Best UK Animation Studios 2024

The UKs best animation studios 2024 is a celebration of some of the greatest work being created in the country. Many of the world’s most talented artists and animators have chosen London and the UK as the best place to live and work in this vibrant industry.

Of course it’s ridiculous to try and place some sort of hierarchy to the best animation studio – they’re all doing different things. Some specialise in 2d or stop motion, so comparing them with a studio focusing on CG or VFX is nonsense. But we love a list, so in no particular order, here are the big five:

Hocus Pocus is a top London animation studio with a distinctive colourful style and a love of the craft. They cut their teeth working on animation for commercials and social films for brands including McDonalds, Coca-Cola and LEGO, and B2B films for healthcare and finance.

www.hocuspocus.studio

Recently they have developed and produced their first IP project, an animated series for Sky Kids Ready Eddie Go! ‘We love the variety of work we do, it keeps us fresh and loving what we do’ says founder James Murphy.

Blue Zoo is one of the UKs most successful animation studios with a real passion for character animation. They are best know for their long form & IP productions (Paddington, Pip and Posy and many others) but they do sometimes do short form advertising and online content.

www.blue-zoo.co.uk

In their 22 years of trading, Blue Zoo has become on the UKs leading animation studios, producing some of the most well-loved kids shows on TV. They are a proud certified B corp business which also pushes hard for development and investment in the UK animation industry.

How could any roundup of top UK animation studios not feature Aardman? This international powerhouse of animation – stop motion in particular – has led to countless gongs, even four academy awards.

www.aardman.com

Based in Bristol, Aardman is an employee owned business that creates some wonderfully characterful work familiar to audiences worldwide. The focus is on features, but they also run a successful distribution business too.

Best known as creators of Hey Duggee, the colourful preschool cartoon beloved by youngsters and adults, Studio AKA is a leading animation studio in London. Their work is not limited to longform / IP but also commerials and TV titles, including the Netflix hit Bridgerton, where Studio AKA designed and animated a distinctive and elegant show opener.

www.studioaka.co.uk

In terms of style, whilst we are all so familiar with Duggee’s bright colours and simple shapes /animation, the studio does have a much wider repertoire. So 3d as well as 2d to bring to life the stories being told in commercials, titles and TV shows.

The Line is a very talented animation with a distinctive style and focus on 2d animation, best known for their work on the incredible Gorillaz music videos. Based in London, and they like to keep work varied across games, interactive as well as commercials, but all keeping that nice clean distinctive manga / anime style.

www.thelineanimation.com

Founded in 2023 the line is one of the newer animation studios on the list but over the past decade has made an outstanding contribution to the UK animation scene. It’s clear to see that they are ‘run by animators’ as the mantra on the website declares.