Roger Rabbit meets Roddy Doyle on BBC

'Roy', a cartoon schoolboy trying to make it in the real-life world, is the latest international success for Irish animators, writes JOE GRIFFIN

EVERYBODY LOVES an underdog. Roy represents two for the price of one: first, there’s the title character, the animated schoolboy trying to fit in with a non-animated world; second, we have the small animation company, Dublin-based Jam media, punching above its weight and creating an internationally sold, award-winning series.

Irish animation has blossomed in recent years, with Oscar-nominations for Brown Bag (creators of Give Up Yer Aul Sins and Granny O’Grimm), international distribution deals and Disney collaborations for Boulder Media (for Randy Cunningham: Ninth Grade Ninja), and now the continued success of Jam Media’s Roy. Shot and set in Dublin, it’s co-produced by BBC and RTÉ.

John Rice, chief executive for the company, and executive producer of Roy, describes the pitching process as “a happy accident”.

“We created a film in 2008 called Badly Drawn Roy,” he says. “That was a 22-minute short about the only animated character in the world, and his problems getting work in animation. It was a unique format – a pseudo-documentary through the eyes of an animated character. That did the rounds with the film festivals. We had material previously commissioned by BBC, and we showed Roy to them and they loved it, even though it was for an adult audience.

“[The BBC] thought this fish-out-of-water concept would be relatable to a young audience, and that it’s essentially about being different. We developed it as a kids’ show called Roy. Then we got the first series commissioned in 2009 and it won best children’s programme in the Royal Television Awards and was nominated for two Baftas.

“It’s sold to Australia and Scandinavia now [18 international territories in total], so it’s selling well. I think it’s because there’s nothing you can directly compare it to in the TV landscape. It’s a different show.”

As well as the premise, the setting is quite individual; although the animated boy in a live-action world is fantastical, everything else in Roy’s environment is commonplace and relatable. He lives in Ballyfermot, with his mum, resentful teenage sister and taxi-driving dad (played by Simon Delaney), and the show is shot in a low-key, mockumentary style.

The humour is both slapstick (tweeting birds appear when Roy hits his head) and earthy, with believable supporting characters, from supportive teachers to bullying classmates. Is it fair to describe it as Roger Rabbit meets Roddy Doyle? “I suppose in terms of how it’s made it’s not unlike Roger Rabbit,” admits Rice.

“We use an orange on a stick [in place of Roy when shooting], as well as computer-generated effects. It also has a working-class Dublin sensibility. When pitching it to a station in the States I was comparing it to Alf.

“We’re big fans of classic Disney, but we would’ve also looked at The Office, in terms of pseudo-documentary style. When making Roy, it’s labour-intensive. We’d use a 12-week live action shoot, and 12-month animation compositing. We would have looked at The Office and how long David Brent is on screen, to tell us how long Roy has to be onscreen to become a central character. Brent is onscreen roughly 11 minutes per show, like Roy. For animation, we’d look at classics like Disney and Roger Rabbit.”

The show is currently in the top-five-rated children’s shows on UK TV, and a third series has already been commissioned. This must be reassuring for the BBC.

“I think certainly on series two they were less worried,” says Rice. “First time around they were worried as we hadn’t done it before. They’d look over scripts, but largely their input was very helpful, and not intrusive. They know their audience better than anyone; when you’re producing for them it’s good to have that information.”

Ultimately, the show works not despite Roy’s differences, but because of them. “Someone said it’s a celebration of being different,” says Rice. “The drama is: does he suppress his ‘cartoonness’ to fit in? Or should he just run wild? That’s where the comedy and the drama happen.”

The second series of Roy is on RTÉ 2 on April 6th at 5pm, and will be broadcast each Friday for eight weeks until May 25th. There will then be a bumper week of Roy with the final five episodes running from May 28th-June 1st