An animated film created by Bradford schoolchildren to celebrate this summer's Beijing Olympics will be aired on Chinese TV.
Eight pupils at Belle Vue boys' and girls' schools and St Joseph's Catholic College in Heaton have story-boarded, scripted and drawn a two-minute cartoon giving their interpretation of the Games.
Their film, the sole representative from the UK, will be spliced together with animation created by children from 26 countries across the globe to create a unique look at the merits of sporting endeavour.
Mazid Rahman, 13, of Belle Vue Boys' School, said: "A teacher called me at home and said I had been picked because I was good at art.
"It's really exciting - the film will be shown at about the same time as the Olympics on Chinese TV."
Mazid designed the main character in the cartoon - "Fatman" - who carries the Olympic torch to destinations around the work before arriving in China. Naturally, his progress is not all smooth sailing - Fatman has to fight off an un-sporting attack from an alien along the way.
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Twelve-year-old Shereen Bamo, a Belle Vue Girls' pupil, created many of the backgrounds used during filming.
"I wanted to make them come alive," said Shereen.
"We have done one of France and the Eiffel Tower and one of Athens. I feel great to be working on a film which will accompany the Olympics. I have learned stuff about art and how to animate."
Freelance animator David Bunting, 32, who created the main title sequence on the Thunderbirds feature film and also worked on The Tigger Movie, provided the group with a crash course in animation.
He said: "The film is about what the Olympics means to them. They have come up with characters, done the story-boarding and unleashed their creativity. Every young person watches animation. To be able to do that yourself is extremely liberating. It's an incredible responsibility to represent the UK in the Olympics, as it were."
Funding of £5,000 from First Light Movies, which helps children to make their own films, paid for workshops during the Easter holidays at the National Media Museum, with help from Bradford's Extended Schools network.
Production of the completed film, to be called Olympics, Let's Fantasize, will be co-ordinated by the International Animated Film Association.
Shazia Nazir, Bradford Extended Schools project manager, said the film would also be shown during the Bradford Animation and Co-op Young Film-makers festivals later this year.
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