What is the film about?

A young pangolin (AKA scaly ant-eater), is brought up in a family of hedgehogs. Feeling as an outsider, his hedgehog mother confesses to him that he has been adopted. He leaves in search of answers. He begins a journey to find himself but he will end up finding his real family…

What influenced it?

The Hedgehog in the Fog (1975) by Yuri Norstein
The Clangers (1969) by Oliver Postgate

A little background information...

“The Pangolin and The Hedgehog” is a paint-on-glass children animation.
I wanted to hommage an era of beautifully crafted children animation, from Paddington to Clangers, as well as the Eastern European cartoons. In an age of digital animation, I wanted to get my hands dirty in paint and hand-painting the entire animation on glass. I also intended to raise awareness around the most trafficked animals in the world, the pangolin. Not many people know that, so I believe it was vitally important to have children as a target audience, who hopefully will grow with a higher sensitivity towards nature and craft.

How was the film made?

“The Pangolin and the Hedgehog” is entirely hand-painted on glass under camera. The entire animation is composed of around 3000 paintings. William Newsome composed the soundtrack by playing the kora.