The BBC has acquired a new family-friendly animated special called Tabby McTat (pictured) from London’s Magic Light Pictures, and it will premiere on BBC One and iPlayer this Christmas.
The 30-minute one-off is an adaptation of a same-name book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It tells the story of a street performer and his cat, whose lives change unexpectedly when one goes to hospital and the other is left to fend for himself in the big city.
Max and Suzanne Lang are penning the script, and Sarah Scrimgeour and Jac Hamman are on board to direct, with Barney Goodland and Michael Rose producing for Magic Pictures.
Tabby McTat is the 11th animated project based on Donaldson and Scheffler’s work that Magic Light has produced for the Beeb, following previous specials such as The Gruffalo (2009), The Snail and the Whale (2019) and Superworm (2021).
These one-off adaptations have also worked well internationally for Magic Light, which has sold them to broadcasters including NRK (Norway), RTV (Slovenia), SVT (Sweden) and ABC (Australia).
Last year, the studio also produced Pip and Posy—a 52 x seven-minute preschool series based on Scheffler’s picture books about a mouse and rabbit—for Germany’s ZDF and Channel 5’s Milkshake! block and Sky Kids in the UK.
And Magic Light is working on parlaying its animated specials into off-screen experiences as well, launching several Gruffalo-branded UK hiking trails in 2014 to teach kids about the natural world.