The Gruffalo

It's been a while, hasn't it char-lovers? I'm back with something all kinds of adorable.

I was on Hulu browsing for some bg noise while I work, and ended up having a 20 minute diversion from everything when I came across The Gruffalo. I can't seem to embed the whole thing, so I'm gonna show off this li'l trailer from youtube, and you can go watch it here.

It was released about a year ago, but that doesn't make it any less awesome.

I've taken these screenshots from the full-length version, so stop here if you'd rather watch it first.

If you have already watched it, you might have realized that this is a film adapted from Julia Donaldson (The Snail and the Whale, What the Ladybird Heard, The Troll) and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

The first look has a bit of a Maurice Sendak/Where the Wild Things Are feeling to it. The story in its simplicity has a playful tone, and the animation is quirky. It's rare to come across design that strikes the exact same cords as the rest of the cues, especially on TV.

The character designers listed in the credits include Max Lang (he has a lot of storyboards from the short), Jacob Schwinn, Harald Siepermann (Tarzan, Mulan, Enchanted), and no other than the awesome Uwe Heidchötter. It's kinda hard to tell who designed what, but very clear that they definitely made a wonderful team together.