Jamie Oliver Cartoon by Aardman

By JULIETTE ROSSANT It used to be that the ultimate celebrity marker was an action figure. Jamie Oliver wants more. He has turned himself into a cartoon character in a 52-part story about a 10-year old boy on a quest to become a master chef. Jamie has teamed up with Aardman Animations, the creators of Wallace and Gromit, the claymation characters who star in Academy Award winning movies like Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. This show is cartoon not claymation. Aardman is a smart choice. Not only does the company make award winning films, it also has strong foodie leanings. There is A Grand Day Out all about a trip to the moon to sample the cheese, the "cracking toast" Gromit prepares, and Wallace's favorite, Wenslydale. The BBC reports that the story is about the character, named "Little J" and is aimed at 7-11 year olds. Little J will be accompanied by characters like a depressed ham and a mad scientist called Eggs Benedict, who has a chicken on his head. A "spiritual-cum-culinary guru" called Nonna will guide Little J on his journey. "I can't tell you how passionate I am about kids and food," Oliver said in a statement. "I really want to pass on a little knowledge in a fun way, to really connect to the younger kids, so teaming up with the incredible Aardman Animations to produce Little J was an absolute must." The series has not been bought by any network yet. Sounds like it would be perfect for a particular food TV channel in the US. Press releases: Aardman Related news: BBC, Sky News, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), RTE (Ireland), Hello Magazine, Guardian, Indpendent (UK), New Zealand Herald, Mirror, Sun (UK), Manchester Evening News, Broadcast Now, Yahoo! Entertainment (AP), AOL Entertainment, Animation Magazine Previous articles: Jamie Oliver Betters British School Food FOOD PIX: Jamie Oliver Fat Suit Nora Sands: Nora's Dinners Jamie Oliver Signs Sainsbury's Jamie Oliver New Year: School Lunch Jamie Oliver on Vodafone Live! Jamie Oliver: Real Guts Fat Lady Sings Jamie Oliver Jamie Oliver: School Lunch July 4: East Meets West Wall Street Journal: Beef over Chef Sponsorship? Amazon UK's Steamy Xmas Chefs [Chefs & Politics - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to superchefblog