class=”alignleft size-full wp-image-43439″ title=”ethel-and-ernest” src=”https://www.heyuguys.com/images/2010/09/ethel-and-ernest.jpg” alt=”” width=”220″ height=”150″ />Raymond Briggs will forever be linked with the annual walk in the wintry air with The Snowman and now news comes to us of a new animated feature of the 1998 graphic novel based on the lives of his parents, Ethel & Ernest.

Fans of Briggs’ work may remember the last time a feature length film was made of one of his works, When the Wind Blows, which as a child of the 80s  I had played to me at school and it did as much as Terminator 2 to convince me that nuclear war was not a great way to go about things.

Back to Ethel & Ernest, and here’s the good stuff.

Jim Broadbent and Brenda Blethyn are to lend their voices to the eponymous couple in the film which tells the entire story of their life, from the first days together until their deaths.

Immediately I thought of the pair’s work with Mike Leigh, and the animation style of The Snowman and When the Wind Blows, combined with Briggs’ wonderful, understated narratives. All in all, this is one to look out for.

THR reported this one, and good for them.