Aardman Animation is one of the few places keeping stop-motion animation alive today. They’ve been more popular overseas with the likes of Shaun the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit, but the studio still has plenty of American fans too. Now the animation studio is heading to Netflix with their next project, a short film called Robin Robin that will debut on the streaming services around Christmas in 2020. Find out what the Aardman Animation Robin Robin movie is all about below.

Variety has news on the Aardman Animation short film heading to Netflix next year. Robin Robin will follow a bird (a robin) who is raised by a family of mice. As the bird grows up, the differences between her and her rodent family start to become apparent. But eager to prove she can still be a good mouse, she heads off on a daring heist. It’s a 30-minute story that will act as a sort of animated special, and it’s also a musical. It feels like the kind of thing that you might find airing on TV around the holidays. In fact, these kind of projects used to go to BBC, so this is a new direction for Aardman.

Speaking of new directions, Aardman will also be changing up their filmmaking materials. Traditionally, the company has used Plasticine to make the characters in their movies, but this time they will be making them from natural materials. It’s not clear if this is to be more environmentally conscious or if using natural materials will simply give a more stylized look to the animal characters of the story.

Robin Robin will be directed by Dan Ojari (Slow Derek) and Mikey Please (The Eaglemen Stag), who also came up with the idea for the short themselves. Helen Argo, who worked on Wallace & Gromit’s Musical Marvels, will produce while Sarah Cox (Heavy Pockets) serves as executive producer. Cox had this to say about the new project:

“When Mikey and Dan first pitched us the concept for ‘Robin Robin,’ we knew instantly that this was a rare and special project that we had to make together. It’s a beautifully crafted stop-frame musical that immediately feels classic whilst being groundbreaking and modern.”

Stop-motion animated projects are few and far between. Perhaps Aardman striking a deal like this with Netflix will pave the way for them to release a feature film through the streaming service too. That might be the best way to keep the medium alive without taking on a big box office risk by releasing it in theaters.

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