Technology behind
The Big Knights
“The Big Knights – The Big Adventures” can be bought
online at the BBC Shop, as well as at www.amazon.co.uk
and all good retailers.
About The Big Knights
In the far off land of Borovia, where dragons are
fierce, witches are wicked, scientists are insane, the economy is bad and
television is in black & white, stands Castle Big, home of The Big
Knights.
The Big Knights is a series of 13 short animated films designed for
the whole family, and showing on BBC Television from Christmas 1999. The tales revolve around the exploits of Sir
Boris (the finest swordsman in the World), Sir Morris (not the finest swordsman
in the World, but the most enthusiastic) and their noble pets, Sir Horace the
Dog and Sir Doris the Hamster.
Sir Boris and Sir Morris are brothers – they are the
height of two men, the weight of four and the strength of sixteen. They are also very aristocratic and very
stupid. They ride out from their home,
Castle Big, in search of adventure, to right wrongs, rescue princesses and woe
betide anything that gets in their way.
This does not always make things easy for the
inhabitants of Borovia, who struggle to carry on with their modern day lives
despite the Big Knights’ medieval antics.
Brian Blessed is the powerful voice behind Sir Morris, giving him the
unmistakable air of a natural disaster, while David Rintoul brings the
awesome, self-assured Sir Boris to life.
Timothy West is the voice behind the embattled King Otto of
Borovia, and Prunella Scales makes a guest appearance as his rival,
Queen Melissa. Other voices are Morwenna
Banks (The Old Witch), John Sparkes (Eeuuurgh the Troll, Professor
von Proton, Dan Titchy), Gordon Kennedy (Count Vampire), Kate Robbins
(Sorceress Abigail), Enn Reitel (Mayor Borodzo, Jack Tiny), Summer
Strallen & Scarlet Strallen (Princesses Lucy & Loretta) and Brian
Sewell (Sir Kiftsgate).
Created and Directed by Neville Astley & Mark
Baker
Produced by Claire Jennings
Written by Neville Astley, Mark Baker, Gary Parker
& John Sparkes
A BBC
Worldwide/ The Big Knights Ltd Production
™ BBC/The Big Knights Ltd
Voices
Brian
Blessed is the powerful voice behind Sir Morris, giving him
the unmistakable air of a natural disaster, while David Rintoul brings
the awesome, self-assured Sir Boris to life. Timothy West is the
voice behind the embattled King Otto of Borovia, and Prunella Scales
makes a guest appearance as his rival, Queen Melissa. Other voices are Morwenna
Banks (The Old Witch), John Sparkes (Eeuuurgh the Troll, Professor
von Proton, Dan Titchy), Gordon Kennedy (Count Vampire), Kate Robbins
(Sorceress Abigail), Enn Reitel (Mayor Borodzo, Jack Tiny), Summer
Strallen & Scarlet Strallen (Princesses Lucy & Loretta) and Brian
Sewell (Sir Kiftsgate).
David
Rintoul and Brian Blessed at the first Big Knights voice
recording.
Autumn 1998.
The
Characters
Sir Boris
The brother of Sir Morris and
the finest swordsman in the World. An
honest, upstanding citizen of Borovia, in an arrogant, aristocratic sort of
way. |
|
Sir Morris
Enthusiastic, well intentioned
and completely stupid – a combination more terrifying than a loose
cannon. Loves nothing more than a
right rollicking clash of swords and is a keen propagator of total mayhem. |
|
Sir Horace the Dog
Sir Boris’ armour-plated pet
dog. His keen intelligence and
fine-tuned sense of smell assist The Big Knights on the quests. Unfortunately Horace is unable to
communicate with them but the viewer gets to know what he’s thinking through
thought bubbles. |
|
Sir Doris the Hamster
Sir Morris’ armour-plated pet
hamster. Doris’ only thought in life
is for food. Pies, hams, roasts,
bicycles… nothing even remotely edible is safe when Doris is hungry. |
|
King Otto
A Parsimonious, arrogant,
bumptious single parent and King of Borovia.
He is easily manipulated by his two daughters, the Princesses Lucy
& Loretta. |
|
Princesses Lucy & Loretta
King Otto’s daughters. Always keen for adventure, and great
admirers of the Big Knights. |
|
Wizard Zabobon
The ancient court wizard,
employed by King Otto. He is thousands
of years old and doesn’t like anything to do with the modern world. He is also quite smelly, surrounded by flies,
and always speaks his mind. |
|
Queen Melissa
The fabulously rich ruler of
the neighbouring kingdom of Moridia. There is a rumour that some
time in the past, she was married to King Otto… |
|
Sorceress Abigail
The court sorceress employed
by Queen Melissa. |
|
Professor von Proton
The brilliant but dangerously insane
genius. The finest mind in Borovia. When designing his inventions,
safety is not his primary concern. |
|
Ethel Minion (Mrs)
The Big Knight’s loyal cook,
cleaner and nanny. In fact she has
looked after them since they were babies, although they’re not that aware of
her. |
|
Sisters Faith, Hope & Charity
Teachers and guardians to the
Princesses Lucy & Loretta. They
are very nervous when The Big Knights are around. |
All Characters © BBC Worldwide
Ltd 1999 A BBC Worldwide/The Big
Knights Ltd Production |
The Big Knights Prizes
2000 Best Adult Animation Series – British Animation
Awards (BAA)
2000 Best Use of New Technology - British Animation
Awards (BAA)
2001 Best Animation Series at the Annecy Animation
Festival in France
2001 Grand Prize for Animated Television Programme at
the SICAF International Festival in Korea
2001 Best Commercial Series Animation Award - FAN
International Festival of Animation UK
The
Technology behind The Big Knights
The Big Knights is drawn by hand and digitally
animated. It has been produced using a
new British-made software package called CelAction 2D created by Andy Blazdell
and Simon Lipowicz. It is the first
animation series to use this specific computer technique. You can find out more by visiting the CelAction web site.