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Peter Lord & Gideon Defoe

Pirates!

Hay Festival 2011, 
The film-maker and founder of Aardman joins the author of the Pirates! series to present a tantalising glimpse of their upcoming animated collaboration. Chaired by John Cassy.
 
About the film
In The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, the new stop-motion, 3D, animated film produced by Aardman Animations, Hugh Grant will voice the lead role alongside an all-star cast. The film will be released on 30 March 2012 in the UK.
 
Hugh Grant, starring in his first animated role, is the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain – a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas. With a rag-tag crew at his side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen), and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award. 
 
It’s a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London. Along the way they do battle with the pirate-hating Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a young Charles Darwin (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure!
 
The film is directed by Peter Lord, a founding partner of Aardman, director of Chicken Run (with Nick Park), and a two-time Academy Award® nominee for his short films at the company.
 
7+ years
Peter Lord & Gideon Defoe