2D animated feature is coming out in Sweden on December 22, courtesy of TriArt.

Stellan Skarsgård, Felix Herngren and Melinda Kinnaman are the lead voice cast.  Gordon & Paddy is directed by Linda Hambäck of LEE Film, behind other pre-schooler films and TV series such as Tänk om… (What if…) and Bajsfilmen. Hambäck also produced the 2011 Sundance short film entry Tussilago by Jonas Odell and the animated parts of Malik Bendjelloul’s Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugarman. 

Her new animated film based on Ulf Nilsson and Gitte Spee’s books about Detective Gordon (The First Case, The Last Case and One More Case), is a Nordic noir for kids featuring a group of forest animals, the toad and elderly detective Gordon (voiced by Stellan Skarsgård), and the young and clever mouse Paddy (Melinda Kinnaman) on a mission to save two children and chase the Fox. Felix Herngren lends his voice to the squirrel Valdemar. 

“When I first read the book The First Case, I fell in love with the mix of mystery and poetry and acquired the rights in 2014”, says Hambäck. “I was adamant to bring to the screen the same spirit, texture and watercolour feeling of Gitte Spee’s illustration, and worked intensely with my usual partners Dockhus Animation, from a brilliant script by Janne Vierth.” For Hambäck, the film is really about fighting prejudice.

Jan Naszewski, managing director of New Europe Film Sales said: ”Gordon & Paddy is a wonderful and exciting family detective story. We fell in love with the charming characters, the positive message of the film and its great visual style. It fits perfectly into New Europe's catalogue of quality animation. We are preparing a whole slate of such projects. It's great to be working with Linda again, who gave us our first ever film in early 2010 [Tussilago] which helped me to start the company."

Gordon & Paddy was produced by LEE Film in co-production with Film i Väst, SVT, in association with YLE, and support from the Swedish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond and Creative Europe.  TriArt is releasing it on December 22 on more than 130 screens. To get the word of mouth and want to see going in the busy Christmas period, the distributor ran extensive social media, poster and advertising campaigns and tie-ins with brands such as Polarn & Pyret and Leo’s lekland. 

The film has been sold to French distributor and kids specialist Les Films du préau who will release it in cinemas late 2018.