The Smeds and The Smoos – Producers Barney Goodland & Michael Rose Talk Latest Magic Light Pictures Christmas Special
This year marks a special occasion for Magic Light Pictures as Christmas will see the release of their tenth adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Sheffler’s books. And the short feature will be The Smeds and The Smoos, based on the best-selling 2019 picture book by the acclaimed author and artist.
The story focuses on two aliens named Janet and Bill, whose families, the red Smeds and the blue Smoos, dislike one another, but they see past the prejudices and grow to love one another. After waking up to find the lovers have gone missing, their families go on a space-filled adventure to find them while slowly learning to accept one another.
Recently, Skwigly was invited to attend a press event where not also did we have an opportunity to see the film early, but we also had the opportunity to interview producer Barney Goodland and executive producer Michael Rose. From discussing what went on behind the scenes to tips and tricks of being a producer, to even sharing some love for Aardman, it was both a pleasure and honour to sit down with these gentlemen for what could arguably be one of the best Magic Light Pictures productions to date.
Barney Goodland and Michael Rose. Photo provided by Faber & Bishopp PR
Why did the team pick The Smeds and the Smoos as the tenth Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler adaptation?
Barney Goodland: Well, it’s a lovely book. It has a wonderful, timeless theme with fantastic rhyming from Julia, and rich, imaginative illustrations from Axel that explore an absolutely incredible universe, so it was actually quite an easy decision.
Michael Rose: I think it was just a beautiful book. When it came out, in 2019, we immediately thought “this is something that could make a really lovely film”, because there’s this great story and characters at its heart, underpinned by a wonderful message that is appropriate for our times.
The Smeds and the Smoos (Magic Light Pictures)
As well as co-director Daniel Snaddon, who co-directed The Snail and the Whale, animator Samantha Cutler also joined him in the director’s chair. What was it like to have these two directors with different experiences between them?
BG: It was great. We often have two directors on the films who work together really well. Daniel previously co-directed Stick Man and Zog for us; and Samantha has worked on many of the previous films – I think pretty much all of them from Stick Man – as a character animator, and she’s tremendously talented. She’s developed into a fantastic storyteller in the last few years. We just went and asked her if she was interested in directing. They’re very good friends and it was quite an easy partnership to put in place. They did a tremendous job and really complement each other’s skills.
The Smeds and the Smoos (Magic Light Pictures)
In comparison to the book, there are some new characters introduced for the animated adaptation, such as Aunt Smed and Uncle Smoo. Why were these characters created for this particular film?
BG: This is a story about families and so when we were developing the script, we wanted to make it more so. It wasn’t just about Grandmother Smoo and Bill, Grandfather Smed and Janet. We wanted to add some characters to the extended family, so we created Uncle Smoo and brought forward other characters which Axel illustrated. By giving them lines, we made them a more active part of the story which helped add a kind of richness and texture.
The Smeds and the Smoos (Magic Light Pictures)
What was your favourite scene to work on as the producers of the film?
MR: Well, one scene I absolutely love is a moment where Grandmother Smoo drinks the pink milk. She recognises that it’s good and it’s time to put aside animosities. Conveyed without words, she just keeps looking straight ahead, then moves her bag off the seat next to her as a signal to Grandfather Smed that he can now take his place alongside. I think it’s a beautiful moment and an important one in the film, conveyed through pure character acting.
BG: Another sequence I love is when we see Janet and Bill sneak off to the woods, when we see this montage that shows their relationship developing as they get older over a series of time jumps. There’s a rich detail to the animation, the lighting, the compositing – and it’s got an absolutely tremendous music cue from our composer, René Aubry, that just gives me goosebumps, even now. It still just carries me away, beautifully.
The Smeds and the Smoos (Magic Light Pictures)
When families sit down to watch The Smed and The Smoos for Christmas, what is the big thing you hope they will learn from it?
MR: We don’t set out to teach or educate; our aim is to entertain, really. But if they enjoy watching it, which we hope they will and have a great time, one hopes they’ll take away a sense of the underlying message of the story – which is that life’s too short to live in disharmony – and to respect our differences and that we’re all human beings who can all live together in harmony. I think that’s a wonderful thing, but most of all I just hope they have a great time watching it.
The Smeds and the Smoos (Magic Light Pictures)
What advice would you give someone who wants to work within the animation industry, wherever it’s working as an animator or perhaps wanting to become a producer such as yourselves?
MR: If you want to be an animator, there are plenty of diverse art colleges, courses, training areas and so forth. If you want to be a producer, there are many different routes these days. I think you have to have real excitement and passion for it and come at it with a can-do, make-it-happen attitude.
BG: Wanting to tell stories to audiences is so important. I would say to just study stories that you enjoy, see why they’re working, why they’re not working. That’s the cool thing. Most of the crew we work with want to be storytellers and enjoy telling stories.
