Aardman Animations – ‘Creature Comforts’
Nominated for a BAFTA award. Aardman Animations Creature Comforts, Series 2.
I remember being transfixed from a very early age by the masterful scores of Scott Bradley for Tom and Jerry where the music provided all of the aural narration and story telling – still the benchmark for good animation writing and orchestration seventy years later.
It was a pleasure to be asked to work with a team from Aardman Animations who represent the very best in animation craft, to compose an orchestral score (with samples) for the Creature Comforts Christmas Special ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’.
The challenge was to create a score which was built around the pre-recorded voices of the ‘great British public’ musing about the lyrics, and singing ’The Twelve Days of Christmas’, already a logistical feat in itself (involving 178 tempo changes!), but also to give the individual characters some additional characterisation through the instrumentation.
It’s worth adding that part of what made this such a pleasurable experience, was the quality of the workmanship of the team I was working with, all of whom were in love with their craft.
Animation Showreel
A Welsh Sharpei dog who can’t sing a note in tune to the point that he constantly causes the orchestra to break down
Spot the deaf old bats drinking sherry (upside-down).
Dig the rapping dogs, man!
Whatever you do, don’t cramp a singing blackbird’s style.
Wind down at end. Get some BLING for Christmas!