Maria Chiara Oltolini

Writing for The Sound Collector A Screenwriter’s Perspective on Children’s Animation

Università Cattolica, Italy

Before my first encounter with Eagle VS Bat, the creators of The Sound Collector (2023), a
preschool animated series co-produced between Italy and the United Kingdom, I had
been warned. This, the head-writer told me, is not your typical children’s cartoon. Firstly,
it’s a series about a partially deaf guy enchanted by sounds, and his best friend Mole.
Then, it’s made by MacKinnon & Saunders, an internationally renown company
specialising in high-end puppets for cinema and television. Lastly, it is a series with slow,
leisurely pace, taking all the time it needs to narrate the small things of everyday life.
Considering that the first adjustment an animation screenwriter must make is
understanding the importance of creating fun, fast-paced adventures and physical gags,
The Sound Collector had all the makings of an expensive failure. Yet, it received an
excellent response from both audiences and critics. It was also a delight for me to write
episodes when the series entered production. In this article, I will reconstruct the stages
of the series from my perspective as a screenwriter. Specifically, I will seek to highlight
how the series managed, despite all its niche characteristics (the animation technique, the
use of live-action footage taken from the British landscape, the delicate theme of
inclusivity), to become a mainstream series capable of speaking to a very broad audience.
In doing so, I will delve into the value of classic narrative choices, such as the use of an
authoritative narrator or the faithful representation of the characters’ emotions, endearing
them to the audience and instilling empathy. Furthermore, as will be explained in the
paper, the apparent slowness of the narrative, the local representation and the sensitive
portrayal of disability create a tranquil and feel-good atmosphere that has an impact on
young viewers.

I have a BA, MA, and PhD from Università Cattolica (Milan), where I have been
working as a Teaching assistant and Adjunct professor for several years. My research
interests include children’s literature and adaptation as a form of intermedia and
intercultural expression, focusing on the relationships between Japanese visual culture
and world’s literature. I am also an author of children’s fiction, who started to work at the
animation studio Calon (Wales), writing episodes for animated tv series for children (YoYo,
Inui, Julio Bunny). As a freelance, I wrote the autobiographical novel of an Italian youth
with tetraparesis (MP3 – Sulle ruote me la rido, 2017). I also wrote episodes for
international animated series (BatPat, Berry Bees, Grisù, The Sound Collector) and
dramatised audio-guides for Museo Egizio (Turin). A project based on my PhD thesis,
centred on the World Masterpiece Theater case, will be published in 2024 by Bloomsbury
Academics.