The Smeds and the Smoos (Magic Light Pictures)
Michael, everyone at Skwigly are huge fans of Aardman. What was it like to have worked as an executive producer on Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit?
MR: It was a fantastic privilege, really. It was tremendous because Aardman was much smaller in those days than it is now. With Chicken Run we set out to make the first stop-motion feature film for many years in the UK, and to make a family film that would play to the world. I’ve always admired Aardman’s art, their commitment to quality and doing the very best work.
When Martin Pope and I started Magic Light in 2003, we imported that idea of wanting to give family audiences the very highest quality we could. That’s something we’ve kept doing, year-in, year-out ever since. So now we’re on our tenth special and I think we all feel really proud of these beautiful films that audiences watch again and again, not just in the UK but all around the world.
I loved Curse of the Were-Rabbit. I think it’s not just a great parody of stories like The Wolf Man, it’s just great for kids on Halloween. It was just great to see Wallace and Gromit on the big screen rather than on television sets.
MR: It was a long held dream of Aardman to make a Wallace and Gromit feature film – and, of course, it’s rooted in the genius of Nick Park. His early short film, Creature Comforts, is one of my all-time favourites.
Oh, really? Why Creature Comforts just out of interest?
MR: I think it’s sublime, how Nick used the technique of animation to subvert or invert a documentary style of filmmaking and create stories and meanings that have so much resonance about the human condition. To me, it’s the perfect short film.
The Smeds and the Smoos (Magic Light Pictures)
So after working together for years now, what are the big things you learned from one another when producing these animated films?
BG: I think one thing I’ve learned is that films are really about collaboration and so it’s being open to the views of everyone on the team, and taking those on board. Everyone on the crew is immensely talented and I’ve learned the real benefit of tapping into that. Quality underpins our films and we’ve worked very hard on making the stories work and we’re also always thinking about our audience. That’s the main thing I take away – quality, story and audience are always in my mind.
And Michael, what have you learned from Barney from all these years?
MR: Whether it’s a small group or the wider teams we put together, everyone sets off with a common, clear vision and, as Barney said, a clear view of the audience who we’re making it for. I think that’s something that we’ve collectively done well over the years – to pull that vision through the long process of making any animated film.
The Smeds and the Smoos (Magic Light Pictures)
What was the biggest takeaway from your previous work like Superworm last year, when producing this film?
BG: One of the great things about Julia’s stories is that they’re all different and have a slightly different feel. Superworm was tremendous fun with a bombastic hero and a really delicious villain.
With Smeds and the Smoos we’ve had to balance the humour with the emotional elements in the story. It’s quite finely balanced, and there’s a theme of division without going too over the top.
I really liked the small touches with that, like the picture of Bill and Grandmother Smoo, because it’s clearly a drawing from Axel.
BG: He did that for us. It’s tremendous. It’s not in the book, but you feel it. And I think it’s a good example of how the books and films interrelate. It doesn’t feel out of place, it’s wonderfully natural.
The Smeds and the Smoos (Magic Light Pictures)
With such different locations compared to your previous productions, what creative challenges and opportunities were there when making them?
BG: The challenge is always realising Axel’s worlds and converting them into CGI and 3D. But that’s also an opportunity we love because he has such a specific style. There’s just so much detail that we can explore, alongside Julia’s texts and how they flow together.
That’s why elements like the Smoos’ pet and the little spacecraft that Grandfather Smed made appear in the background. Even the boundary line is actually quite a major element of the film, becoming a key visual motif. It’s actually quite liberating having this amazing source material to start working from.
The Smeds and the Smoos (Magic Light Pictures)
Alongside the returning cast member, Rob Brydon, are other familiar big named actors and comedians. What was it like to collaborate with them on this upcoming production?
BG: It was wonderful. They bring so much to the characters in the story. We filmed their recording sessions for lip sync, and the animators take so much inspiration from little movements or expressions that they make. They bring such rich emotion, and then a wonderful delivery of Julia’s words. Sally Hawkins’ narration is beautiful, warm and comforting. It sort of developed the story as well, which is an absolute treat, and helps gently move the narrative along.
Janet is played by Ashna Rabberu and Bill is played by Daniel Ezra. They are both tremendously talented young actors who are really going places quickly, and had absolutely wonderful voices for these two characters. They feel young and charming, it’s really engaging and quite sweet. So we feel very lucky to continue to work with such big names. These are some of absolute top British acting talents and we’re very grateful for their work in the projects and the fantastic elements they add to the story.
MR: It’s the quality of their voices and their ability to create the character through the words that is just invaluable, which is why we’ve been very lucky with these amazing casts in all our films over the years. They elevate the films and provide real inspiration for the animators to respond to as well.
The Smeds and The Smoos will be released on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Christmas Day.