Hot Animation
HOT Animation was a British stop motion animation, 2D cel animation & computer animation studio, established on 1 April 1998 by Jackie Cockle, Brian Little, and Joe Dembinski.
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Media, Television Production |
| Founded | 1 April 1998[1] |
| Founder | Jackie Cockle Brian Little Joe Dembinski |
| Defunct | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Manchester, England, UK |
Key people | Jackie Cockle Brian Little Joe Dembinski |
| Products | Children's Television, Stop motion |
| Total assets | $1,119 million |
Number of employees | 67 (2007) |
| Parent | HIT Entertainment |
| Website | web |
Their worldwide success followed with Bob the Builder, a show for pre-school children about a builder and his talking machines. In 2000, the theme tune was released as a single, Can We Fix It? with an accompanying promo produced at HOT, which beat Kylie Minogue's "Please Stay", Eminem's Stan and Westlife's "What Makes a Man" to become the Christmas number-one single.
The company then made a reboot of Brambly Hedge, a series of 30-minute specials based on the illustrated books for children by Jill Barklem, and Rubbadubbers, a series about bath toys that come alive. Pingu, a Swiss series about a family of penguins, was recreated with great success in 2003. The company also provided CGI effects for seasons 8-12 of Thomas & Friends.
HOT ceased to produce the main series of Bob the Builder after 2007 when the studio announced jobs would be cut, and opted to produce a direct to DVD series called Bob the Builder: On Site, using stop-motion from Bob's World and live action from real world construction sites. The studio closed sometime before HIT was purchased by Mattel in 2012.
List of Productions
TV
- Brambly Hedge (1998-1999, Season 2 only)
- Bob the Builder (1998–2009, Seasons 1-16 only)
- Rubbadubbers (2003–2005)
- Pingu (2003–2006, Seasons 5-6 only)
Feature-Length Specials
- Bob the Builder: A Christmas to Remember (2001)
- Bob the Builder: The Knights of Can-A-Lot (2003)
- Bob the Builder: Snowed Under - The Bobblesburg Winter Games (2004)
- Bob the Builder - Project Build it: When Bob Became A Builder (2005)
- Bob the Builder - Project Build it: Built to Be Wild (2005)
- Bob the Builder - Project Build it: Scrambler to the Rescue (2007)
- Bob the Builder - Project Build it: Race to the Finish (2008)
Direct-to-Home Video
- Bob the Builder: On Site (2007–2009)
- Truck Teamwork (2009)
Music Videos
- Can We Fix It? (2000)
- Mambo No. 5 (2001)
- Big Fish, Little Fish (2008)
Other
- Life on Mars (2007, Animated a sequence for Episode 5 of the Second Season that paid a tribute to Camberwick Green)
