Big Boots Birthday: A Tee and Mo Mini Musical is an 11-minute sung-through musical special, featuring our favourite monkeys, Tee and Mo, with three brand new songs, sung by the always brilliant, Lauren Laverne.  It was animated in-house by the Plug-in Media team (now part of Brighton Zoo) and is a fantastic example of our in-house animation expertise, but also our affinity with musical content.

The show takes place on the morning of Tee’s birthday, and he’s near exploding with excitement! He’s a whole year older and a whole inch taller, which can only mean that he’s finally a BIG BOY! Best of all, Mo has given him a brand new pair of Big Boy wellington boots to wear!  However, a chance encounter with his old favourite froggie wellies gives him pause for thought. Does being big mean that he can’t be little anymore? As ever, Mo is on hand to listen to his worries and reassure him that no matter how big he gets, she’ll always be his Mum. Cue the best birthday party ever!

Written and Directed by Plug-in Media’s Creative Director, Dominic Minns, Big Boots Birthday sees yet another successful collaboration with BAFTA-winning composers Ellie Wyatt and Joss Peach. Big Boots Birthday was produced entirely through remote-working, due to the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. Plug-in’s team of exceptionally talented production staff and animators rose to the challenge of developing new workflows for efficient collaboration under unique circumstances.

This Tee and Mo Mini Musical reimagines the musical genre for pre-schoolers, aged 2-5. The 11-minute episode is designed to help young children feel understood, and focuses on the theme of what it feels like to grow up.

It’s a great example, not only of the skills of our amazing in-house animation talent, but also of our  BAFTA-winning expertise in writing beautiful, emotional, not to mention earworm-y music, that just can’t help but bring tears to the eyes of parents of toddlers up and down the country and internationally. 

Watch it on BBC iPlayer here