Animal Planet enlisted the award-winning animation house Framestore CFC to bring Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real to life. Framestore CFC is the largest visual effects and computer animation company in Europe, with over 30 years of combined experience in digital film and video technology.

The company has won numerous international awards, including two Technical Academy Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, three British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Craft Awards and 11 Primetime Emmy Awards.

The company's movie portfolio includes work on such films as Underworld, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Blade 2 and Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. Recent television work includes Walking With Dinosaurs, Walking With Prehistoric Beasts, and the TV and miniseries Dinotopia.

Dragons' CGI Creators

Mike Milne: director of computer animation
Mike has worked for more than 20 years in the computer animation industry, starting as head of graphics at Research Recordings (now Air TV) in the early 1980s, then as director of production at Electric Image and as head of 3-D at the Bureau. In 1992 Mike started the computer animation department at Framestore CFC.

Mike has won a BAFTA and four Emmy awards for his work on BBC Science/Discovery series such as Walking With Dinosaurs and Walking With Prehistoric Beasts.

Alec Knox: CGI supervisor
In the early 1980s Alec was one of the first people in the United Kingdom to use computer generated images (CGI) and animation for the creation of television program content, producing 3-D re-creations of the Coliseum in Rome, the new airport and transport system for Hong Kong, and numerous pioneering commercials. More recently, he and his work have been awarded two Emmys and received a BAFTA nomination. Alec joined Framestore CFC as supervising technical director in 1997. Specializing in lighting and rendering, he has worked on a number of award-winning television and film projects, including Walking With Dinosaurs, Dinotopia, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Troy.

Neil Glasbey: lead animator
A graduate of Bournemouth University with an M.A. in animation, Neil joined Framestore CFC in 2000. He has worked on a number of television projects, including Walking With Prehistoric Beasts, The Lost World and the Walking With… specials Land of the Giants, Search for the Giant Claw and Sea Monsters. He also worked on the animation of Framestore CFC's highly acclaimed Hippogriff in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Sirio Quintavalle: visual effects supervisor
A physics graduate from Oxford University, Sirio joined Framestore CFC as a trainee compositor in 1997. He soon became part of the long-form television department, working on projects such as the Emmy award-winning Walking With Dinosaurs, Merlin and Dinotopia; the Emmy-nominated Walking With Prehistoric Beasts and Ballad of Big Al; and the BAFTA-winning Sea Monsters. He has recently completed work on the soon-to-be-released television documentary Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets and the feature film Enduring Love. Dragons is his first role as visual effects supervisor.