Blue Zoo Animation Studio

A London animation studio behind Numberblocks, Alphablocks and The Adventures of Paddington, and the first major animation studio to earn B Corp certification.

About Blue Zoo Animation Studio

Blue Zoo Animation Studio is a London studio that makes animated television series, mostly for children. It is behind Alphablocks, Numberblocks, Digby Dragon, Miffy's Adventures Big and Small, The Adventures of Paddington, Tree Fu Tom and It's Pony. More recent titles include Supertato, Pip and Posy and Lego City: No Limits. Numberblocks reached 10 million YouTube subscribers in 2024.

It was founded in 2000 by Oli Hyatt, Adam Shaw and Tom Box, who met at Bournemouth University. In 2021 it became the first major animation studio to earn B Corp certification, which is a measure of how a business treats people and the planet. We did not find a formal mission statement. Co-founder Adam Shaw described its aim in 2018 as "great storytelling with great characters".

The head office and main studio are in Fitzrovia, central London, with more than 200 artists. In 2019 it opened a dedicated 2D studio across the road from its head office, with over 60 new jobs, using a ToonBoom Harmony pipeline. It also has Brighton Zoo, a 2022 joint venture with Plug-In Media that makes episodic 2D animation, and has set up a Paris studio called Kazoo Animation with Samka Productions. In 2019 it launched Blue Zoo Rights to handle its own and other companies' productions.

The Adventures of Paddington won two Daytime Emmys in 2021, and the studio has won BAFTAs. In 2018 Shaw said that 2D animation was making a comeback, particularly with older children, and said the studio wanted to develop its own original ideas as well as work for broadcasters. A recent job listing for a 2026 3D animator internship appears on a job site, which shows the kind of roles on offer.

A big studio needs more than animators. Its work spans story, design, modelling, rigging, lighting, compositing, production management and rights. If you enjoy making things for young audiences, its shows are a good guide to the style of work it values. Its history shows how the studio has grown. In 2009 it developed the web series If I Was for Dailymotion, and in 2014 it co-produced a CGI Miffy series with Mercis. In 2018 it said it expected to become the largest independent 2D and 3D animation studio in the UK, and its first 2D project was a buddy comedy for 8 to 10 year olds, conceived and directed by Ant Blades, with twenty half-hour episodes planned for an international broadcaster.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Makes TV and online series such as Numberblocks and Alphablocks.', 'title': "Children's animated series"}
• {'desc': 'Runs both pipelines in its London studios.', 'title': '2D and 3D animation'}
• {'desc': 'Handles rights for its own and third-party productions.', 'title': 'Blue Zoo Rights'}

Key facts

• Founded 2000 by Oli Hyatt, Adam Shaw and Tom Box
• Head office in Fitzrovia, London, with 200+ artists
• First major animation studio with B Corp certification (2021)
• Brighton Zoo joint venture opened 2022
• Two Daytime Emmys for The Adventures of Paddington (2021)

Website: www.blue-zoo.co.uk