Aardman, Born Free Foundation highlights animal captivity in "Life in Lockdown"

Aardman and Born Free Foundation have launched a new film to highlight the plight of captive wild animals around the world through reflections on the coronavirus lockdown. Creature Discomforts: Life in Lockdown (Discomforts of creatures: life in confinement) play on the much loved Creature Comforts build and use real interviews on people's temporary lockdown experiences to tell stories of wild animals forced to live prisoners.

Created by Aardman and the creative agency ENGINE in London, the film draws a parallel between the struggles faced by humans during the blockade for covid-19 and the poor lives of wild animals forced into captivity in zoos. The 2D animation was conceived and created entirely under lockdown conditions, with all encounters, production and animation done remotely.

Directed by Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-nominated Peter Peake, the film uses interviews of people across the UK recorded during the peak of the blockade. To ensure that the accounts were honest, the participants were not aware of the true purpose of the project until the interviews ended. The characters were therefore designed to match the voices and backgrounds designed to reflect the harsh conditions in which wild animals in captivity are forced to live.

“It was a real pleasure to collaborate with Born Free and to be able to use the classic Aardman style in a current context for such an important cause,” said Peake. “While the block presented us with production challenges, it inspired some really touching insights from our interviewees. I was also surprised at how our small but perfectly formed team came together so closely despite working remotely. We will all remember the block for a long time to come and it was great to have a project like this to get through it. "

“Many of us will have suffered from the restrictions and inconvenience of the blockade in recent months. In many ways, this has only given us a brief overview of the frustrations and trade-offs that captive wild animals face throughout their lives, ”added Dr. Chris Draper, head of animal welfare and captivity for Born Free. "This short film encourages us to rethink captivity and reconsider zoos, dolphinaria, circuses and the exotic pet trade from an animal point of view."

“The Lockdown gave us a unique opportunity to talk to people about animal captivity in a way they could truly empathize,” said Steve Hawthorne, creative director of ENGINE. “By teaming up with the incredibly talented people of Aardman and Jungle, we were able to create an announcement that hopefully makes people think and does justice to the legacy of Creature comfort giving it a fresh, current and heartbreaking twist. "