The British Animation Awards Announced At BFI Tonight

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists is up for an award in the Best Long Form Category at The British Animation Awards tonight.

The stop-motion comedy from Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation was directed by British filmmaking legend and Aardman co-founder Peter Lord and based on Gideon Defoe’s cult novel series. The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists (also known as The Pirates! Band Of Misfits in some territories) is a delirious high-seas romp featuring the vocal talents of Hugh Grant as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain, who navigates his salty crew on a perilous mission to Victorian London to aid a young Charles Darwin voiced by David Tennant.

At the time of release David said that it was an easy decision to become involved with the film. "You just want to be associated with what Aardman do,” he told Digital Spy. “It's never less than excellent. When I did read the script I thought, 'This is just a joy!'"

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists will contend against the Oscar-nominated Magic Lights Pictures' Room on the Broom and Lupus Films' The Snowman and the Snowdog.

The British Animation Awards are held every two years and celebrate the best of British animation across an number of categories. Other nominations include Bill Nighy and Morwenna Banks for Best Voice Performance and children's favourites Peppa Pig and Shaun The Sheep. The 2014 Awards will be tonight at the BFI on London's Southbank.

Click here for a full list of finalists

Find out more about the film on our website

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists Nominated For Animation Award

The British Animation Awards finalists have been revealed and the 2012 Aardman feature The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists has been shortlisted in the Best Long Form Category.

The stop-motion comedy from Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation was directed by British filmmaking legend and Aardman co-founder Peter Lord and based on Gideon Defoe’s cult novel series. The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists (also known as The Pirates! Band Of Misfits in some territories) is a delirious high-seas romp featuring the vocal talents of Hugh Grant as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain, who navigates his salty crew on a perilous mission to Victorian London to aid a young Charles Darwin voiced by David Tennant.

At the time of release David said that it was an easy decision to become involved with the film. "You just want to be associated with what Aardman do,” he told Digital Spy. “It's never less than excellent. When I did read the script I thought, 'This is just a joy!'"

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists will contend against the Oscar-nominated Magic Lights Pictures' Room on the Broom and Lupus Films' The Snowman and the Snowdog.

The British Animation Awards are held every two years and celebrate the best of British animation across an number of categories. Other nominations include Bill Nighy and Morwenna Banks for Best Voice Performance and children's favourites Peppa Pig and Shaun The Sheep. The 2014 Awards will be announced on Friday 7th March at the BFI on London's Southbank.

Click here for a full list of finalists

Find out more about the film on our website

VIDEO: Watch An Animated David Tennant Promote The Bard For Young Shakespeare Nation

David Tennant, in animated form,has joined forces with William Shakespeare and a pig called Francis (think about it...) to promote Young Shakespeare Nation, a new initiative by the Royal Shakespeare Company to help teachers present Shakespeare to their pupils in new and exciting ways by providing free resources to inspire a new generation.

Watch the trailer here:

The project launches as the RSC aim to present all of Shakespeare's plays over the next six years. Online resources are available to order from the Royal Shakespeare Company website and schools can access teachers' courses, student events and the RSC CPD programme. They can also sign up to free schools' broadcasts of plays, starting with Richard II starring David Tennant on Friday November 15th

Click here for more information

David Tennant is currently preparing to play the lead role in Richard II for the RSC as part of the Winter 2013 season. The play, directed by Gregory Doran, will open at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avonon 10th October 2013 and will run until 16th November 2013. It will then transfer to the Barbican Theatre in Londonfrom December 9th 2013 until 25th January 2014. All performances have now sold out, but the production will be streamed into cinemas worldwide from 13th November. More details here

Trailer animated by Duncan Beedie (@DuncanDraws)

RTS West Awards Announced Tonight - The Pirates! Is Nominated

The Royal Television Society Awards, West of England are announced tonight, The ceremony takes place at the Old Vic in Bristol this evening from 7pm and is hosted by Naomi Wilkinson of CBBC. The awards celebrate the best in drama and film, network television, craft, talent, digital media and regional television news coming out of the west region of the UK.

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists is nominated in the Best Film category. This award honours the best film originated in the region, with a theatrical release and can include Drama, Animation or Documentary. The full shortlist for the category is:

BEST FILM                                                    

Nominees:

In The Dark Half

Bard Entertainments/iFeatures

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists.

Aardman Animations

8 Minutes Idle

Arthur Cox/iFeatures

Flying Blind

Ignition Films/iFeatures

Click here for the full list of nominees

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists features the voices of David Tennant, Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton and Russell Tovey. The Pirate Captain sets his sights on winning the coveted Pirate Of The Year award. On his quest for glory he encounters a young Charles Darwin and the pirate-hating Queen Victoria. The film was produced by Aardman Animations of Bristol and directed by Peter Lord.

