Following Wild Child Animation entering administration, with the potential loss of all jobs and its impact on the series, Magic Light acted swiftly to acquire the studio’s assets and production pipeline in order to safeguard crew roles, protect vital Scottish animation infrastructure, and ensure continuity of production.

Wbg business turnaround specialists Gordon McIntyre and Donald McKinnon facilitated the pre-pack administration process.

Mr McIntyre said: “We’re delighted to secure this pre-pack administration, which has seen Magic Light’s Stirling Animation Studio purchase the business and assets of Wild Child Animation Ltd, and in doing so, 30 jobs have been saved.”

Stirling Animation Studio keeps the highly skilled and experienced crew together, and SAS will complete production of all 52 episodes of Zog on schedule for delivery to the BBC and international partners.
 
Martin Pope and Michael Rose, joint CEOs, at Magic Light Pictures, added: “We’ve acted quickly to protect something valuable – a brilliant team, a major production, and a key part of Scotland’s animation capability.

“It’s been important to provide stability and renewed confidence for the crew at a critical time. The formation of Stirling Animation Studio will ensure completion of our Zog series, and we hope ​it can also be a platform for future productions.

“We are already exploring ideas about the future so we can support the next generation of world-class animation talent in Scotland.”

Based on the internationally bestselling books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Zog remains a cornerstone project for Magic Light Pictures and its partners, including the BBC, ZDF, BBC Studios and Creative Scotland.