Fettle Animation

Fettle Animation is an independent 2D animation production company based in Marsden, West Yorkshire, between Manchester and Leeds. Founded in 2012, the studio creates hand-drawn and digital animation for broadcasters, educational organisations, charities, public bodies and cultural institutions. Its work spans animated documentaries, children's programming, public-awareness campaigns, explainers, music videos and broadcast graphics.

The studio specialises in translating complex subjects and personal experiences into accessible visual stories. Its productions address education, health, justice, racial diversity and local democracy, alongside literary adaptations and entertainment. Clients and collaborators include BBC Learning, BBC Bitesize, CBBC Newsround, CBeebies, CITV, the Open University, Kirklees Council, the Environment Agency and West Yorkshire Police.

From testimony to animation

A defining project is Children of the Holocaust, a 2014 animated documentary series made for BBC Learning with the Holocaust Survivors Friendship Association. The production combines the oral histories of six people who survived the Holocaust as children with live-action reflections. It subsequently reached international audiences through distribution by SND Films, screenings at 19 United Nations centres and a 60-minute BBC Four documentary adaptation.

The studio later worked with Franklin Watts, part of Hachette UK, to adapt the series into the graphic novel Survivors of the Holocaust. Other productions include Shakespeare in Shorts, which condenses six Shakespeare plays into animated hip-hop songs, and Antigone, an Open University Classics OpenLearn production narrated by Helen Skelton. Its portfolio also includes local-democracy films, children's factual animation and community charity campaigns.

Production capabilities

Fettle offers production from concept through delivery, including scriptwriting, story development, storyboards, animatics and character, prop and background design. Projects can also include voice casting and direction, multilingual translation coordination, sound design, commissioned music and final audio mixing. Distribution advice and audience-engagement planning extend its involvement beyond the finished animation.

The business began through the predecessor company Fettle Limited in 2012. Fettle Animation Limited, incorporated in 2014, became its continuing operating entity.