In the spring of 2009, the inventor of Animatazz went looking for an investor for Animatazz. Michael put on his best suit of armour and went up against the dreaded dragons of RTE’s Dragon’s Den show to pitch his innovative toy and daring business plan. After hours of gruelling and at times rough battle, Michael emerged victorious from the tournament with Gavin Duffy’s investment as his prize! Thanks to Gavin, Animatazz has been able to go from “a box of yoghurt pots and pipe cleaners” to the sophisticated kit that Michael had in mind, including his magical Easy-Action Animation Figure (which he is proud to say has, like the rest of the kit, been manufactured in Ireland).
And here is what Gavin (far-from-a-dragon) Duffy has had to say about it…
Not your typical dragon
For many years I had been looking at the online world with some trepidation. Being a parent I was particularly concerned about its impact on children’s imaginations especially if they had too much of it.
Yet it had become a phenomenon not to be ignored. The amazing popularity of blogs, online gaming, online communities, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc. has led to a revolution in how we communicate with one another. Much of the new communication style is indirect, diverted through alter ego type characters or avatars rather than straight from the people themselves. These online personae allow people to dramatise themselves and express themselves free from impressions that the people they know day to day have of them.
When I came across Animatazz I saw immediately that Michael Connolly’s invention formed a wonderful bridge to that world from a more traditional world of family or friends sitting around a kitchen table playing games and making things. I could see that with Animatazz the medium through which people would communicate online could have its roots in old-fashioned play and learning.
From the arts and craft element of modelling the characters, through the cooperation involved in making up a story and shooting it, into the technological element of editing on the computer, and on to the sharing of the finished movies via digital media:
“Animatazz covers a lot of ground. CRAFT. CREATIVITY. LEARNING. STORY TELLING. THEATRE. DESIGN. LIGHTING. PHOTOGRAPHY. ACTING. TECHNOLOGY. And it does so in the most incredibly charming and simple way.”
Animatazz brings together the delights of imagination with the magic of technology; it joins the simplicity of arts & crafts with the glamour of movies; it encourages learning through play in what is being called edutainment; it gets people working together in the home or classroom but gives them something tangible to show off to the world through technology.
Fanmatazz