Oscar Night For The Pirates!

The 85th Academy Awards are announced in Los Angeles later tonight, and among the movies in contention for one of the much coveted awards is the 2012 claymation feature The Pirates! Band Of Misfits (aka The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists), which is nominated in the Animated Feature Film category.

Directed by British animation legend and Aardman co-founder Peter Lord and based on Gideon Defoe’s cult novel series, The Pirates! Band Of Misfits is a delirious high-seas romp starring Hugh Grant as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain, who navigates his salty crew on a perilous mission to Victorian London to aid a young Charles Darwin voiced by David Tennant. Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, Brian Blessed and Salma Hayek also lend their voices to the film.

The Animated feature Film category is as follows:

• "Brave" Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
• "Frankenweenie" Tim Burton
• "ParaNorman" Sam Fell and Chris Butler
• "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" Peter Lord
• "Wreck-It Ralph" Rich Moore

The Oscars ceremony will be hosted by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Guests will start to arrive from 4pm PST (7pm EST / midnight GMT) and the three hour show begins at 5.30pm PST (8.30pm EST / 1.30am GMT). The show will also pay tribute to the 50th anniversary in 2012 of the James Bond franchise. 

Watch the ceremony live on the ABC network starting from 8.30pm EST, or for UK viewers red carpet coverage begins on Sky Living from 11.30pm GMT and the Awards Cermony follows on Sky Movies Oscars from 1.30am GMT. 

Oscar Nomination For The Pirates!

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists (also known as The Pirates! Band Of Misfits) has received an nomination for Best Animated Feature in the 2013 Oscars. The nominations for the 85th annual Academy Awards were announced in Hollywood today by Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone.

David Tennant provides the voice of Charles Darwin in the animated feature film by Aardman and Sony Pictures. The film also stars Hugh Grant as the Pirate Captain and Martin Freeman as the Pirate With Scarf. The director was Peter Lord, who has previously been nominated for animated shorts Wat's Pig and Adam.

All five nominees in the category are as follows:

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• Brave - Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
• Frankenweenie - Tim Burton
• ParaNorman - Sam Fell and Chris Butler
• The Pirates! Band of Misfits - Peter Lord
• Wreck-It Ralph - Rich Moore

About the film:

The Pirate Captain leads a band of buccaneers who remain fiercely loyal to him despite his shortcomings as a raider and pillager.  Facing stiff competition from more successful high seas brigands, the Captain is nevertheless determined to capture the prestigious Pirate of the Year award. 

Click here for the full list of 2013 nominees

The winners will be announced on February 24th in a ceremony hosted by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The event will also include a special tribute to fifty years of James Bond movies.

Australian DVD And Blu-ray Release For The Pirates! Band Of Misfits

The fantastic 2012 Aardman animated movie The Pirates! band Of Misfits (known also as The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists) is released on DVD and Blu-ray in Australia today.

In The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists 3D, Hugh Grant stars in his first animated role as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain – a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas.

With a rag-tag crew at his side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen), and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award. It’s a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.

Along the way they battle a diabolical queen (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a haplessly smitten young scientist (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure!

The film was adapted from the novel by Gideon Defoe and directed for Aardman and Sony Pictures by Peter Lord. It is available in four formats: DVD, standard Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray and triple play DVD, Blu-ray and digital pack. It is available now from all major retailers.

To find out more about The Pirates! Band Of Misfits click here.

The Pirates! Mini Feature Released On DVD

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment have released an Aardman animated short featuring the cast of The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists.

Details:

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment launched 'SO YOU WANT TO BE A PIRATE!' on DVD exclusively with Tesco stores nationwide on August 13th to get you ready to set sail for the release of THE PIRATES! IN AN ADVENTURE WITH SCIENTISTS on September 10th.

From the Academy Award-winning Aardman (Chicken Run) and Sony Pictures Animation (The Smurfs), comes an all-new short swashbuckling stop-motion animated adventure to get you ship-shape to help the Pirate Captain and his band of misfits in THE PIRATES! IN AN ADVENTURE WITH SCIENTISTS.

Let the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain, voiced by Hugh Grant (About A Boy), and his band of misfits (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey and Ashley Jensen) guide you with hilarious, fun-loving tips and advice to becoming a seaworthy addition to the crew and help them in their madcap adventure to win the coveted annual “Pirate of the Year” award.

SO YOU WANT TO BE A PIRATE! also includes appearances from Charles Darwin (David Tennant) and The Pirate King (Brian Blessed).

The DVD boasts a treasure chest of kid-friendly activities including How To Animate Your Pirate, How To Draw A Pirate, How To Talk Like A Pirate and Printable Colouring Pages which will give kids all the tools they need to start making their own piratical adventures on the high seas!

