featuring the character

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...

Raymond Briggs Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story ...

for their Christmas campaign. Following its success, Illuminated Films produced a second commercial for Barbour in 2020 for their Christmas campaign featuring Father Christmas. By way of contrast, Illuminated has completed production of a new surreal comedy series The Rubbish World of Dave Spud commissioned by ITV for broadcast in the UK and sold to ABC (Australia), SVT (Sweden) and Beta Films for international distribution. Following successful ratings from the first series, ITV have commissioned a second series of 52 episodes that is currently airing on CITV.

Future

In 2020, Illuminated Films was awarded funding from the BFI Young Audience Content Fund for a half-hour special called A Bear Named

Wojtek (bear) Wojtek (1942 – 2 December 1963; ; in English, sometimes spelled Voytek and pronounced as such) was a Syrian brown bear (''Ursus arctos syriacus'') bought, as a young cub, at a railway station in Hamadan, Iran, by Polish II Corps soldiers who ...

. It is based on a true story about an orphaned bear in WWII that is enlisted into the Polish army and travels to Scotland before ending up at Edinburgh Zoo. It is currently in production and due to be released in 2022.

List of productions

Illuminated Films Company has produced a number of animated features, shorts, and TV series, as well as adverts. *''

& Other Stories'' (1993 (UK)/1994 (Australia)/1995 (US)) *''T.R.A.N.S.I.T.'' (1998) *'' Christmas Carol: The Movie'' (2001) *'' War Game'' (2002) *''

Little Princess (TV series) ''Little Princess'' is a British animated children's television series created by The Illuminated Film Company. Directed by Edward Foster seasons 1 - 3, Directed by Sue Tong season 4. It debuted in the United Kingdom in 2006. The programme i ...

'' (2006-2011, 2019) *'' On Angel Wings'' (2014) *'' The Rubbish World of Dave Spud'' (2019–present) *''A Bear Named Wojtek'' (2022)

Adverts

*Barbour Christmas (2012) *Barbour Christmas (2019) *Barbour Christmas (2020)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{Authority control British animation studios Television production companies of the United Kingdom Film production companies of the United Kingdom 1993 establishments in the United Kingdom 1993 establishments in England