Triggerfish Animation Studios
Triggerfish Animation Studios, or simply Triggerfish, is a computer animation film studio based in Cape Town, South Africa. The studio is best known for its animated feature films Adventures in Zambezia, Khumba, and the work they have done on television specials created for UK producers Magic Light Pictures. In 2016, Stick Man was awarded the Cristal for best TV production at the Annecy International Animation Festival. In 2017, Revolting Rhymes again won the Cristal for best TV production at the Annecy Festival, and was nominated for the Best Short Film Oscar at the 2018 Academy Awards. In 2019, Netflix announced that Triggerfish would produce its first African animated TV series. In 2020, Zog won the International Emmy for Best Kids Animation.
History
Triggerfish was established in 1996 by Jacquie Trowell and Emma Kaye in Cape Town, South Africa. As a stop-frame animation studio, it produced multiple commercials for South African ad agencies. From 1998 through 2008, Triggerfish produced animation for Sesame Workshop for the South African version of Sesame Street, Takalani Sesame, as well as the US domestic and international versions of the pre-school kids' program.Stuart Forrest joined as a junior animator in 2002 to work on Takalani Sesame for seasons two and three. In 2004, Forrest and James Middleton became partners in Triggerfish and in 2005 became the sole partners when the original founders left the company. In 2007 Anthony Silverston joined as creative director, and Mike Buckland joined as head of production. At the same time, the company moved away from stop-frame animation and relaunched as a computer animation studio.
In 2008, Triggerfish created a 30-minute short entitled The Rise and Fall of Tony the Frog. The short was produced by Ambient Animation in Cape Town for Isaac Entertainment.
Feature Films
From 2006, the team began to shift focus to motion pictures by writing their first script Adventures in Zambezia, with US-based rights company Wonderful Works. The script went into production in 2009 and was released in 2012. In 2010, the studio started production on Khumba which started its worldwide release in Q3 2013. Triggerfish are now working in their third feature provisionally called Seal Team.Television animated series
On April 16, 2019, it was announced that Netflix had given a series order for the animated superhero series Mama K's Team 4. The series is expected to be produced by the studio in collaboration with CAKE. Malenga Mulendema will be credited as an executive producer and writer of the series.Story Lab
In mid-2015, Triggerfish announced the Triggerfish Story Lab, a program that aimed to develop African writers and directors. The initiative had the support of the Walt Disney Company. Mama K's Team 4, the first Netflix Original animation series from Africa, was one of the projects unearthed by the Triggerfish Story Lab.Triggerfish Academy
In June 2019 Triggerfish launched a free online learning platform aimed at encouraging young creatives to create their first animated film.Filmography
;Feature films# | Title | Release date | Budget | Gross | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
1 | Adventures in Zambezia | $20,000,000 | $34,428,345 | 25% | N/A | |
2 | Khumba | $20,000,000 | $27,000,000 | 44% | 40 | |
3 | Seal Team | TBA |
;Television specials
# | Title | Release date |
1 | Stick Man | |
2 | Revolting Rhymes | |
3 | The Highway Rat | |
4 | Zog | |
5 | The Snail and the Whale |
;Television series
# | Title | Release date |
1 | Mama K's Team 4 |
Feature Film Awards & Nominations
''Adventures in Zambezia''
- 2012 Best South African Feature Film at The Durban International Film Festival
- 2012 Best Animation at South African Film and Television Awards
- 2013 Best Animation at Africa Movie Academy Awards
- 2013 Best Children's Feature at Anima Mundi
- Nominated for Best Music in An Animated Feature and Voice Acting In An Animated Feature at the 2013 Annie Awards
- Nominated for Best Male Vocal Performance in An Animated Feature at the 2013 Behind The Voice Actors Awards
- Nominated for Best Director & Best Original Score at the 2013 South African Film and Television Awards
''Khumba''
- Gold Panda Award for Best Foreign Animation
- Gold Panda Award for Grand Prize
- 2014 Best Animation at South African Film and Television Awards
- 2014 Best Music Composition for a feature film at South African Film and Television Awards
- 2014 Best Animation at Africa Movie Academy Awards
- Nominated for Best Male Vocal Performance, 2015 Behind The Voice Actor Awards
Short Films Awards & Nominations
''Belly Flop''
- 2018 Gryphon Award for Best Short 6+ at Giffoni
- 2018 Best Animation, Africa Movie Academy Awards
- 2019 Audience Prize: Favorite Short Animated Film, Children's Film Festival Seattle
- 2018 Children's Jury Award at Cinemira in Budapest
- 2018 Best In Show and Best In 3D at Longwood Animation Film Festival
- 2018 Czech TV Audience Award at Zlin Film Festival
- 2018 Special Mention at Cinema In Sneakers Film Festival in Warsaw
- 2018 Best Local Film at Kleinkaap Short Film Festival
- 2018 Family Shorts Award at Tenerife International Short Film Festival
- 2018 Audience Award: Best Short Film at Animatopia ICAF
- 2019 Special Jury Award at CMS International Children's Film Festival
- 2019 2nd Place: Best Short Film at Kingstoon International Animated Film Competition
- 2019 Grand Prize: Short Film at Seoul Guro Kids Film Festival
- 2019 Audience Award for Best Short Animation at Festival Internacional de Cine para Niños
- 2019 Audience Award for Best Short Animation at Madrid Film Festival FCM-PNR
TV Series Awards and Nominations