Aardman, the British animation studio responsible for Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, Shaun the Sheep, and more, is cooking up a new stop-motion musical holiday special for Netflix called Robin Robin. Today, Aardman announced the voice cast for the flick, which is due out next holiday season, and at the top of the list are two very familiar, exciting names: Gillian Anderson and Richard E. Grant.

Things seem a little bleak this holiday season, but here’s hoping the holiday season of 2021 will be a bit more upbeat. At the very least, we’ll have a new Aardman project to look out for – Robin Robin, which will debut on Netflix next holiday season. Today, the Robin Robin voice cast was announced, along with story details. Here’s who’s who: Bronte Carmichael will voice Robin, “who, when her egg falls from the nest, is adopted by a family of mice, and raised as one of their own. Not quite a bird and not quite a mouse, but full of determination. Robin sets out on an adventure to prove herself and just maybe, get a sandwich.”

Adeel Akhtar is Dad Mouse, “a caring but cautious soul who is single-handedly raising a family of five children (one of them happens to be an adopted bird).” Then there’s Richard E. Grant, who is voicing Magpie, “an obsessive collector of shiny ‘stuff.’ Magpie takes Robin under his ‘wing,’ on a journey of self-discovery. Underneath his many ruffled feathers, he really is a good egg.” And finally, Gillian Anderson will play Cat, “The villain of our story who just so happens to know a place where everything is welcome, her tummy!”

Robin Robin is directed by Dan Ojari and Mikey Please, with Aardman’s Sarah Cox set as Executive Producer and Helen Argo producing. “We’re completely thrilled with the array of talent who have agreed to help us make our vision for Robin Robin a reality,” said Please. “Bronte has incredible warmth in her voice and we feel so fortunate to have her at the heart of the film. When Richard signed up, we had to pinch ourselves. We’d had pictures of Withnail pinned to our development wall throughout the writing and designing of his character and, having now worked with him, remain convinced that if he were to have a spirit animal, it’d be a magpie.”

Ojari added: “We’ve been fans of Adeel ever since his perfect turns in Four Lions and Utopia and he brought that perfect mix of awkwardness and impeccable timing to Robin Robin. And very few people have the ability to authentically purr like a cat. Fantastically, Gillian is one of those blessed few. Having Gillian purr and snarl at us was one of the most thrilling experiences of our lives thus far.”

Check out some art for the project below.

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