Watch This: Aardman Celebrates the Beauty Of Birds In 'Time Flies' Short for RSPB

If someone mentions Aardman Animations,  it's almost certain that you will associate them strongly with stop-motion.  While it's true stop-motion is used in their most prominent works such as the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit shorts and movie and Chicken Run, it does not represent all their output. The UK's biggest animation studio actually works in all mediums, also producing hand-drawn and CG animation in a range of styles. Perhaps the reason this isn't so widely recognised is that much of this work is done in the commissioned space- producing work for various clients such as adverts, promotional films and music videos,

Aardman is also a very socially and ecologically conscious company and has often worked with charities. In their newest film Time Flies, they have produced a 60-second spot for the conversation charity The Royal Society For The Protection of Birds (aka the RSPB).

This time Aardman has partnered with Catsnake, the "third sector creative specialists" (nope, us neither) to celebrate the work of the UK's largest nature conversation charity. The film uses a gorgeous watercolour style and features a family of bluetits, one of the UK's most recognisable and beloved native bird species. The story focuses on a baby bluetit that becomes separated from its parents as it tries to find its way back to Mum and Dad.

The film highlights the perils that UK bird species face, such as climate change, loss of habitat and pollution. Specifically, the video is made to promote the charity's legacy program and ask viewers to consider leaving the charity a gift in their will.

The watercolours are used to brilliantly convey nature in all its beauty but are equally well employed to depict the dangers that face our feathered friends. Accompanied by the warm tones of Oscar-winning actor Jim Broadbent (reteaming with the studio after Chicken Run and Arthur Christmas) it is an incredibly effective piece that does an awful lot in just a single minute.

The film was co-directed by Aardman's Bram Ttwheam and Catsnake's Edward Dark. 

Time Flies was made to air on TV between September 6-12, to coincide with Remember A Charity Week. Visit the RSPB here for more info.