BAFTA is to award animation studio Blue Zoo with a BAFTA Special Award next month, recognising the studio’s 25-year legacy in children’s media and its “significant social and cultural impact.”
The honour celebrates Blue Zoo’s commitment to creating animation that “educates, empowers, and entertains millions of children and families around the world.”
The award will be presented to Blue Zoo’s co-founders Adam Shaw, Oli Hyatt MBE, and Tom Box, as part of a special presentation and celebratory lunch at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly on Monday 8 December 2025.
The charity’s Board of Trustees gifts a select number of Special Awards annually to individuals and teams that have made a significant cultural and social impact, as part of BAFTA’s mission to showcase excellence in films, games, and television as the UK’s leading academy and charity for the screen arts.
Jane Millichip, CEO of BAFTA, said: “Blue Zoo’s work exemplifies the very best of the screen arts – innovation with impact, and entertainment with purpose. For an incredible 25 years, Blue Zoo has created worlds that educate and empower, reflecting the diversity of modern childhood and proving that animation can be a powerful tool for learning, laughter and lasting change. We are delighted to honour a studio that champions inclusivity and imagination at every level of production.”
Oli Hyatt MBE, co-founder and managing director of Blue Zoo, said: “Receiving a BAFTA Special Award is a profound honour. From the start, we’ve believed animation can do more than raise a smile: it can teach, empower, and build lovable worlds that matter to children and families everywhere. It’s a huge pat on the back for Blue Zoo, our fantastic staff, our clients, and, by extension, to the wider animation community. This award is as much for them as it is for us. 25 years ago, we were just three lads sitting under the stairs of the student union bar, discussing setting up an animation company. We could have only dreamed of moments like this. We hope the Award isn’t just a nod to our past, but it’s a cheer for what we do next at Blue Zoo. We’ll keep giving back, and we’ll keep speaking up for children and for our sector, but most of all, we will keep making high-quality content that inspires and entertains. Thank You BAFTA.”
Blue Zoo was founded in 2000 by university classmates, Adam, Oli and Tom, and has since become the UK’s largest and one of the most respected producers of children’s and family content.
Featured across BBC, Netflix, StudioCanal and their own YouTube channel, Blue Zoo has brought to life numerous series including Daytime Emmy-winning The Adventures of Paddington, LEGO City: No Limits, Mojo Swoptops and their debut project, which coincided with the launch of CBeebies back in 2000, “Blue Cow” for The Story Makers. The studio is the force behind several acclaimed educational series such as Numberblocks and Alphablocks (in collaboration with Alphablocks Ltd.), which teach foundational numeracy and literacy skills to pre-schoolers. These programmes have become staples in early childhood education, widely praised for their innovation and accessibility.
Blue Zoo was the first TV and film animation studio to be B Corp certified, achieving the certification in September 2021. The studio has also worked pro bono with charities to use the power of animation to highlight key social issues. These include Sinking Feeling – created for PAPYRUS UK, the charity working to prevent youth suicide – and most recently their multi-award-winning, We Campaign Because They Can’t, for the Royal Society of the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
Beyond its own productions, Blue Zoo has championed the wider UK animation and children’s content sector including Oli Hyatt MBE’s long-standing leadership in securing and defending creative-sector tax credits and co-founding Animation UK, as well as Tom Box’s focused work on developing industry skills and training. Blue Zoo is a key voice supporting industry initiatives such as The Young Animator of the Year UK Competition, ScreenSkills, NextGen Skills Academy, Animation UK, and the Children’s Media Foundation.
Jon Creamer
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