Wallace and Gromit creators and Greenpeace launch new film about plight of the oceans | WPN World People News

Oscar-winners Olivia Colman and Dame Helen Mirren, along with Game of Thrones’ Bella Ramsey and Stranger Things’ David Harbour, star in a new animation that highlights the plight of the oceans, released globally by Aardman Animations and Greenpeace UK, on January 14.

Award-winning studio Aardman, makers of Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run and Shaun the Sheep, have teamed up with Greenpeace UK to create a powerful short film showing the threats our oceans are facing, and the importance of protecting them. The film, Turtle Journey, tells the heartbreaking story of a turtle family attempting to get home, in an ocean that is under increasing threat from climate change, plastic pollution, oil drilling and overfishing.

Oscar winning actor Olivia Colman, voicing the turtle family’s mother, said:“Home is the most important thing we have. A safe space for us and our family to live. But we’re taking that away from turtles, whales, penguins and so many other incredible animals. Most of us instinctively love the oceans and care about the amazing marine life that lives there, but far fewer people know how much pressure they are under. If we don’t act now we risk causing irreversible harm to our oceans and losing species for good.

“I’m thrilled to have worked on this heartbreaking film with Greenpeace and Aardman – it’s so important. Our oceans face so many threats, some I wasn’t even aware of before this, and sadly the story of this turtle family trying to get home in a damaged and changing ocean is a reality for so many marine creatures that are having their habitats destroyed by human activities. I hope this film inspires more people to take action to protect our oceans.”

Aardman’s distinctive blend of dry humour and painstakingly crafted stop-motion animation are seen in a new light in this short film, as they tackle the crisis facing the planet’s oceans. The film ends with an urgent call for global action to protect the oceans.

Will McCallum, Head of Oceans at Greenpeace UK, said:
“Governments have talked for too long, without delivering the level of protection our oceans need to regain health after decades of destructive human activity. The time for talk is over. We now need urgent global action to fully protect 30% of the world’s oceans, a target agreed by scientists as the minimum that marine life needs to recover.

“Governments have a chance to turn rhetoric and empty words into action at the United Nations this year when they meet to agree on a new Global Ocean Treaty. A strong treaty would provide a framework for the fully protected marine sanctuaries our oceans need. A weak treaty will maintain the status quo: a broken, fragmented system of ocean governance that’s already caused untold harm to our oceans. History will judge our governments for their actions this year – they must protect our oceans.”

Aardman’s film was produced for Greenpeace’s global Protect the Oceans campaign. Greenpeace is calling for 30% of the world’s oceans to be fully protected in a network of ocean sanctuaries by 2030. A strong Global Ocean Treaty, currently under discussion at the United Nations, is a vital first step towards achieving this target.

Source: Greenpeace International