The movie St. Trinian's is the most recent film adaptation of the cartoon series St Trinian's School created by Ronald Searles, about an English boarding school for girls. The London-based Emmy-nominated animation studio VooDooDog was approached to do the title sequence.

Title designer/director Paul Donnellon comments on the production process of St. Trinians: “The approach for the St. Trinian's film was to have a raw punky type graphics for the opening which tied in with the opening scenes of the film, and an old fashioned cartoon style to remind viewers familiar with the old St. Trinian's films, which were based on the Ronald Searle comic books. The later sections were to mix up a modern drawing style loosely based on the artist Ronald Searle, who created the original St. Trinian's characters.”

“Because of copyright restrictions we were not allowed to use his drawings but the film director wanted something that would give the feeling of the originals. The studio did actually send our drawings to Searle in France to get his approval anyway, and out of respect for his wonderful creations.

I worked with an animator called Petria Whelan to come up with the designs. Together we arrived at a solution that would work in the updated contemporary setting.

The animation was also included within the film seen on a TV monitor when the girls are planning out their heist, and again was seen at the film's end.

The animation also had to look like actual scenes that were shot in the film so when you see the actual scenes you recognise them from the cartoon sequences.

Award winning London-based studio that specializes in animation and live action. VooDooDog was founded by Paul Donnellon and David Z. Obadiah in 2003. The studio has created a number of striking animated title sequences with a classic handcrafted feel for movies such as Love in the Time of Cholera, Smokin' Aces and both Nanny McPhee movies. Senior Designer at VooDooDog is Andrew White.

more about Paul Donnellon

Full credits

Title designer/director
Paul Donnellon

Animator
Petria Whelan

Title producer
Noel Donnellon

Production company (film)
Ealing Studios, Fragile Films

Links

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