From Herstory to Shorts Yule Love to A Breath of Fresh Scare and a whole lot in between, RTÉjr has been showcasing Irish animation talent with its animated shorts series for years.
And, on Saturday morning at Animation Dingle, RTÉ unveiled the new name and logo for the scheme - welcome to the world Sparks. The announcement was part of the RTÉjr Animated Shorts Showcase, where 10 shorts from throughout the years, along with the the directorial debut from Marvel artist Will Sliney entitled Droid Academy were screened.
Read more about Will's work on Droid Academy here!
Suzanne Kelly, Head of Children's and Young People's Content says: "Houston, we have a name!!! RTÉ Kids' Sparks has landed!!!
"RTÉjr first launched its standalone animated shorts scheme back in 2019 as part of the Herstory project. The films produced that year were of such a high standard we knew immediately that this was something we wanted to continue to support and fund on an annual basis.
"RTÉ, as the National Broadcaster believes that supporting home grown animation is paramount to help grow and develop the Irish animation sector. This initiative, coupled with the incredible creativity of the domestic animation community has delivered some truly incredible short films over the past 5 years.
"Funded entirely by RTÉ, this scheme aims to support creators on their animation journey and RTÉjr/ RTÉ Kids are proud to play their part in nurturing creativity and enabling Irish animation to reach Irish and international audiences."
Also at the showcase, Eimear O'Mahony, Executive Producer from RTÉjr spoke to directors Graham Holbrook (Treehouse Republic), Avery Angle (Little Moon Animation) and Will Sliney (Pioneertown Productions) about the art of the animated short.
Eimear, amongst other things, has been Exec across RTÉjr’s animated shorts since the beginning, and she is overseeing the latest series from amazing Irish animators.
Droid Academy will be coming to your screens this June, as part of the School's Out series from RTÉjr. The series will also feature animations from Boulder Media, D11 Stories, Flickerpix, Little Moon, Taunt and Wackala.
Stream our previous Animated Shorts on RTÉ Player
