A little paint, some sketches and the next thing you’re in line for an Oscar nomination.
Shortlisted among the top 10 films in the best animated film category, The Snail and The Whale is an animation production by Victoria High School alumnus Stuart Forrest’s animation company in partnership with UK-based Magic Light.
Forrest, CEO of Cape Town-based Triggerfish Animation Academy, is humble about the short film’s selection but it was a painstaking task to ensure it touched its target audience.
The 27-minute film was selected from among 97 competitors from across the world, making it to one more round before the official nominees (top five) in the category are selected in March.
“It is such a big honour to be in the top 10 — a [confirmation] that our work is among the best in the world,” Forrest said.
“Such recognition is always good for our reputation and that is valuable in an industry that’s very much reputation-based.”
Produced by the UK company Magic Light, The Snail and The Whale is based on the unusual friendship between a humpback whale and a snail eager to travel the world.
The short film with an environmental awareness message takes the viewer on the two wildly different creatures’ journey through the ocean.
Now on streaming platform Showmax and being shown across Africa, the film premiered on BBC One over Christmas to four-star reviews and more than 7.5-million viewers last year.
An adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s best-selling picture book of the same name, The Snail and The Whale, is directed by two-time Oscar nominee Max Lang and multi-award-winning South African Daniel Snaddon.
Triggerfish is behind the film’s stellar animation, a challenging process, Forrest said.
“The whole film was rather challenging.
“There was a point where we all thought it was impossible because there were so many water shots and so much detail that was needed that we just didn’t feel that we had the capabilities,” he said.
The team also worked on two productions simultaneously, the second being the feature film Seal Team, set to be released later this year.
“We had to learn how to make it work even though we couldn’t have the team working on one thing at a time, and the fact that we still managed to produce something good enough to be recognised by the Academy is a huge testament to the talent in South Africa,” he said.
Born in Port Elizabeth, Forrest has been based in Cape Town for about 20 years but visits his family in Lorraine from time to time.
He studied Fine Art at PE Technikon (now Nelson Mandela University) where he said he was surrounded by impressively talented artists.
It was through collaborating with artists across disciplines that led him to animation, he said.
He joined Triggerfish as a junior animator and was trained by its founders before he took over more than 15 years ago.
At some point in the company’s initially rocky journey, the team worked from Forrest’s kitchen, he said.
The Oscar shortlisting follows a 2020 Emmy win by Triggerfish for Zog, a film based on a clumsy dragon who wants to be the best at dragon school.
The film, also created in partnership with Magic Light, won an International Emmy for Best Kids Animation.
The Oscars are scheduled to take place on April 25, according to the academy’s website.
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