Stirling Animation Studio

Stirling Animation Studio is a Scottish CG animation production facility and wholly owned subsidiary of Magic Light Pictures. Established in 2026 following Magic Light’s acquisition of the assets and production pipeline of Wild Child Animation, the studio was created to retain animation-production capability and creative talent in Scotland after Wild Child entered administration.

The studio produces long-form preschool and family animation, including episodic television work and half-hour animated specials. Its work spans the journey from translating 2D concepts into 3D assets through to character and environment modelling, digital sculpting, rigging, surfacing, look development, animation supervision and final CG production.

Animation craft and pipeline

Its artists work with Maya, Unreal Engine and Substance Painter across character, prop and environment workflows. Supported capabilities include rig development, skinning and deformation systems; PBR-based texturing and custom shader networks; material-library curation; and Python scripting for CG-pipeline tools.

A notable approach is animating character performances on “twos” within a 3D CG workflow, helping create a tactile, stop-motion-inspired look while retaining the flexibility of computer animation. The studio also develops pose libraries, animation cycles and tested rigging systems to support production at series scale.

Current production focus

Stirling Animation Studio was formed as the production base for completing the 52-episode Zog preschool CG series for BBC/CBeebies, ZDF and international partners. The series adapts the books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. The studio is also associated with an upcoming untitled half-hour CG television special for BBC One and Magic Light Pictures.

As a permanent production hub, the studio supports Magic Light’s future animated specials and series while operating a hybrid and in-person production model for artists in Scotland and regional UK team members.