A Trip to Toby’s Travelling Circus
In spite of all the news of british animations downward spiral in lieu of any secure funding, it is nice to be presented with something that proves that when all the right things fall into place the platform of british animated talent can be seen to demonstrate, to its credit, what the industry is capable of and why it deserves such prominence.
The cast! L-R Freddo, Thor, Delores, Momo, Toby, Jango, Clara, Li and Ling
One such show currently displaying that talent is ‘Toby’s Travelling Circus’ produced by Komixx entertainment and MacKinnon and Saunders the latter being responsible for past children’s hits such as ‘Raa Raa, the Noisy Lion’ as well as producing the stars of Tim Burtons upcoming feature ‘Frankenweenie’.
Skwigly was invited down to the studio to meet the animators and talk to the model makers, production crew and everyone else involved in making this show, you can see a video of our trip here.
The show is directed by Skwigly favourite Barry Purves who’s previous children’s work includes Directing on ‘Rupert Bear Follow the Magic’ as well as animating on classics such as ‘Postman Pat’, ‘Engie Benjy’ as well as animating Mr Toad in Cosgrove Halls ‘The Wind in the Willows’.
The show centres around Toby, a young boy who inherits a circus and with it a cast of characters that aid each other in an entertaining way. The show engages its audience with ‘as much physicality as possible’ featuring co-stars that embrace every aspect of circus life whilst retaining an air of childhood fantasy in a world where a talking monkey is just as plausible as a Robot or Ragdoll. Joining Toby’s adventures are his potty mother Delores, musical maestro Jango, competitive twin acrobats Li and Ling, Clowns Freddo and Clara, Thor the robotic strongman and Toby’s monkey companion Momo.
Behind the scenes in the Manchester studio
The show is already proving popular with youngsters and before the first episode was aired a second season was snapped up by the broadcaster. Hopefully setting the tone for many years to come. In fact Mackinnon and Saunders have already signed to produce another children’s show ‘Calamity Island‘ set to air in 2014. Times are looking very good for UK animation indeed.
Toby’s Travelling Circus airs Saturdays and Sundays on Channel 5’s milkshake! at 9.10am