23/06/2003

Sean Connery is to lend his warm Scottish burr to the lead character and namesake of a 20-minute Scottish animated short film entitled Billy the Vet. Produced by local slate, Glasgow Animation, this story of a veterinarian who can talk to animals also features the voices of Perthshire’s Alan Cumming (The Anniversary Party, Titus, British Tv star Richard Briers (Polonius in Branagh’s Hamlet), US-born but UK-based comedienne, Ruby Wax, and stage star Miriam Margolies. Scottish composer Patrick Doyle will provide the musical score for this project that has been in the pipeline for two years. Glasgow Animation has invested some Euros720,000 of their own money to date, although they found additional funds from a US soft and hardware manufacturer.
Paradoxically, it was precisely the interest and commitment of people like Connery that may have prevented Glasgow Animation from receiving financial support from Scottish Screen: in an interview with The Glasgow Herald, GA’s Tessa Hartmann called the agency’s rejection of a request for assistance with the Euros1.8m project “a real shame”. Hartmann claims that Scottish Screen may have felt that the film was already adquately supported.