With production just beginning on Aardman and Studiocanal’s prehistoric comedy Early Man, the team has released the first character animation (check it out above). Nick Park is directing the film that’s set at the dawn of time and tells the story of plucky caveman Dug and his sidekick Hognob. Eddie Redmayne is the voice of Dug.

The stop-motion pic was a hot pre-seller for Studiocanal at Cannes in 2015 and reteams the company with Aardman after last year’s hit Shaun The Sheep Movie which grossed $106M worldwide. This is Park’s return to directing since the Oscar-winning Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of The Were Rabbit.

Early Man sees Dug and Hognob unite their tribe against the mighty Bronze Age in a battle to beat them at their own game.

Studiocanal is co-financing and will distribute in its own territories: the UK, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand in 2018. The BFI has supported the development and production with National Lottery funding.