The animated tv feature film Ethel & Ernest co-produced by Melusine Productions (Luxembourg) and Lupus Films (UK) are to feature the voices of Jim Broadbent and Brenda Blethyn, as announced on Monday.
The TV adaptation of Raymond Briggs' autobiogaphical book will be shown on the BBC next year, with Luke Treadaway (Unbroken, Clash of the Titans, Attack the Block) playing Raymond Briggs and Jim Broadbent and Brenda Blethyn his parents. The cast will also include Virginia McKenna (Born Free), Pam Ferris (Matilda) and June Brown (Dot Cotton in EastEnders).
Arguably best known for The Snowman, Raymond Briggs' Ethel & Ernest tells the story of the couple's life through four decades of marriage taking in the Great Depression, the Second World War and the swinging 60s. The film is being directed by Roger Mainwood (The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends, The Wind in the Willows, The Snowman).
In Luxembourg, Stephan Roelants of Melusine Productions (who received an Oscar nomination for Ernest & Celéstine) talked with The Luxembourg Chronicle and explained that in the Grand Duchy they are involved in doing all the layout and texture, all the colour backgrounds, most of the animation and storyboarding confirmation. The schedule is for the film to be finished in May. As well as being screened on BBC television, Ethel & Ernest will also be screened in Luxembourg cinemas next year.
Image by Ethel & Ernest Productions/PA Wire
