Pupils spread the word about Warrington’s “city of culture” bid

LOCAL school children are helping to spread the word about Warrington’s bid to be 2021 UK City of Culture by lending their voices to a stunning new animation.
Oakwood Primary School, in Padgate, has worked with the Warrington 2021 team to develop an eye-catching, musical, animated piece about Warrington’s cultural journey. And the children have made sure the animation hits all the right notes by singing the official accompaniment song – “Build This City Up”.
Starring an animated character called “Alice” (based upon Alice in Wonderland), the piece begins in downbeat fashion, referring to Warrington’s previous position as “bottom of RSA Culture charts”, and the preconception that dance and art are “not the way things are done
round here”.
Things then become much more upbeat, as the true cultural reality in Warrington comes to life, with references to Lewis Carroll, Pete Postlethwaite, Viola Beach, the Penny Ferry and Walking Day – culminating with a stirring, uplifting chorus of “We won’t stop, we’re gonna build this city up, and we’ll fill our home with colours, songs and art.”
The animation, which encourages the people of Warrington to “dream big” is part of the final push to engage people far and wide in Warrington’s City of Culture bid, ahead of the announcement of the shortlisted cities by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in July.
Oakwood pupils will celebrate the release of the animation with a special, live rendition of “Build This City Up” on Thursday July 29. Front-and-centre will be lead vocalist, schoolgirl Frances Harthill, who will come face-to-face with a life-sized cut-out of her animated
counterpart, “Alice”.
Cllr Dan Price, chairman of the Warrington 2021 City of Culture Board, said: “This animation is a fantastic showcase for Warrington’s 2021 bid. It’s a really creative way of challenging negative preconceptions about culture here, shouting out about how proud we are of our cultural past
and proclaiming how ambitious we are for our future.
“It’s lovely to see local schoolchildren playing their part in important projects such as this. It shows how engaged our younger generation is in culture in Warrington and how enthusiastic they are about our bid.”
Oakwood Primary School was chosen to provide the young voices for the animation in recognition of a spectacular “sculpture” they submitted as part of Warrington 2021’s art competition. Pupils put in a huge amount of effort to create a striking, colourful, 3D piece celebrating some of Warrington’s cultural gems, from the Mad Hatter and The Pink Eye, to the
Oliver Cromwell Cottage and The Penny Ferry.
Pupils worked with creative company Fuzzy Duck to create the 2021 animation, with teaching staff helping the young people learn the lyrics by breaking them up into manageable chunks, before bringing it all together for the final performance.
The animation can be seen on Warrington’s official 2021 City of Culture bid website, at www.warrington2021.com. and “making of” videos can be seen at https://vimeo.com/221723614 and here https://vimeo.com/222244891