Nursery Rhymes
Client
BBC Childrens
Credits
Greg Norton, Robbie Bunting, Mike Pettyt
Year
2025
Services
Children's Content
And Visual Effects
The BBC Children’s team wanted to create a range of popular nursery rhymes for their young viewers on streaming platforms like iPlayer and Youtube. Featuring some of their most beloved presenters singing and dancing alongside the CBeebies bugs, they needed a world brought to life through animation in which all these songs could coexist within the established style of CBeebies’ House, while still standing out as recognisable songs.
The Challenge
Building on the vibrant design of CBeebies’ House and the overall brand palette, as well as the cute, cube-like shapes of the bugs, we designed and built a wide range of bespoke 3D environments and animal characters to appear in each song. Through green-screen VFX work, each presenter appears wholly within their song’s world, interacting with the variety of friendly characters. With a consistent overall theme, the rhymes work well together as a series, but each one is unique and fun enough on its own to hold the attention of the young audience.
The Solution
Storyboards & Animatics
Working from scripts provided by the BBC team, we mapped out each song through storyboards to ensure that each key visual moment was captured, mapping out the framing of each shot to the lines and creating timed animatics to demos of the songs themselves. These assets are essential on the green-screen filming days with presenters, as they help keep the timing and eye-lines clear, and help to keep the process nice and efficient!
3D Environments & Characters
Once everyone was happy with the framing of the shots through the storyboards, we began building the vibrant spaces and props for each song. Based on the scripts, we were able to design specific environments and animal characters to appear alongside the presenters in each nursery rhyme, and with a combination of 3D models, 2D textures, bright colour palettes and clever camera positioning, we created a cohesive world that works across the full series of songs.
Presenter Filming
We attended the BBC Children’s presenter filming days to provide on-hand advice on camera angles, shoot quality, lighting, and VFX elements. It was a lot of fun to watch the presenters do their thing, and the energy & passion they brought to each performance really worked well with the vibrant world we were building for the rhymes. Using the animatics as a guide, we were able to get a great selection of takes for each song, which were then collaboratively edited into the final sequences.
Compositing & Animation
Once the edit of the live-action elements was complete, the team could begin to composite these assets into the 3D environments and build the songs to the final audio. With some VFX wizardry, the green-screen footage was keyed and cleaned to allow us to pop each presenter into their own bright, friendly nursery rhyme world!
Several of the songs had complex animation elements, such as animal characters, dancing props, even weather! So it was a great challenge for the team to bring each of these songs to life. To ensure an efficient process, we found a balance between bespoke animated elements and more simplified or recycled motion, keeping this mammoth project on track through each rhyme.
Final Films
Totalling 18 songs in all and ranging from classic nursery rhymes to seasonal songs, the final animated films are full of fun, movement, and colour for the young audience to enjoy. The team really enjoyed crafting this vibrant series, and we’re really pleased with the results. From cute characters to bright backgrounds that bounce along to the music, we tried to inject playfulness into every part of the animation, and we hope viewers enjoy singing along to their favourites.
You can watch some compilations of the songs on Youtube, linked below – perfect for getting the kids moving and learning while having fun!
The Results
Extended series of films
The initial project of 12 songs was so well received, it was expanded to 18 to include seasonal songs alongside traditional nursery rhymes
Versatile multi-platform content
Series of shorter animations that work across social and online streaming platforms, plus ideal for longer edited compilations that help keep kids entertained
Flexible assets to maximise investment
Looped animated environments and individual character assets were provided to be used across other content, ensuring great value and cohesive creative output
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