THE animation studio which created Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep has signed up to distribute a Bournemouth company’s show for pre-school children.

Aardman was impressed by Pop Paper City, an animation created by Winton-based LoveLove Films, which encourages young children to use their hands and make things from paper.

The “craft adventure” series focuses on a group of friends who live in the capital of a paper world.

Each seven-minute episode will see the characters create new parts of the world – encouraged by a character called Grown Up, whose real life hand reaches into the screen to interact with the world.

The characters tell the viewers how to create similar objects for themselves.

Aardman’s international sales and acquisitions arm has signed up to distribute the show, which is in development at LoveLove.

Georgina Hurcombe, managing director and producer at LoveLove Films, said: “We are delighted to have Aardman on board as our distribution partner who have a great reputation for bringing amazing shows to our screens, such as Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Chicken Run and so many more.

“Aardman have already been a joy to work with. We definitely share a very similar ethos. We are both passionate about encouraging children to use their hands and get creative, and our show Pop Paper City definitely achieves these aims. With Aardman’s incredible team handling Pop Paper City’s distribution, we are one step closer to bringing the series’ delightful characters, vibrant story world, and exciting craft adventure sequences to children across the globe, and we’re so excited about that.”

She added: “As a l regional animation studio based here in Bournemouth, we are always looking to grow our business, and we hope to achieve this by employing some of the talented animators that are graduating from some of the local institutions, including Bournemouth University, Arts University Bournemouth and Southampton Solent University.

“Bournemouth as a town is one of the fastest growing digital hubs in the UK and I hope that animators will be attracted to the relaxed lifestyle, the sea breeze and the golden beaches that Bournemouth provides – and it’s also a far more cost effective place to be compared to some of the big cities across the UK.

“At times it can be a little challenging being outside of the M25, but we’ve always been very proud to be a Bournemouth based company, and LoveLove FIlms is proof that great content is made with a great team, it’s not about your city postcode.”

LoveLove has completed an animated storyboard, some scripts and a series ‘bible’ for the project. Aardman is seeking a broadcast partner and aims to deliver the show by 2021.

Robin Gladman, senior distribution and acquisitions manager at Aardman, said: “The LoveLove team have done a great job developing something fresh and exciting for the preschool space. Pop Paper City is a beautifully designed show, full of charm, comedy and creative inspiration, all values we share at Aardman. We think kids are going to love it.”