Podcast: Interview with ‘The Tiger Who Came To Tea’ director Robin Shaw
In episode 96 of the Skwigly Animation Podcast we welcome back UK director/animator/illustrator Robin Shaw of Lupus Films. Having been crucially involved in such major Lupus projects as The Snowman and the Snowdog (Assistant Director), Ethel & Ernest (Art Director) and Channel 4’s most-watched programme of 2016 We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Director), Robin has this year been at the helm of the studio’s latest animated adaptation of a children’s classic – The Tiger Who Came To Tea.
Originally written by the late Judith Kerr and adapted for the screen by Joanna Harrison, the special – which features the voice talents of David Oyelowo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tamsin Greig, David Walliams and Paul Whitehouse as well as an original song performed by Robbie Williams – will air on Channel 4 this Christmas Eve. Boasting the astonishingly high quality of traditional 2D animation approaches Lupus is so well-known for, the film was produced with a crew of roughly eighty artists using an internally-developed, bespoke pipeline and meticulous attention to detail.
With the source text having sold over 5 million copies since its initial publication in 1968, The Tiger Who Came To Tea was developed in consultation with author Judith Kerr to ensure it remained faithful to original spirit of the book and its characters.
Direct download here or stream below:
Also discussed in this episode: Playstation plagiarism, animation-themed honeymoons, an overdue panning of Disney’s “live-action” remakes The Lion King and Aladdin as well as a look at the animated shorts in the running for 2020 Oscar and BAFTA nominations, including work by previous Skwigly interviewees Regina Pessoa, Theodore Ushev, Lauren Orme, Floor Adams, Ross Hogg, Bruno Collet and Naaman Azhari.
The Tiger Who Came To Tea airs December 24th in the UK at 7:30pm on Channel 4