Inside the animated adaptation of Kensuke’s Kingdom

In August 2024, the animated movie adaption of Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo hits our screens. Fans of the 1999 book will remember the tale of ten-year-old Michael – a young boy who gets washed overboard while sailing around the world with his parents.

The film, adapted for screen by BAFTA-nominated Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, has already won many industry accolades, including three British Animation Awards.

While viewers will likely recognise the voices of the star-studded cast – Sally Hawkins, Cillian Murphy, Raffey Cassidy, Aaron MacGregor and Ken Watanabe – they may be unaware of the film’s Welsh connections.

Back in 2020, we kicked off our support for the animation project by providing up to £100,000 to Lupus Films.The London-based production company then partnered with Cardiff-based animation company Bumpybox to help tell the tale of Michael’s adventure.

Founded in 2016 by Sam Wright, Leon Dexter and Toke Jepsen – a group of friends studying Computer Animation at the University of South Wales – Bumpybox is an animation studio specialising in CGI, 2D compositing and 3D character animation.

The two agencies had a long-standing relationship after working together on other projects. While working on their successful CBeebies series My Petsaurus, Bumpybox got a call from Lupus Films asking if they’d be interested in working on Kensuke’s Kingdom.

'There’s a lot of faith from Lupus Films – a very experienced production company – to come to us with that.’ Says Sam from Bumpybox. ‘It was nice to have that confirmation from them; we know who you are, and we trust you to handle the size of this project for us.'

For Lupus Films, there were many reasons why they wanted to work with the team at Bumpybox again.

'We had a fantastic experience working with some of the Bumpybox team on our other films, including Producer Sam Wright and Lead Compositor Neil Martin,' says Camilla Deakin, Producer at Lupus Films.

'We knew them to be highly creative and professional and that having their team of compositors in Cardiff – a short train journey from our studio in London – would be a huge asset.

They were also excited by the prospect of pushing the boat out artistically and technically; a gift for directors Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry and our Cardiff-born and based art director, Michael Shorten.’

As part of the project, Bumpybox handled all the CGI elements, most of the compositing and the ink and paint, which is the colouring in of the animation.

Sam says, 'We had a team of about 24 people working on Kensuke’s Kingdom in different roles. I was the lead producer, we had a lead production coordinator, a lead CG artist, a lead CG animator, a lead compositor, a technical director, and a lead ink and paint artist.

'And then there’s a team behind each of those. We had a lot of trainees in ink and paint, compositing, and CGI. For many people working at Bumpybox, it was their first feature film.

'The length and size of the production meant we could bring in people straight from university. By the time they finished, they had a good understanding of the process of working on a feature film. Most of the trainees went immediately into work elsewhere, and that’s amazing.'

For Sam and the team at Bumpybox, seeing the final version of something you’ve been working so hard on for two years is an exciting experience.

'We had a crew screening at the beginning of 2023,' says Sam. 'We rented a little cinema in Cardiff Bay to watch it altogether. It's certainly rewarding to see the names of people you know – especially the trainees' names – on the credits, and to see all the hard work come together.'

Sam believes it's an exciting time to be a part of the animation industry in Wales but recognises the need for long-term investment.

‘The more projects like Kensuke that can come, not just to our company but to other local animation companies, will help build the sector up,’ he says.

For Camilla and Lupus Films, the funding they received from Creative Wales was vital in getting the project off the ground.  

‘The support provided by Creative Wales and Ffilm Cymru Wales was essential to us closing the finance on Kensuke’s Kingdom,' she explains.

'It's not easy getting an ambitious, independent, hand-drawn animated feature film into production, but Creative Wales recognised the artistic merit of the film and the creative and economic opportunities of endorsing the partnership between our studio and Bumpybox in Cardiff.'

Kensuke's Kingdom is in UK and Ireland cinemas from August 2nd, 2024.

To read more about what’s happening in the animation industry in Wales, from the latest projects to interviews with experts, head to the animation section on our website .