Bringing home yet another accolade, The Smeds and the Smoos has won the International Emmy for Best Kids’ Animation, holding off the likes of Moominvalley.
Currently streaming on Showmax, The Smeds and the Smoos is produced by Magic Light Pictures and co-directed by South Africans Daniel Snaddon and Samantha Cutler. Dan was also a director on Zog, which won the International Emmy in 2020.
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Dan and Sam, however, were not in New York last night as they were in Japan instead, accepting the NHK Japan Prize for Best Preschool Media for the acclaimed 27-minute animation.
‘I was hiking up a mountain in Japan when Dan phoned me with the news,’ says Sam.
‘I was so overwhelmed and overjoyed, I just started crying. It’s truly wonderful to have all the hard work recognised. I’m beyond proud of Dan and our fantastic team. We all need to go celebrate this stunning achievement.’
South African Julia Smuts Louw, who co-wrote Aau’s Song for Star Wars: Visions Volume II, adapts writer Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler’s bestselling children’s book of the same name.
Narrated by Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), The Smeds and the Smoos tells the story of two warring families whose children, Bill and Janet, fall in love and run away together.
The two young aliens (Ashna Rabheru from Sex Education and Daniel Ezra from All American), hotly pursued by their grandparents Grandfather Smed (comedian Bill Bailey) and Grandmother Smoo (Adjoa Andoh from Bridgerton), lead their families on a chase across space, giving them the chance to discover they have more in common than they think.
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The book, which is dedicated to all the children of Europe, drew some inspiration from Brexit.
‘The message of The Smeds and the Smoos is as timely today as it has always been,’ says Julia. ‘Life is too precious to spend fighting over our differences. Kids’ movies (and books) are such an indispensable vehicle for cementing these crucial messages in the formative years.
She added that it is a massive honour for the kids’ animation to be recognised with an Emmy and expressed her gratitude, saying, ‘I’m so grateful to Magic Light for the chance and particularly to Julia Donaldson for trusting me with her words.’
So far this year, The Smeds and the Smoos has already won the Audience Award at the New York International Children’s Film Festival and the Rockie for Children’s Animation at BANFF, and has been nominated for Best Storytelling (Writing) at the Shanghai International TV Festival.
At next week’s Rose d’Or Awards in London on 27 November 2023, The Smeds and the Smoos is also up for the Children and Youth Prize, competing against the pan-African anthology Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire.
‘It’s been incredible just to be part of this rising wave of animation in South Africa,’ says Julia. ‘These opportunities really didn’t even exist a decade ago. I certainly never dreamed that something I worked on might be up for an International Emmy, let alone win.’
Take a look at The Smeds and the Smoos trailer:
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Picture: Showmax