Dragoncharm was optioned by UK producers Dandelion Distribution back in 1996 for development into a full-length movie and 13-part TV series.

I had several meetings with director Bob Keen at his Image Animation headquarters at Pinewood Studios. Bob produced a short promotional trailer using CGI and animatronics superimposed over live-action backgrounds, creating a look similar to that seen in the BBC's Walking With Dinosaurs.

Bob's team came up with some interesting solutions to the problems of portraying dragons on screen. My dragons are characters, not monsters, so their faces had to be instantly recognisable and able to express a wide range of emotion. The traditional long dragon snout is hard to animate for lip-synch, hence the shorter, stubbier look they came up with.

Despite all the hard work that went into its development, sadly, it never came together. Dragoncharm became one of the many media projects that didn't make it into production.

• Click here to read the movie blurb
• Back to main Dragoncharm page