‘Wood You Believe It’, an animated film which features our very own Twiggy, a Cumbrian Red Squirrel, who guides viewers through the incredible benefits that trees provide, has been officially chosen for the highly acclaimed Manchester Animation Festival. This selection brings the film home to the north west, on the back of an incredible year which has seen it being featured in 15 festivals in 29 countries around the world.
The film is the creation of David Kennedy, a local Environment Agency flood advisor whose day job involves working in Cumbria, using natural methods (like trees) to reduce the impacts of flooding. But he is also the mastermind of ‘Wood You Believe It’, as both the producer and scriptwriter of the animation, as well as the voice of Twiggy’s sidekick – Gregory the Woodpecker.
“It is tremendous that the film has been selected for the prestigious Manchester Animation Festival. Whilst the film is aimed at raising awareness of how our amazing natural world can help us combat the effects of flooding and climate change, it is also really brilliant that it has been recognised for the quality of the animation and the storytelling too. This is testament to the importance of that message and to truly incredible north west talent that brough the story to life – the team of animators and creatives involved is world class.” – David Kennedy: Film Producer, Script Writer and voice of Gregory the Woodpecker
One of the key things David wanted, was to use Cumbria-based animators, so he was delighted to find Cadi Calow and her sisters had a studio in the county – StudioDok. In this series the 2D animation was all done in Cumbria, with the 3D being shot in Bristol due to the type of studio needed.
“Makingthisfilmwasanabsolutejoyformebecauseitcombinedtwoofmypersonal passions – wildlife and research! Twiggy was built as a life-size, anatomically correct Red Squirrel puppet, with a huge amount of attention to detail, right down to the number of toes on each foot, though her face was gently worked into a slightly cartoonish direction around the eyes and mouth to help with the animation. Her cheerful, expressive voice actually belongs to a real expert working in the field, and the character animator used this as a great foundation for adding bags of extra personality through physical performance.
“This film is one of four we shot on Bristol harborside, using a small crew of fabulous people, all committed to sharing the important information around flooding, climate and protecting our natural habitats for future generations. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed making it!” – Cadi Calow: Director
‘Wood You Believe It’ is part of a series of four engaging and informative Creature Comforts-style animations to highlight how Natural Flood Management (NFM) can help protect homes, businesses and farms and help in the fight against climate change.
NFM is a catch-all term for a variety of landscaping techniques used to hold water back during flood events, which reduce the impact downstream on communities and infrastructure such as bridges. These short films demonstrate how these techniques decrease flooding downstream, reduce the impact of climate change and improve water quality.
The films also use the very latest data and research in a light and educational way, to appeal to audiences of all ages. ‘Wood You Believe It’ utilises some of the latest research conducted by Lancaster University with a lot of the actual data gathering and monitoring being carried out here in the north west.
The iconic Cumbrian landscape is also one the stars of the films, with a great deal of time and skill being used to represent it, in both the 2D and 3D animations. Some of the animators even climbed up hills to have a closer look at dry stone walls to ensure their accuracy. Local wildlife and breeds have been used to help reinforce that connection.
All the voiceovers for the film series were done by local people working in various sectors ranging from flood reduction, conservation, farming and water quality and all showcase methods being explored in the CiFR project. Twiggy the Red Squirrel was voiced by Bolton-born Annabel Rushton, our very own People and Partnerships Manager here at Wild Haweswater – where we’re using several NFM solutions and where real-life Twiggy’s roam the rainforest.
“It’s absolutely incredible that Twiggy’s film ‘Wood You Believe It’ has been selected for Manchester Animation Festival. The film has been around the globe this year, including at Annecy Film Festival (which is like the Oscars for animations), but it is particularly special for me that it has been chosen for Manchester, as it is close to where I grew up, so it feels like coming home. I’m so proud of this little Red Squirrel sharing such an important message far and near.” – Annabel Rushton: voice of Twiggy the Red Squirrel
Cumbria and the north west has had more than its fair share of flood events and with climate change, that looks to be an increasing risk. The techniques shown in these films have all been tested in Cumbria and the county has been at the forefront of the use of these methods.
“It’s fantastic to see these films engaging people on flood risk in new ways. You can find out more about this project and our other Flood Coastal Innovation Programmes (FCIP) projects in our mid programme report here.” – Andrew Eden, EA FCIP Programme Executive
You can view ‘Wood You Believe It’ and all the other films in the series here
– Blog by Annabel Rushton, RSPB People and Partnerships Manager at Wild Haweswater. Posted 20 October 2025
