As a new parent, you start to realise how children’s programmes are artfully constructed to hold the attention of your little one. The magic combination appears to be cheerful and repetitive music, bright backdrops, colourful and slightly wacky characters, and simple, recurring plots – all in the space of 10 minutes. SPRITES 11, showing as part of the Family Film Festival, certainly adheres for the most part to this combination of elements. It’s a collection of 18 short films, pop videos and animations, hand-picked by digital arts organisation onedotzero.

The programme opens strongly with the digital animation FAT, set on what looks like a farm in the mid-west of America. The farmer’s sheep, cows and dog are all afflicted with a mysterious disease that makes them blow up to balloon-sized proportions. This is all played for laughs, of course, especially when the farmer’s wife is also affected and ends up floating inside the farmhouse with her head sticking out of the loft. FAT looks and feels like it could be the work of Pixar, the sharply realised animation blending the charming with the fantastical. Just as in Pixar animation, the humour appeals to both adults and children.

… a magical plot sees a woodland sprite awake and leap from tree to tree, dressing them in their spring foliage …

This is followed up by FOUR, where a magical plot sees a woodland sprite awake and leap from tree to tree, dressing them in their spring foliage by trailing purple magic sparks. Like FAT, the animation here is sharply realised, with the shafts of sunlight in particular rendered realistically.

Music drives another two animations: Kristofer Ström’s MINILOGUE: ANIMALS sets a pumping bass track to a mixture of real-world urban locations, where a mixture of primary-coloured animated creatures dance to the beat. Caroline Meks’ WHAT A BIG WIDE WORLD entrances with its gentle lullaby song, abstract geometric stars and kaleidoscopic flowers.

Towards the end of onedotzero’s programme, we come full circle: back to a farmer and his animals in Justin Farris’ HOLY SHEEP, detailing how the shepherd can’t escape his flock and go to church; they will, by hook or by crook, follow him sheep-like there.

httpvh://youtu.be/9beZnAUztRs