Aardman & Save the Children Launch Short Film

Aardman and international children’s charity Save the Children have launched the short film Home to highlight the experiences of young refugees.

Inspired by real stories of displaced children that the charity works with, the short shows how these young refugees feel and what it’s like to be separated from family, friends and school. It also celebrates the possibilities for kids to welcome new refugee friends and learn about different cultures.

The four-minute short follows a small orange circle as it arrives at a new school in an entirely purple world, inhabited by triangular purple characters. The circle immediately feels out of place and struggles with the language barrier and strange new food, but soon develops a friendship with a fellow students and begins to feel welcome and a accepted. When that happens, little bursts of orange begin to appear in the purple surroundings, creating a warmer and more diverse environment.

Although the short was prompted by the war in Ukraine and was released on the one-year anniversary of the invasion, it aims to support children who have been forced out of their homes in countries including Ukraine, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria.

Home, created and directed by Peter Peake, will be screened in primary schools across the U.K. alongside its general release. The story is told without dialogue, making it accessible to children and adults everywhere.

“Animation is an amazing medium for expressing ideas that would otherwise be difficult to communicate,” said Peter Lord, co-founder and creative director at Aardman. “At Aardman, we believed that we had the expertise to help tell these stories in a way that would be sensitive, accessible, and relatable for children all around the world. It was also vital that the film we created would share the right messages, address a genuine need and help as many children as possible. We approached Save the Children to help us with these aspects, and to keep us on the right track, and we were absolutely delighted with the collaboration.”

“Our film was created as a specific response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, but it aims to help all children displaced from their homes due to war, famine and persecution,” Peake said. “Working with Save the Children, we learned what difficulties children face when trying to settle in a new country. Ultimately, we hope the film encourages children everywhere to empathize with some of their peers who might be going through that experience and to know the impact they can have by making someone feel welcome.”

Alison Griffin, head of conflict and humanitarian campaigns at Save the Children, added, “We were absolutely thrilled to partner with Aardman in making this film. Many refugee children who’ve found a new, safer home still carry the physical and emotional scars of war or face daily setbacks simply because of who they are or where they’ve come from. That’s why it’s so important for refugee children to get the welcome—and the childhood—they deserve. We hope this beautiful short film will inspire people to reach out to child refugees, welcome them and help them feel somewhere like ‘home’ again.”