Come 'Fly' with Moore
Santa Claus is coming to town… and he’s Sir Roger Moore!
Sir Roger reads his lines
The Fly Who Loved Me will be available to view at flywholovedme.com beginning on Friday 10 December at 9am GMT. The Internet short will be on-line till Saturday 25 December.
Continuing his support of UNICEF, Sir Roger will be appearing as Saint Nick in The Fly Who Loved Me, an animated short film released online today.
Written by Olly Smith and directed by Dan Chambers, The Fly Who Loved Me sees Santa Claus stranded at the North Pole, unable to deliver gifts when his reindeer get injured. Just when all hope seems lost, help comes from an unusual source, when a determined fly from Santa’s garbage bin insists on taking over the job.
Roger, Dan & Olly laugh
According to Smith, who also produced the film, the collaboration with Sir Roger has its roots in a bizarre little Internet cartoon entitled Roger Moore’s Requiem, which Chambers put together, incorporating some unusual animation and several still photographs of Roger Moore circa The Saint (Roger Moore’s Requiem is available to view online as well).
“Roger was sent the animation through a series of serendipitous quirks and loved it,” Smith said. “He emailed Dan thanking him for the left-field tribute and as a huge fan of Roger’s, I seized the opportunity to collaborate with Dan on our first project with Roger, Sir Roger Moore: Spaceman.”
In Sir Roger Moore: Spaceman, scripted by Smith and directed by Chambers, the duo traveled to Monte Carlo to meet with Sir Roger. “Dan and I flew out to Monte Carlo feeling suitably thrilled and awestruck to record the voice track with Roger and found him to be a magnificent voice artist and a very warm person,” Smith said. “We both came away inspired by Roger’s dedicated work for UNICEF and resolved there and then that we wanted to support his work in any way that we could.”
Sir Roger as Santa with his injured reindeer
This desire to support the work of UNICEF formed the basis of the project that would become The Fly Who Loved Me. According to Smith, Sir Roger had no hesitation in accepting to be a part of the film. “Dan and I had several meetings and pored over the script before pitching it to Roger [who] came back with an emphatic yes,” he said. “Roger gave a magnificent performance as Father Christmas and I performed opposite him as the Fly. [It was] a total joy.”
Sir Roger Moore records the voice track
After recording the voices, work began on the animation process for the film. “Dan … set to work, working day and night in addition to his day job at Tiger Aspect to direct and animate the cartoon,” Smith said. “My thanks to him are just huge, he’s an amazing director with a unique vision, a hilarious friend and a privilege to work with.”
Smith hopes the film will encourage people to support the efforts of UNICEF, particularly over the Christmas period. “We wanted this cartoon to entertain a worldwide audience and offer a link back to UNICEF’s website where they can find info on UNICEF and purchase Christmas cards, wrapping paper, e-cards and a whole host of festive paraphernalia,” he said. “Everyone involved with this project has donated their time and expertise to support Roger’s UNICEF work.”
To view The Fly Who Loved Me, visit flywholovedme.com between Friday 10 December at 9am GMT and Saturday 25 December.