BBC’s The Snail and the Whale an Xmas hit
December 27, 2019
The Snail and the Whale, the seventh adaptation by Magic Light Pictures of a Donaldson/Scheffler’s children’s book, was an Xmas rating success for BBC One. Four million viewers tuned in at 2.30pm on Christmas Day according to BARB overnights.
The film tells the tale of a tiny snail and a great big, grey-blue humpback whale. Longing to see the world, the snail hitches a lift on the tail of a whale.
Magic Light Pictures, the multi Oscar and BAFTA nominated production company, has been providing festive family treats to BBC audiences for a decade. Previous animations have all placed in the top 10 ratings across all channels for Christmas Day, with audience data as follows:
The Gruffalo (2009) – 8.8 million Top 5 (Consolidated to 10m)
TheGruffalo’s Child (2011) – 6.5 million Top 10 (Consolidated to 10m)
Room on the Broom (2012) – (Consolidated to 7.6m)
Stick Man (2015) – 6.4 million (Consolidated to 9.27m and 4thplace)
The Highway Rat (2017) – 4 million Top 10 (Consolidated to 6m)
Zog (2018)– 4.5million (Consolidated to 6.9m and 5thplace)