Astley Baker Davies: Exceedingly Good Animators

Astley Baker Davies Exceedingly Good Animators
Many people over a certain age will recall with fondness the TV adverts for Mr Kipling's cakes. Whilst a man with a voice like gargling straw recalls how that 'nice' Mr Kipling made delicious cakes on his farmhouse kitchen table (I would guess about 12 million in a good year), we all knew full well that his fondant fancies started life in a string of large factories. By this same logic the animation studio Astley Baker Davies, the prodigious producers of Peppa Pig the award winning children's series which is shown in over 60 countries (yes there really are that many, I checked) should have an exceedingly large animation factory. This is not the case.

In fact the studio founded in 1994 by Neville Astley and Mark Baker, and later joined by Phil Davies in order that the company could sound more like a firm of LA attornies, is really the animation equivalent of that aforementioned farmhouse kitchen. It is a small, friendly studio that manages to produce a constant stream of top quality animation. By assembling a small dynamic team and a with a far from mystical combination of talent and enthusiasm, Astley Baker Davies have been able to produce in Peppa Pig a modern children's animation classic. A classic that has been lauded worldwide .The mantelpiece at that farmhouse would have to be very long indeed.