DVD Bonus Features Include:
• How To Animate Your Pirate
• How To Draw A Pirate
• Printable Colouring Pages
• How To Talk Like A Pirate – Words And Phrases From Your Favourite Characters

SO YOU WANT TO BE A PIRATE! has a running time of approximately 17 minutes and is rated U.

The DVD is available in store or via the Tesco Entertainment website priced at £5

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists UK DVD Release

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists has been scheduled for a DVD release on 24^th September 2012.
The animated adventure will be released as a region 2 DVD, a standard Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray.

Directed by British animation legend and Aardman co-founder Peter Lord and based on Gideon Defoe’s cult novel series, The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists is a delirious high-seas romp starring Hugh Grant as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain, who navigates his salty crew on a perilous mission to Victorian London to aid a young Charles Darwin voiced by David Tennant.

David Tennant has stated that he has been involved with recording dialogue for some animated extras for the DVD release. Full details of extras is likely to follow shortly.

In the mean time you can pre order the film from our shop at the links below:
DVD
Standard Blue-ray
3D Blu-ray

Exclusive Pirates! Special Feature From Sky Movies

Sky Movies have posted an exclusive special video clip featuring the characters from The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists. Featuring the voices of Hugh Grant as The Pirate Captain, David Tennant as Charles Darwin and Martin Freeman as The Pirate with a Scarf, the feature 'The Pirate Captain's Chat Show' is new material not seen in the movie.

Watch the clip here

The Pirates! is produced by Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures, and was directed by Peter Lord. It opened in the UK on Wednesday 28th March and is screening at cinemas nationwide. It is released in the USA as The Pirates! Band Of Misfits on 27th April.

David Attends The Pirates! Premiere Tonight - UPDATED

The premiere for David Tennant's latest movie, The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists!, took place this evening at the Mayfair Hotel in London. David was in attendance along with Hugh Grant who stars as the Pirate Captain.

Click here to view photos of David at the premiere.

The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists is out in UK cinemas on March 28th!
For a full list of international releases, visit: http://thepirates-movie.net/
In The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, Hugh Grant stars in his first animated role as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain -- a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas. With a rag-tag crew at his side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen), and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award. It's a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London. Along the way they do battle with the pirate-hating Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a young Charles Darwin (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure!

David Completes Work on The Pirates!

David Tennant yesterday completed vocal recording for his role in the forthcoming Aardman animated feature The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists (or The Pirates! Band Of Misfits if you are in the USA). According to Peter Lord, the director via Twitter:

"We recorded the very last syllable (surely!) with the delightful David Tennant yesterday - now can't wait to share it with you all."

The 3D film is due to be released on Wednesday 28th March in the UK, with its premeiere on Thursday 22nd March.It is released in the USA and Canada on 30th March and in Australia on 5th April. Other stars of the film include Hugh Grant, Brian Blessed, Salma Hayek, Martin Freeman and Ashley Jensen. David plays a young Charles Darwin with Hugh Grant as The Pirate Captain

Elsewhere in the news, the film's trailer caused controversy when charity LEPRA Health In Action expressed disbelief at a scene poking fun at people with leprosy. Happily, the charity have since reported that Aardman have worked with them and committed to changing the offending scene.

The Itch Of The Golden Nit

David is making two cameo appearances in a new animated film organised by The Tate Movie Project, The Itch Of The Golden Nit.
The Tate Movie Project is first of its kind - an animated film fuelled by the drawings, sounds and ideas of tens of thousands of children aged between five and thirteen, produced by Aardman Animations and voiced by the best in British talent, including David Walliams, Catherine Tate and Miranda Hart. Follow our unlikely 11 year old hero Beanie as he battles to save the universe and return the Golden Nit to its rightful place at the heart of the sun. Join in on a surreal adventure straight from the wild imaginations of children!
The project is part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and is supported by Legacy Trust UK, BP and the BBC.



The Itch of the Golden Nit opens officially at cinemas nationwide on the 27th and 28th of August. Tickets available to book very soon.

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists

David has won a role in a new 3D animated adventure film from Aardman Animations.

BBC News confirms:

Actor Hugh Grant will voice a bumbling pirate captain in a 3D animated adventure from the team behind the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit films.
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists will use the same stop-motion techiques of previous Aardman films, such as Chicken Run.
Salma Hayek will co-star as his arch-rival Cutlass Liz, with David Tennant as a young Charles Darwin.
Martin Freeman, Brian Blessed and Imelda Staunton will also feature.
"I'm so grateful to the entire cast for their talent and energy," said Aardman's Peter Lord, director of the film.
"Only Hugh could anchor this story of love, loyalty, greed and nautical high-jinks."
Lord, a founding partner of British-based Aardman Animations, also co-directed Chicken Run, with Nick Park.
The film, to be distributed by Columbia Pictures, will be released on 30 March 2012.