ROB’S HAVING A WHALE OF A TIME THIS CHRISTMAS
The Snail and the Whale is a longstanding favourite in your house.
Which scene are you most fond of?
ONE of my favourite bits from the book is the page with the big wave on it. I love that image and some of the underwater stuff, just in a visual sense.
But as an actor – because I’m not doing anything when that’s happening, apart from maybe the odd (noise) – it’s the line, ‘I can’t move on land, I’m too big’.
Because if you were casting me physically, that’s not a line I’d ever get asked to say; whereas with animation, you can do things you’d never get cast as.
And I was interested to not give him a big booming whale voice, but something a little more sympathetic.
What’s the story telling us, do you think?
IT’S an epic journey across the globe, where the tiniest creature and the mightiest mammal experience the vastness of our planet together.
It taps into a lot of basic things, doesn’t it? The yearning to travel, to see the world, the size, the scale, the snail and the whale, the big and small coming together. It is about opening your horizons...
You’ve voiced everything from the snake in The Gruffalo to the cat in Room on the Broom. Do you have a preferred character?
THIS is one of my favourites.
I did like being the snake in The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child, he has a bit of a Welsh feel and we don’t have many snakes in Wales.
I also narrated The Highway Rat, I loved doing that.
I was hoping they would do The Snail And The Whale. It’s a beautiful book. I’ve got five children, so over the years I’ve clocked up a lot of reading time of children’s stories, and the very good ones do make it look easy.
When you read a bad one it just clunks along and is almost painful to read. But Julia’s flow so beautifully and the economy – as a comedian, you’re a big fan of economy – of not using too many words, Julia is a maestro of that.
Are there any of Julia and Axe’s character creations you’d like to see more of –
perhaps a spin-off?
I WOULDN’T assume to suggest... the horse in The Highway Rat!
I thought there were hidden depths there, he had a look in his eye that suggested he had an opinion on everything.
But I never thought I would end up being in every one of these; each year I would wonder, ‘Why haven’t they got in touch yet – is it going to happen?’
But it’s started to become this regular thing and I’m genuinely so proud to be associated with it.
There’s a crew and cast screening that happens every year in the run up to Christmas, which is a lovely little tradition.
From this to your appearance in the festive special of comedy Gavin & Stacey, is it fair to call you ‘the king of Christmas’?
[I’M in] the prince region, maybe. But no, I’m very lucky I’ve been in a few of these things.
I always like being on the telly at Christmas, I don’t know why but I find it quite reassuring, career-wise; you know ‘I’m still around – and this will carry over into the next year maybe...’.