Sir Roger Moore will be appearing as Santa Claus this Christmas! MI6 has the behind the scenes story to the UNICEF Christmas e-card...

The Fly Who Loved Me
10th December 2004

Sir Roger Moore is making his animated debut as Father Christmas in a new short cartoon, "The Fly Who Loved Me", in support of UNICEF, written and produced by Olly Smith and directed by Dan Chambers.

With Rudolph laid up on the sofa, Father Christmas despairs of getting presents to the children this year…. until a determined fly from his bin insists on taking over the job. To spread a jolly jolt of Christmas cheer, The Fly Who Loved Me will be available to watch free of charge on the web at www.flywholovedme.com from 9am on Friday 10th December.

 

Writer Olly Smith tells MI6 the story behind the production and working with Roger.

"Dan Chambers (the director) made a short cartoon called "Roger Moore's Requiem" and released it onto the internet. Roger was sent the animation through a series of serendipitous quirks and loved it. He emailed Dan thanking him for the left-field tribute and as a huge fan of Roger's, I seized the opportunity to collaborate with Dan on our first project with Roger: "Sir Roger Moore: Spaceman".

"We made the pilot for this 10x3 minutes series with the support and kind help of Gareth Owen (Roger's PA). Dan and I flew out to Monte Carlo feeling suitably thrilled and awestruck to record the voice track with Roger and found him to be a magnificent voice artist and a very warm person.

We both came away inspired by Roger's dedicated work for UNICEF and resolved there and then that we wanted to support his work in any way that we could."


Above: Stills from "The Fly Who Loved Me"

"I burrowed into my office and scribbled a script for the new cartoon "The Fly Who Loved Me" which will be available to watch from Friday 10th December at the official website.

The idea for this cartoon is to entertain a worldwide audience and offer a link back to UNICEF's website where they can find info on UNICEF and purchase Christmas cards, wrapping paper, e-cards and a whole host of festive paraphernalia."

Right: Roger Moore records his voice-over with Olly Smith.

 

"Dan and I had several meetings and pored over the script before pitching it to Roger. He came back with an emphatic yes."


Above: Stills from "The Fly Who Loved Me"

 

"We had great fun recording the voice track for "The Fly Who Loved Me" with veteran sound engineer David Thomas who has done an outstanding job for the project. Roger gave a magnificent performance as Father Christmas and I performed opposite him as the Fly. A total joy. "

"Dan then set to work working day and night in addition to his day job at Tiger Aspect to direct and animate the cartoon. My thanks to him are just huge, he's an amazing director with a unique vision, a hilarious friend and a privilege to work with. We were helped by Dan's work buddies Tim Fehrenbach and Sam Wooldridge who assisted with the animation."

"Everyone involved with this project has donated their time and expertise to support Roger's UNICEF work. I hope The Fly Who Loved Me entertains and encourages people to visit UNICEF's website" - Olly Smith.

Related Articles
"The Fly Who Loved Me" Official Site
UNICEF Online Shop

Many thanks to Olly Smith. Photos copyright David Thomas.