Blue Zoo Animation Studio is a British animation studio known for producing children's television series, commercials and short films. Founded in 2000 by Oli Hyatt, Adam Shaw, and Tom Box from Bournemouth University, the studio has gone on to win numerous BAFTAs and in 2021 won two Daytime Emmy awards. They have also previously won the Best Places to Work in TV survey by Broadcast and Best Companies Group.
Some of the more well-known children's shows the studio has produced are Alphablocks, Numberblocks, Digby Dragon, Miffy's Adventures Big and Small, The Adventures of Paddington, Tree Fu Tom, and It's Pony.
The company operates from a studio in Fitzrovia, London, where they have a team of over 200 artists. Blue Zoo later opened a second studio in Brighton called Brighton Zoo in 2022, in the partnership with Plug-In Media, and is 'dedicated to episodic 2D animation'.
In 2021, the company became the first major animation studio in the world to achieve B Corp certification.
History In December 2009, Blue Zoo Animation Studio entered the video platform service by partnering with animator Junior Jesman and distributor Cake Entertainment to develop and produce an animated web series entitled If I Was... for French streaming network Dailymotion with Blue Zoo providing and developing animation services and Cake Entertainment distributing the series online.
In April 2014, Blue Zoo and a Dutch company Mercis BV collaborated on the production of Miffy animated CGI series, which was released one year later.
In 2019, Blue Zoo launched its rights division dedicated to its own and third-party productions named Blue Zoo Rights headed by Alison Warner.
During the annual Cartoon Forum held in September of the same year, Blue Zoo partnered with Belgian production company Studio 100, through the latter's distribution arm Studio 100 Media and its subsidiary m4e, to produce an CGI-animated preschool series entitled Monika's Garden, but no news for that series was made since.
In 2022, Blue Zoo and Brighton-based producer Plug-In Media established a joint-venture regional animation production and interactive studio called Brighton Zoo, based in Brighton, South England. Their first collaboration and animated production was Supertato. Later in the same year, Blue Zoo expanded into the French production business by partnering with Paris-based animation production studio Samka Productions to launch an animation studio and post-production company called Kazoo Animation.
In 2024, the company's show Numberblocks reached 10 million subscribers on YouTube.
List of long form productions Television Title Years Network Notes The Story Makers 2002–2004 CBeebies Animation services for Blue Cow segments only, produced by BBC Children's Production Tikkabilla 2002–2007 Animation services for animated segments and Sami's Worlds only, produced by BBC Children's Production Those Scurvy Rascals 2005–2006 Nickelodeon UK co-production with Entara Doodle Do 2006 CBeebies Animation for Sandworm segments only, produced by BBC Children's Production Kerwhizz 2008–2011 Co-production with BBC Children's Production and Studio 100 Alphablocks 2010–present CBeebies co-production with Alphablocks LTD Olive the Ostrich 2011–2014 Nick Jr. UK Tree Fu Tom 2012–2016 CBeebies Animation services only, produced by BBC Children's Production and FremantleMedia Kids & Family, owned by Boat Rocker Studios since 2018. Q Pootle 5 2013–2014 co-production with Snapper Productions and ZDF Studios Miffy's Adventures Big and Small 2015–2017 Tiny PopKRO-NCRV (Netherlands) co-production with Mercis BV and Telescreen Go Jetters 2015–2020 CBeebies Animation services from season 2 to season 3, co-production with BBC Studios and BBC Children's Production Digby Dragon 2016–2018 Nick Jr. UK & Channel 5 co-production with Aardman Animations Mac & Izzy 2016 YouTube Co-production with WGBH Boston and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, owned by HarperCollins since 2021. Numberblocks 2017–present CBeebies co-production with Alphablocks LTD The Adventures of Paddington 2019–2025 Nick Jr. UKGulli, M6 & Piwi+ (France)Nickelodeon (international) co-production with StudioCanal, Heyday Films and Superprod Animation It's Pony 2020–2022 Nickelodeon UKNickelodeon/Nicktoons (United States) co-production with Nickelodeon Animation Studio Pip and Posy 2021–present Sky Kids, Channel 5 & Nick Jr. UK co-production with Magic Light Pictures Millie & Lou 2022 YouTube Big Tree City 2022 Netflix Supertato 2022–present CBeebiesTencent Video (China) Under Brighton Zoo, co-production with BBC Studios Kids & Family Lego City: No Limits 2023–present ITVXYouTube co-production with The Lego Group Mojo Swoptops 2024–present CBeebies co-production with Tararaboom Wonderblocks 2025–present CBeebies co-production with Alphablocks LTD Doctor Who: TARDIS Crew 2027–2029 CBeebies
Television shorts Title Release date Broadcaster Notes Superworm 2021 BBC One co-production with Magic Light Pictures The Smeds and the Smoos 2022
List of awards and accolades
! scope="row" | 2006 | Children's BAFTA | Animation | Those Scurvy Rascals
! scope="row" | 2008 | Children's BAFTA | Short Form | Stitch Up Showdown
! scope="row" | 2009 | Children's BAFTA | Short Form | My Favourite Bedtime Story
! scope="row" | 2009 | Children's BAFTA | Breakthrough Talent | Adam Shaw
! scope="row" | 2010 | Children's BAFTA | Learning - Primary | Alphablocks
! scope="row" | 2010 | Children's BAFTA | Short Form | My Favourite Bedtime Story
! scope="row" | 2012 | Children's BAFTA | Pre-School Animation | Tree Fu Tom
! scope="row" | 2012 | Children's BAFTA | Independent Production Company | Blue Zoo Animation Studio
! scope="row" | 2014 | Children's BAFTA | Short Form | Gumball Song
! scope="row" | 2014 | Children's BAFTA | Independent Production Company | Blue Zoo Animation Studio
! scope="row" | 2016 | Children's BAFTA | Independent Production Company | Blue Zoo Animation Studio
! scope="row" | 2017 | Children's BAFTA | Learning | Numberblocks
! scope="row" | 2017 | Children's BAFTA | Independent Production Company | Blue Zoo Animation Studio
! scope="row" | 2018 | BAFTA Films | Short Film | Mamoon
! scope="row" | 2019 | Children's BAFTA | Pre-School Animation | Digby Dragon
! scope="row" | 2019 | Children's BAFTA | Pre-School Animation | Numberblocks
! scope="row" | 2020 | Annies | Best TV/Media - Preschool | The Adventures of Paddington
! scope="row" | 2020 | Annies | Best Voice Acting - TV/Media | It's Pony
! scope="row" | 2020 | Annies | Best Production Design - TV/Media | The Adventures of Paddington
! scope="row" | 2016 | PromaxBDA UK | Best Direct Response Promo | Bitesize
! scope="row" | 2015 | PromaxBDA UK | Best Channel Identity | Nick Jr Rebrand
! scope="row" | 2015 | PromaxBDA UK | Best Sponsorship Package | LEGO Star Wars Rebels
! scope="row" | 2021 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Pre-School Children's Animated Series | The Adventures of Paddington
! scope="row" | 2021 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Writing for a Pre-School Animated Program | The Adventures of Paddington
! scope="row" | 2021 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Directing for a Pre-School Animated Program | The Adventures of Paddington
! scope="row" | 2024 | British Animation Awards | Children's Choice | Lego City: No Limits
! scope="row" | 2024 | British Animation Awards | Best Cutting Edge | Silly Duck
References
External links Blue-Zoo's website Blue-Zoo's Vimeo page