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Aardman Teases New Pokemon, 'Timmy' Series,
'The (Almost) Untold Story of Danger Delilah,'
Aardman Academy and Looks Back at 50 Years of
Clay Animation at Annecy
----------------------------------------------
Between its rich past and bright future, Aardman delighted Annecy's
crowd with a wave of new projects, along with clips from its Award
winning shorts, features, praising clay animation and the people
who make it

With more than 50 years of clay animation, Aardman unveiled a
glimpse of a bright future this year at the Annecy Animation Film
Festival, which opens June 21.

The studio's legendary trio, co-founders Peter Lord, David Sproxton
and fellow director Nick Park, took the stage earlier today in
Annecy's main venue, the magnificent lakeside Bonlieu theater, along
with Sarah Cox, chief creative director, and surprise guests, for a
packed presentation full of first looks, never-before-seen footage,
and delightful memories of Aardman's history.


Aardman's biggest reveal of the day came when Phil Rynda, director of
original animation at The Pokemon Company International, joined Cox
on stage to reveal first behind-the-scenes insights on the previously
announced series "Pokemon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch'd and
Pichu."

The duo delighted Annecy's audience with-abehind-the-scenes-ainsights-a
on-athe project's development and creative collaboration, featuring-a
never-before-seen footage from the pilot and-ain-development-a
production-amaterials. With an early look at-aSirfetch'd-aand Pichu in
action,-aexquisite claymation and cutting-edge special effects brought
forth by Aardman for this specific project, the series (coming up next
year) delighted Bonlieu's crowds, eager to know more.

Set in-aPokemon's -a"Galar"-aregion,-awhich-ashares many geographical
similarities with the real-world U.K.-a(a fitting backdrop for a
collaboration with Aardman), the panel also touched the project's-a
distinctly British sense of humor, with Gromit's signature move even
making its way in the Pokemon world. which is-along associated with
many of Aardman's best-loved productions.-a

"It's an-ahonor-ato take part in Aardman's panel at Annecy and-atalk
about the-ashared commitment to quality, strong storytelling, memorable
characters and-aa genuine-arespect-afor audiences and fans,"-asaid Phil
Rynda, director of original animation at The Pokemon Company
International.-a"This project gives us a unique opportunity to tell
stories from the point of view of Pokemon,-amade possible by-a
Aardman's-aextraordinary craft, remarkable artistry.-aTheir-awarmth, and
affection for this much-loved Pokemon cast are-aevident-ain every
brilliantly crafted frame."

Sarah Cox, chief creative director at Aardman added:-a"Aardman teams
are delighted to bring the vivid physicality of stop frame animation
into the Pokemon world. Director Tom Parkinson and his team have
created a hand-crafted spin on the wonderful Pokemon we all know and
love, with comedic storytelling that celebrates the quirks,-a
eccentricities-aand charms of our heroes-aas they explore-aGalar-aon a
delightfully offbeat Quest.-aAardman and PokemonrC>share a strong-a
commitment to creativity and talentrC>on this-ashared quest of our own to
bring joy to-aaudiences across the world."-a


Beyond that presentation, Sarah Cox also announced a newly
commissioned stop-motion and 2D animated series, "Let's Go Timmy!",
expanding the wonderful world of Mossy Bottom, which will also be back
in theaters later this year with the third installment of "Shaun the
Sheep" features, "The Beast of Mossy Bottom," set for a global release
in September.

In "Let's Go Timmy!," Bitzer the sheep dog is tasked with getting Timmy
and his two best friends, Yabba and Apricot, to Mossy Bottom School
safe and on time each morning! Like all excitable children Timmy and
the gang are curious, full of energy, and every morning turns into a
surrealist escapade as they veer off-course turning the school run into
an adventure.-a

For this project, Aardman blends two distinct animation styles: its
signature stop-motion animation combined with dynamic 2D animation,
which serves to highlight the fantastical worlds of Timmy's, Yabba's
and Apricot's imagination. The series is directed by Merlin Crossingham
and Daniel Bins, produced by Stephanie Miller with Lucy Pryke, BBC's
commissioning executive.-a

In the press release following up the presentation, Kate Morton, Senior
Head of Commissioning for CBeebies added: "Returning to Mossy Bottom
with 'Let's Go Timmy!' brings a wonderful opportunity to expand a world
that's already cherished by young audiences. It is a joyful, visually
rich addition that reflects CBeebies' hallmark: high-quality, homegrown
storytelling that is both engaging and supports early years
development. The series captures the humour, warmth and boundless
imagination that defines Aardman's storytelling, while introducing a
playful new dynamic with Bitzer at the helm."


Cox also revealed another new Aardman production, "The Almost (Untold)
Story Of Danger Delilah," adapted from-abook series "Once Upon the
Alphabet" by Oliver Jeffers.

Aardman director Asa Lukander (Coldplay's "Daddy," "Blue Peter"),
senior development executive James Higginson and Peter Lord himself are
all involved in bringing this project to the screen, creating "a whole
new story" from the book and its characters.

"The script is by Pete," added Cox. "It's about Danger Delilah, a girl
who realises her world's starting to disappear, before understanding
that she is herself a character in someone else's story that they're
forgetting about..." In order to save herself, Delilah has to seize her
own narrative, and rewrite her own story. "So she has to literally
seize the narrative and rewrite her own story." We've just finished a
phase of development, so we'll be ready to start pitching it soon,"
concluded Cox.


Ahead of the announcements, Aardman's legendary trio Peter Lord, David
Sproxton and Nick Park dove into the studio's history for a special
opening session celebrating Aardman's unique approach to storytelling,
comedy and craft, the veteran animators were followed on stage by Cox,
who also brought "Robin Robin," "Over the Garden Wall" co-director Dan
Ojari on stage to present his latest Aardman success stories,
completing an in-depth look back at the 50-plus years of Aardman
signature animation history.

From early kitchen table experiments to iconic characters and
award-winning productions, the team shared how their distinctive,
handmade process has evolved over the years.

Peter Lord and David Sproxton, who were recently knighted in the King's
Birthday Honors, began their animating partnership at school, and while
still teenagers created a short animated sketch called "Aardman" which
the BBC bought for its Vision On series. According to Aardman, on
receipt of their first cheque from the BBC, Peter and David needed a
name for their bank account so in 1972 they registered the name Aardman
Animations.

Through a combination of archival material, behind-the-scenes footage
and conversation, the session offered insight into how Aardman
continues to create award-winning animation that connects with audiences
around the world, as well as what lies ahead for the studio as it
evolves its craft to embrace the future of stop-motion animation and
beyond.

After more than 25 years teaching their unique craft, Aardman also
announced a brand-new Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at London's Royal
College of Art, starting soon. The teams presented the collaboration
through a quirky, hand-crafted teaser, a testament to what has and
always will be at the heart of Aardman DNA: people, and the love for the
animated craft.

Or, as Aardman co-founder and director Peter Lord had it: "Our animation
might be 'old school,' but we do it for the love of the craft. Our teams
are so good at their jobs, and this love shines on the screen.
Basically, we keep doing what we love, and people love it too."



<https://variety.com/2026/tv/global/new-pokemon-timmy-series-upcoming-shorts-aardman-annecy-1236786337/>





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