Magic Light Pictures Limited is a British 2003 independent film and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

production company based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. The company was 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 l ...

and Michael Rose.

Productions

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

Julia Donaldson Julia Catherine Donaldson (; born 16 September 1948) 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: ''

The Gruffalo ''The Gruffalo'' is a children's picture book by the English author Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It tells the story of a mouse strolling in a wood and encountering a series of predators culminating in the fictional 'Gruffal ...

'' (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'' and won the 2005 National Book Awards Children's Book of ...

'' (2011), ''

Room on the Broom ''Room on the Broom'' is a British children's story book by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, which tells the story of a kind witch and her cat who invite three other animals (a dog, a bird and a frog) to ...

'' (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 ''The Snail and the Whale'' is a 2003 children's picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It won the 2004 Early Years award for the best pre-school book, the 2005 Blue Peter award for Best Book to Read Aloud, a ...

'' (2019), ''Zog and the Flying Doctors'' (2020), ''

Superworm ''Zophobas atratus'' is a species of darkling beetle, whose larvae are known by the common name superworm, kingworm, barley worm, morio worm or simply Zophobas. Superworms are common in the reptile pet industry as food, along with giant mealwor ...

'' (2021), '' The Smeds and The Smoos'' (2022), ''Tabby McTat'' (2023), and ''Tiddler'' (2024). Overall, their productions have won more than 40 awards, including two Children's BAFTAs and the Prix Jeunesse, and have been nominated three times for an Academy Award for Best Short Animation. Their most recent production, ''Tiddler'', premiered at approximately 2:35pm on

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

during Christmas Day 2024, and was watched by more than 7.3 million viewers. They are currently producing an adaptation of

's and Axel Scheffler's ''The Scarecrow's Wedding'', due for broadcast on

over

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

2025. Their other productions include the Oscar-nominated '' Revolting Rhymes'' (2016), a live-action/animated short based on ''

The Velveteen Rabbit ''The Velveteen Rabbit'' (or ''How Toys Become Real'') is a British children's book written by Margery Williams (also known as Margery Williams Bianco) and illustrated by William Nicholson (artist), William Nicholson. It chronicles the story of ...

'' (2023), a preschool animated TV series called ''

Pip and Posy Pip and Posy is a series of British children's picture books written by Camilla Reid and Axel Scheffler, known for his work on the Gruffalo series with author Julia Donaldson. The series follows the adventures of two animal friends, Pip the rab ...

'' (2021), and feature films including the Oscar-nominated Spanish-language animated feature ''

Chico & Rita ''Chico and Rita'' () is a 2010 adult animated romantic drama film directed by Tono Errando, Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal. The story of Chico and Rita is set against backdrops of Havana, New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Paris in t ...

'' (2010), a comedy thriller starring

Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Known for his work in numerous stage, television and film productions, he has received several awards including a British Academy Film Award and a Golden Globe Award, and ...

and

Emily Blunt Emily Olivia Laura Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Emily Blunt, several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition t ...

called ''

Wild Target ''Wild Target'' is a 2010 black comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, written by Lucinda Coxon, and starring Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint, Eileen Atkins, Martin Freeman, and Rupert Everett. It is a remake of the 1993 French film of ...

'' (2010), the British English version of a Danish-language animated feature called ''

Terkel in Trouble ''Terkel in Trouble'' () is a 2004 Danish adult 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 album ''Arne fortæller... Terkel ...

'' (2006), and a romantic comedy feature starring

Shaun Evans Shaun Evans (born 6 March 1980) is an English actor. He is best known for playing a young Endeavour Morse in the ITV drama series '' Endeavour'' and Coxswain Elliot Glover in ''Vigil''. Early life Evans was born on 6 March 1980. He is a Li ...

and

Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Stockard Channing, Her accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a nomination for an Acade ...

called '' Sparkle'' (2007).

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 a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain that operated in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, as well as franchised locations across Europe and the Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and gr ...

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician 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 Booksellers Limited, trading as Waterstones (formerly Waterstone's), is a British bookselling, book retailer based in London, England, owned by the American investment group Elliott Investment Management. It operates 311 shops, ma ...

, and M&S, among others. Launched in 2009, the 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 respons ...

trails.

Brand partnerships

Magic Light Pictures has several award-winning brand

partnership A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations ...

s with organisations including

Chessington World of Adventures Resort Chessington World of Adventures Resort is a Amusement park, theme park, zoo and hotel complex in Chessington, Greater London, England, around southwest of Central London. The complex originally opened as Chessington Zoo in 1931; the theme par ...

, 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. The Chessington World of Adventures Resort currently hosts the Gruffalo River Ride Adventure, 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 The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...

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