Following the end of the deal with Dreamworks, Aardman animation have signed a 3 year deal with Sony to distribute their films. For fans it doesn't matter who is distributing the flicks, as long as A) they give them a decent release and (more importantly) B) they don't interfere with the way they do things. Seeing as Aardman a savvy bunch and could probably pick and choose who they did business with, I'm confident they would have gone for the best option.

Speaking of Aardman, the studio's first forray into CGI animation hit DVD in the UK this week. Having feared the worse I finally saw Aardman's Flushed Away. Despite being made on computer rather than by claymation, it holds on to the studio's trademark charm and wit. Some people weren't exactly bowled over by it, but it's my pick of 2006's bumper crop of animated movies. Aardman on an off day is still better than anything else out there. Besides, any movie with Jean Reno playing a frog (called Le Frog) can't be bad right? Sir Ian Mackellen puts in a stonking performance as the bad guy (bad toad?) too. Can't wait to see what Aardman does next.