Bringing to life a Brussels sprout: Creating BBC One's Christmas veggie

The humble sprout. Love 'em or hate 'em, you'll be seeing a lot of them before the year is out. That's because BBC One's chosen an animated and adventurous Brussels sprout to appear in between this year's festive programmes.

Below, Oscar-nominated directors Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes explain how the idea germinated. But first, watch the one minute film they made to introduce our plucky green hero, Sprout Boy:

How did you imagine Sprout Boy’s personality – and how do you get that across in an animation? (We love his little quiff.)

Alan: We always saw him as a wide-eyed innocent, so excited that Christmas has finally arrived. He sees festive joy in everything, even if he’s not exactly welcomed with open arms. But despite his rejection, his spirit shines through and he never gives up hope. Finally, his persistence is rewarded.

It was important to capture these different emotions - initially his hope, excitement and wonder at the world around him, before doubt and confusion appear. Then, finally, the joy and celebration.

Adam: Sprout Boy is like a little naïve schoolboy, an eternal optimist. He can’t help but skip everywhere. For some reason it felt right that he would wear little hobnail boots.

How did you begin to animate him?

Alan: The scenes are storyboarded and put into an animatic which shows us how the story is evolving. There are then further steps involving cameras filming the action, while concept artists work up designs for each location, bringing together the perfect mood and atmosphere for each shot.

How well do Brussels sprouts lend themselves to animation, compared perhaps to other vegetables?

Alan: A sprout is a great vegetable to bring to life but we had to be careful with scale when he stands next to humans. Obviously we had to be able to see him but if we made him too big there was a danger of cabbage confusion. And nobody wants that.

Adam: This is the first vegetable character we’ve animated but once you put arms, legs and eyes on a sprout it becomes a very versatile character with a full range of emotions. I imagine Broccoli Boy would have been a lot harder.

Sprout Boy meets a big group of BBC One celebrities in the woods – how difficult were they to draw?

Alan: It was fun to design all the BBC One stars in the style of the film rather than just as crazy caricatures. Some were easier than others, but most have their ‘thing’ that makes them recognisable no matter how simplified the design.

Adam: Will.i.am has his glasses, Dot her hairdo and Mary Berry her signature pink jacket. It didn’t help that Claudia and Tess seemed to change their hairstyles on Strictly every week and we’re not sure if Graham Norton still has a beard!

Do you feel under more pressure to create a compelling animation given the focus on big Christmas adverts and moments?

Adam: Christmas is a very hard thing to reinvent as the cultural images are ingrained on our consciences since childhood. That’s why it is useful to play upon a commonly-held belief, such as ‘everyone hating sprouts except at Christmas’. There is only so much Christmas imagery to go around, so inevitably the concern is that there will be some crossover of similar ideas with commercial campaigns. But making this film allowed us to tell much more of a story than we could in a commercial. It’s a story about the spirit of Christmas itself, so hopefully it will stand out for that.

Would we find sprouts on your plate at Christmas?

Alan: I love a sprout at Christmas. But I might avoid the ones with eyes, arms and legs.

Adam: I just couldn’t.

Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes of Nexus Productions directed the short animated film Sprout Boy, and the 2015 Christmas look for BBC One.