Egg-citing time ahead for cartoon created in Ulster

Local & National

Monday, August 27, 2007

By Victoria O'Hara

An 'egg-cellent' cartoon character created by an Ulster-based couple will take part in one of America's biggest parades this winter

'Splat' the lead character in Shelltown animation - an idea spearheaded by Patricia Sparkes from Ballymoney - will appear in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York this November to help kick off the holiday season.

The character, described as a 'good egg' will be seen by millions of Americans who line the Manhattan streets to watch the floats, cartoon characters and celebrities participate in the spectacular annual event, organised by the world's largest department store.

Mrs Sparkes (48) and her husband, Bernard (37), were originally from Yorkshire and moved to Northern Ireland about 11 years ago.

They spotted the potential for the characters and self-published a book based on the eggs.

They have since developed a pilot cartoon about Shelltown with ex-Boyzone singer Ronan Keating lending his voice to the main character Splat.

Comedian Johnny Vegas and Belfast's May McFettrige aka John Linehan are also understood to be interested in the project.

"The original idea was thought up by Patricia back in 1999," Mr Sparkes told the Belfast Telegraph.

"We opened a box of eggs and there was one that was a bit crinkly and looked strange.

"Patricia then made up a character about the egg to entertain the children.

"Since then the characters have developed.

"You've got Splat, Cracker and Exactly, and the bad eggs Rotten Ron, Stinker and Eddie. "There's also PC Boiler, your friendly local policeman who's tough on crime."

After promoting Shelltown during a trip to America, Mr Sparkes received a letter from Macy's inviting the character Splat to be part of the parade on November 22.

"We were really pleased," he said.

" I think it will be the only UK and Irish cartoon character in the parade. It is a huge deal in the US.

"I will be travelling over to New York in November.

"It is a great opportunity for Splat to be seen across the world, as the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade is one of the biggest held in America."

Mr Sparkes said he hopes the American appearance will boost interest in developing the Shelltown characters further.

"We hope that it might lead to developing more episodes of the cartoon," he said.

"It is hard to get support but we believe there is great potential in the characters."

To check out the Shelltown characters log on to www.shelltown.co.uk .