Children's Awards 2008: Winners Announced

Wall:E claims Feature Film prize

Record-breaking Kids’ Vote brings victory to Hannah Montana

Anarchic Hedz trumps its Entertainment rivals

The Chuckle Brothers get Special Award

LEGO Batman outplays Mario Kart Wii

Rachel Stevens, Geri Halliwell, Dannii Minogue, Tom Chambers, Gemma Arterton, George Samspson, Freddie Highmore and Charlie Higson were just some of the presenters joining the evening’s host Keith Chegwin, at the EA British Academy Children’s Awards last night at the London Hilton on Park Lane. Celebrating excellence in children’s television, feature films, websites and video games, the awards showcased the innovative and ever widening range of output designed to inform and entertain children

This year a waste-collecting robot was victorious in the _Feature Film_ category with Wall:E claiming victory over Ratatouille, Horton Hears a Who! and live-action fantasy Stardust.

With its quirky and anarchic take on celebrity culture, the innovative Hedz claimed the _Entertainment_ award. In the Drama category, Dr Who spin-off The Sarah-Jane Adventures, Young Dracula and Summerhill were all outplayed by The Revenge Files of Alistair Fury.

Summerhill, which depicts life at the famous progressive school, did not go empty-handed however; Alison Hume won the _Writer_ category and fifteen-year-old Eliot-Otis Brown Walters, one of the youngest ever performers to win a BAFTA, collected the _Break-through Talent_ award for his acting role. Last year’s nominee Justin Fletcher from Something Special, this year outperformed his rivals Andy Akinwolere from Blue Peter, SMart’s Kirsten O’Brien and Ed & Oucho’s Ed Petrie to claim the coveted _Presenter_ award.

For the first time in the Awards’ history, the unique _BAFTA Kids’ Vote_ (the only public award voted for by children 7-14 years) pitted all forms of children’s entertainment against each other, with websites competing with video games, TV programmes and feature films. This year’s record poll attracted nearly 200,000 votes and saw the international TV phenomenon Hannah Montana receiving the lion’s share and claiming the highly coveted prize.

CBBC was lauded for its new, exciting and imaginative output and fought off Nick Jr, Nickelodeon UK and its stablemate Cbeebies, winning _Channel of the Year_.
The captivating In the Night Garden collected the prize for _Pre-School Live Action_ bringing a double victory to Ragdoll Productions who were also awarded _Independent Production Company of the Year_ for their commitment to the pre-school audience. There were double celebrations for Charlie and Lola too, as the beautifully drawn and written series was victorious in _Pre-School Animation_ while the Charlie and Lola Autumn Special won in the _Animation_ category.

The _Video Games_ award went to the mighty LEGO Batman: The Videogame, the _Factual_ category brought success to the powerful, emotive and beautifully shot Serious Andes and The _Interactive Award_ went to Bow Street Runner whose entertaining detective challenge brought history to life for older children. Other wins of the night included Yo Gabba Gabba in the International category, ArtisanCam in _Learning Primary_, L8R in _Learning Secondary_ and My Say* in _Short Form_.

It was the second year for BAFTA’s association with CBBC and BBC Learning on the _CBBC me and my movie Award_ which inspires and encourages young filmmakers aged between 6-14 to make their own short film. The winner was Leah Cooper, 12 years old, from Essex, for The Prank, an imaginative tale featuring a cheeky, wooden mannequin.

The _Special Award_ of the evening was presented by Russell T Davies to the Chuckle Brothers. Since their television debut, winning New Faces back in 1974, their blend of slapstick, wordplay and comedy has entertained children for decades and their Chucklevision remains a staple of the CBBC schedule.

Press Release: Kids Winners 2008 (137.8 KB)

Press Release: Kids Winners 2008 – list (132.2 KB)

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Keeley-Ann Kelly, Lucy Plosker or Maz Seyf at Ocean Media on 020 7636 8289
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Notes to editors

About BAFTA

The Academy’s mission is to support, develop and promote all the art forms of the moving image, by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. The Academy’s 6000+ membership comprises experts in film, television and video games – directors, producers, actors, developers, publishers, cameramen, writers, make-up artists, editors, sound engineers etc – indeed anyone who plays a vital role in the creation of a film, television programme or video game.
www.bafta.org

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world’s leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for videogame systems, personal computers and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS BIGTM and POGOTM. EA’s homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http.
Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

About the BAFTA KIDS’ VOTE

The shortlist was derived from the top 20 children’s feature films at the box office, the highest-rated children’s programmes on both terrestrial and multichannel, the most visited websites created for children and the top-selling video games PEGI-rated 12+ and under. A carefully selected children’s media panel then whittled those top 20s down to top 10s for children to vote on at the custom-made website www.bafta.org/kidsvote

IDS VOTE MEDIA PANELISTS

Charlie Higson – children’s writer, comedian and actor
Ian Eddy & Serena Lacey – First News
Finn Halligan – Screen International
Poppy Brecht – Broadcast Magazine
Johnny Minkley – Eurogamer
Helen Ward, – Sky Kids
Richard Owen – Jetix magazine
Matt Baker – TV presenter
Keith Chegwin – TV presenter
Justin Johnson – BFI