Press release from Aardman Animation:
Aardman Animation has teamed up with Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment to create DC’s World’s Funnest, a series of original animated shorts that will be a part of DC Nation, a full hour of exclusive kid’s programming and shorts based on DC Comics characters. DC’s World’s Funnest, along with previously announced shorts S.B.F.F (Super Best Friends Forever) and Plastic Man, set the light and humorous tone indicative of the DC Nation animated shorts that will populate the programming block alongside anchor series Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice. DC Nation premiers Saturday, March 3, at 10 a.m. (ET, PT) on Cartoon Network.
Directed by Rich Webber (Purple & Brown, Shaun the Sheep), the Aardman-produced shorts included in this branded block of original programming, bring these superhero characters to life using traditional clay animation techniques married with retro-inspired 2D backgrounds to create a fresh and unique look. The backgrounds and environments were inspired by the original DC artwork, using a complimentary colour palette found in designs of the 50s and 60s. This 2D artwork was then distorted and cut out to form the illusion of false-perspective.
Aardman’s approach to their ten one-minute shorts was to use real children to voice the superhero characters, similar to their OscarTM-winning series Creature Comforts, tailoring the questions to get the desired responses and creating charming, compelling characters albeit making them a little un-super! One skit portrays a slightly chubby cookie-munching Superman sitting on top of a building talking about what he collects and the many things he is scared of - ‘‘celery’’ being one of them!
Webber was delighted with the opportunity, saying; ‘‘It was a dream job to direct, it’s not often you get to mess about with such iconic superhero characters!’