Rob Brydon, Sally Hawkins and Dame Diana Rigg to voice characters in The Snail And The Whale

The Snail And The Whale is part of BBC One’s festive offering this year.

“The Snail And The Whale is the latest in a distinguished line of award-winning festive family specials from Magic Light for BBC One and ZDF that have become an enduringly popular Christmas tradition on the channels, including The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s Child, Room on the Broom, Stick Man, The Highway Rat, Zog and Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes.” – BBC One

The beautiful tale of an unlikely friendship, a tour of the world and a heroic rescue will be voiced by star British acting talent, Sally Hawkins (Paddington, The Shape Of Water) as Snail, Rob Brydon as Whale, Cariad Lloyd as Teacher and Dame Diana Rigg as the Narrator. Written in 2003 by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, creators of the modern classic The Gruffalo, the picture book is published by Macmillan Children’s Books.

The Snail And The Whale follows the amazing journey of a tiny snail who longs to see the world and manages to hitch a ride on the tail of a huge humpback whale. A joyous, empowering story about the natural wonders of the world and discovering that however small you are, you can make a difference.

The Snail And The Whale is directed by Max Lang and Daniel Snaddon. Magic Light Pictures, the multi Oscar-nominated production company, has been providing festive family treats to BBC audiences for a decade. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the BBC premiere of The Gruffalo and the 20th anniversary of the publication of the book.

Rob Brydon, who has starred in all of Magic Light’s animated specials, says:

“It’s always so wonderful to work with Magic Light on these animated specials for Christmas. The Snail and the Whale is a longstanding favourite in our house. It’s an epic journey across the globe, where the tiniest creature and the mightiest mammal experiences the vastness of our planet together.”