Aardman secures licensing partners for musical special Robin Robin

Multi-award-winning and independent studio Aardman is delighted to announce deals with Macmillan Children’s Books for publishing and Aurora World for plush, for animated musical special Robin Robin.

Robin Robin is a beautiful 30 minute festive holiday special, created by its directors Dan Ojari and Mikey Please. The stop-motion film, which is currently in production at the Aardman studios in Bristol, and is due to launch on Netflix in November 2021 features the voices of Gillian Anderson, Richard E. Grant, Adeel Akhtar and Bronte Carmichael.

Macmillan Children’s Books have acquired worldwide rights in all languages for an exciting range of children’s books associated with the new film. The publishing range, which will launch in autumn 2021, will include a classic picture book, film tie-in picture book and range of activity and novelty books.

Stephanie Barton Publisher, Picture Books, Brands and Classics at Macmillan Children’s Books comments: “To be working with Aardman on Robin Robin is a dream come true; their unique voice, attention to detail and the exuberance and joy with which they approach storytelling is perfect for the printed page, and we are excited to be working in partnership to create what are sure to be classics of the future.”

Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, Publisher, Macmillan Children’s Books, added: “We fell in love with Robin Robin at first sight and quickly discovered that the values of Macmillan Children’s Books and those of Aardman were aligned. To have the opportunity to publish both a classic illustrated picture book on our Two Hoots list, as well as the animated tie-ins on our Brands and Media list, plays to our strengths across MCB. Robin Robin will be a focus amongst the other successful high end media brands on our list and is a very exciting acquisition for us.”

The first title, a classic picture book, written by the co-creators of Robin Robin Dan Ojari and Mikey Please, and illustrated by Briony May Smith, will be published by the Two Hoots imprint in October 2021. A film tie-in picture book featuring stills and lyrics to the songs will be published in November 2021, alongside the Netflix premiere. An audiobook will be available for digital download.

Mikey Please said: “We are utterly delighted to be partnering with Macmillan to bring the Robin Robin books to life, and thrilled that we get to actually write one with wondrous pencil-wizard, Briony May Smith. Briony worked with us early on in the development of Robin Robin, so it feels perfect that we get to team up again in creating the classic picture book. And in the hands of the fantastic Macmillan team, we know this picture book and the entire series are going to be things of beauty.”

Co-creator Dan Ojari added: “Collaborating with Two Hoots has so far been a real joy and particularly fruitful. It’s not simply been a case of translating the film onto paper, but adapting and restructuring the story for a whole new medium.”

Alongside the publishing programme, Aardman has appointed Aurora World – a global leader in the character and content industry – as master toy partner, who will be developing the plush version of Robin Robin to be launched alongside the publishing and film premiere in Autumn 2021.

Martin Ringer, Sales Director comments: “We have built a great relationship working with Aardman to develop Shaun the Sheep plush products over recent years. The opportunity to broaden our relationship and be involved in the development of plush for Robin Robin is incredibly exciting and we look forward to delivering some beautiful product for this wonderful property.”

Robin Robin is the endearing story of a robin who is adopted by a family of burglar mice when her egg fortuitously rolls into a rubbish dump. As she grows up her differences become more apparent. She sets off on the heist to end all heists to prove to her family that she can be a really good mouse, but ends up discovering who she really is.