Scotland’s biggest animation content provider, Wild Child Animation, whose clients include Cartoon Network, Disney and Warner Brothers, has plunged into administration, with artificial intelligence being partly blamed for the decision.
Gordon McIntyre and Donald McKinnon from Wbg are hoping to find a buyer for the Stirling-based studio and contractor which employs 32 staff and about 50 contractors. The company’s turnover for 2025 was £5.7 million.
Its main current customer is Magic Light Pictures, an Oscar-nominated, and BAFTA winning creator of family entertainment and producer behind Zog, a series based on the much-loved picture book.
The production is at an advanced stage though is not scheduled for completion until this autumn.
Magic Light Pictures is supporting Wild Child Animation for a limited period by undertaking to meet employee costs, together with the monthly obligations to contractors for the Zog contract, while a marketing exercise is progressed by the administrators to seek to identify a buyer for the business and secure the ongoing employment of all staff.
Mr McIntyre said: “I have granted a licence to occupy to Magic Light Pictures to enable work to proceed on Zog and fund ongoing production pending the completion of a sale of Wild Child Animation.
“Working together with Magic Light Pictures, we will trade Wild Child Animation for a two-week period while a marketing exercise is undertaken and a closing date for claims and offers to buy the business is set for Friday, 13 March 2026.
“It is a challenging time for the industry and while Wild Child Animation had recently completed several contracts and others had been green lit, due to uncertainties in the market, partly driven by AI, and partly by the fact that several national broadcasters, such as Sky Kids, have decided not to commission new content.
“This has caused a crunch in the available work for animation studios which has resulted in Wild Child Animation going into administration.”
Commenting on the administration, Sueann Rochester, co-founder and CEO of Wild Child Animation, said: “I am incredibly proud of everything we’ve achieved at Wild Child Animation over the past six years.
“We built something truly special – not just in the work we created, but in the extraordinary team behind it. I will be forever grateful to the talented, passionate people who made that journey possible.
“While it’s devastating that we’ve not been able to continue, I take great comfort in knowing that Magic Light Pictures has stepped in to complete production of Zog, keeping the team together and ensuring the work remains here in Scotland. That legacy of creativity and collaboration means everything.”
Martin Pope and Michael Rose, Joint CEOs, at Magic Light Pictures, added: “Magic Light Pictures is working constructively with the administrator for Wild Child on a short-term arrangement designed to ensure production continues smoothly at the studio while we explore longer-term options.
“Our focus is on protecting continuity for the production and the crew, maintaining the high creative standards of Zog, and ensuring delivery remains on schedule. We have taken steps to provide stability at this point in the process and to minimise disruption wherever possible.
“We are confident that, with these measures in place, the production is well supported, and we look forward to delivering a tremendous series.”
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