For the second year running Cartoon Network UK has teamed up with post-graduate animation students from the London Animation Studio at Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design who have produced four 15 second character idents which will go on air around Europe this October.

Cartoon Network has a relationship with the college which trains some of the best new animation talent as it has hired many of its top students. In 2003 Cartoon Network committed to supporting the course by giving post-graduate students a brief to work on while still at college as well as providing funds which were used to buy studio equipment including Flash software and Adobe After Effects. The college was keen to give its students a real industry brief to give them experience of the world that they will soon be entering and the first series of character idents appeared on Cartoon Network's channels throughout Europe in November 2003.

This year, from 30 ideas that were submitted Cartoon Network selected four and the students were divided into groups to work on each one. They produced work with animation direction from the course tutors and presented Cartoon Network with a series of line tests for its approval. The students then animated and produced them and laid down the soundtracks so were fully immersed in the entire production process. The project is part of the student's course work and will count towards their final grade.

"Once again the quality of work is very high. Cartoon Network is one of the biggest producers, commissioners and broadcasters of animation in the world so we are always delighted to find and nurture new talent," said Finn Arnesen, Senior Vice President of Programming, Acquisitions and Development for Cartoon Network, Europe and Head of Programme Production for Cartoon Network International.

"To have the chance to work with such illustrious Cartoon Network characters as Johnny Bravo and the Cramp Twins is a great opportunity for our students. Working to an industry brief means the students get a sharp insight into the workings of a top end animation studio. This experience is something that they can take with them into their careers as animators and is also something that they can put on their CVs," said Steve Roberts (Animation Lecturer, London Animation Studio).

The project was led by Rita Osei (Producer) and Jonny Potter (Creative Director) at Cartoon Network UK and Steve Roberts (2D tutor) and Birgitta Hosea (Course Director) at The London Animation Studio.

Cartoon Network, Cartoon Network +, Boomerang and Toonami together make up the highest rated group of kids channels in the UK. Cartoon Network is the home of the cartoon stars and the best place for comedy, games and fun. On TV it offers the best entertainment 24 hour a day from its own major hit shows including Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Codename: Kids Next Door, Ed, Edd n Eddy and The Cramp Twins. The Cartoon Network experience is also available on its multi-award winning website, with games on digital cable and satellite, on mobiles and from its best selling comics. Since launching as a pan-European channel in 1993 Cartoon Network now has localised services throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 11 languages, where it is available in over 33 million homes. Channels are operated by Turner Broadcasting System Europe Limited, a Time Warner Company.

The London Animation Studio is the Post Graduate Diploma in Character Animation at Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design. It was originally set up by the Guild of British Animation and the London post-production industry to meet a skills shortage of animators and are now the premiere centre for character animation training in the UK. The course is based in central London and has close links with the animation industry including a unique mentoring programme and visiting lecturers from the industry. Each student is allocated a practising industry animator as a mentor and the students are frequently headhunted straight from the end of course show. In fact 80% of all graduates are now employed at the high end of the broadcast and animation industry by companies like the Framestore-CFC, Mill Film, BBC, the Moving Picture Company, Cinesite, Aldis Animation (as was), Richard Purdum Productions, Cartoon Network and Hibbert Ralph, amongst many others. Our graduates have been part of the Oscar winning special effects team for Gladiator and the BAFTA winning team behind Walking With Dinosaurs.