Belfast Kids' Characters For Tate Screen

This summer, characters drawn by two Belfast children will go on screen at the prestigious London Tate Media project.

It complements the four Tate galleries by working beyond the traditional gallery context, and actively engaging large audiences through both traditional communications and innovative online and multimedia programmes, for which it has won numerous awards, including four Baftas.

Now, eight-year-old Ayomide Jawoniyi and nine-year-old Igor Silin from Belfast will star in The Itch of the Golden Nit, a half hour animated film created by The Tate Movie Project.

Their characters Evil Stella and Beanie will be voiced by Catherine Tate and child actor Bobby Fuller, who are two of 13 lead characters in a cast of hundreds.

David Walliams, Miranda Hart, Catherine Tate and Rik Mayall will lead the stellar cast of The Itch of the Golden Nit, voicing the characters devised by children.

The Tate Movie Project is the first of its kind - an animation made by and for children.

The animation has been created from thousands of drawings, sound effects and story ideas by children from across the UK.

Funded by Legacy Trust UK and BP, with additional support and resources from the BBC, the film has been brought together by Tate and the creative magic of Aardman Animations.

The Itch of the Golden Nit follows 11-year-old hero Beanie on his mission to save his parents from Evil Stella and to return the Golden Nit to its rightful place at the heart of the sun, thereby saving the universe.

It's a surreal and spectacular adventure that only the wild imaginations of kids could dream up!

About his experience, Igor said: "When I found out that my character was chosen to be in the film I was so shocked - but in a good way!"

Igor's family moved to Belfast from the Ukraine when he was three. He went to A Tate Movie Project Art Truck Workshop with his school.

Ayomide said: "I feel really, really happy because my picture was selected. At first I was shy and nervous but I got more excited when I heard we were going to Bristol to visit Aardman.

"We saw some crazy art at the Arnolfini Gallery before going to see the animations. Now we're going to London to walk the red carpet. So I'm bouncing with joy."

Actress, Catherine Tate said: "Eight year old Ayomide drew the original, classic Stella, but other children on the website 'Gaga'd' me up with around about 20 different outfits.

"Stella clearly must have a huge wardrobe on the spaceship! Stella was a brilliant character to provide the voice for. And of course, I loved that she has gorgeous red hair and a brilliant singing voice!"

The stellar cast has provided the voices for the lead characters chosen from the many drawings submitted by children aged 5- 13 the result of over 250 workshops and individual uploads to the Tate Movie Project's online movie studio.

The online studio has had more than 500,000 hits since it went live last July and a touring movie studio has spent months on the road visiting galleries, schools and festivals across the country encouraging children to use art as inspiration for their drawings and story ideas.

The project is part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and has been made possible through £3million of funding from Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to create a cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

BP, as one of the Premier Partners of the Cultural Olympiad, is providing further substantial funding and is helping to evaluate the process to further inform Tate's future youth projects.

As well as broadcast support through CBBC and the entire project being recorded by Blue Peter, BBC Learning has produced fun, accessible resources for kids and teachers alike.

The cream of British comedy has provided additional voices for the film including Sanjeev Bhaskar, Ralf Little, Miriam Margolyes, Lucy Montgomery, Vic Reeves and Alexei Sayle. Two children will provide the voices of Beanie - Bobby Fuller, known for his role of Jake on CBBC's Sadie J - and his older sister Beryl - Rachel Rawlinson.

Tate asked children to vote online for which celebrities they would like to see play cameo roles as pirates and superheroes in the final feature.

Stitched Together

Multiple drawings are 'composited' to make a single scene, for example each element of a high street from the shop windows to the cars driving by. The final film will include thousands of different drawings by the children.

The vast bank of material has been brought together by Tate, Aardman and Fallon in the most impressive way possible using the latest animation technology.

Music is by composer John Browne who has been working with young British musicians including the National Youth Orchestra, West Everton Children's Orchestra, Folkestra and The Young'uns.

The children will attend a red carpet premiere for the film in Leicester Square on Wednesday 29 June and the finished film will be broadcast on the BBC this summer as well as at screenings at galleries, on London 2012 Live Sites (big screens) in cities across the UK and at Vue cinemas nationwide over the August Bank Holiday.

(BMcC/GK)