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Tom Bates

Tom Bates

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Tom Bates posts

April Wallpapers!

Hey gang, here's a selection of wallpapers for this month. We've got the recent YouTube thumbnails in there, some vertical screenshots from recent videos and some stills from Rat City. Hope you enjoy!

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Nigel and Marmalade go fishing with Patricia

It's Nigel and Marmalade #76!

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Ideas for the next video

Here are a some drawings from my sketchbook showing what I’m working on for the next video. It starts with Nigel, Marmalade and Patricia on holiday. Nigel and Marmalade are fishing but Patricia thinks it seems like hard work. A log boy then floats down the river and their fishing hooks get caught in his eyes (originally I thought it could be a Pinocchio type character but I think a log is better for this story).

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Behind the Scenes: Recording Nigel and Marmalade #75

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Nigel and Marmalade help Patricia hide a murder weapon

This is the first video I released in both vertical and wide screen. I'm wondering if I should do that more. What do you think?

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Old Sketchbook Ideas - Trim Lipply Performing

Here are a couple of pages from my sketchbook where I was coming up with ideas for the short where Trim plays guitar with his tongue. If you want to refresh your memory, here's a link to it: https://youtube.com/shorts/1al97jAM-Xg?si=Yl2sz_wFOVxslxXJ

At this point I didn't know what Trim's talent would be. You can see I've made a list of possible things he could do like speed eating or knif...

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Say hello to the original Nigel and Marmalade... Peter and Marmalade.

I recently discovered an old sketchbook from 2022 and within its pages I found something that I had totally forgotten about: Peter and Marmalade. These images below show the progression from an idea I had for a cosmic horror comedy series that followed Peter (a boy) and Marmalade (his human faced dog). The designs were pretty creepy and weird. Over the course of these sketchbook pages you can see me realise that it would be better to have the main characters be a simple, cute design to contra...

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The Original (Creepy) Design of Nigel and Marmalade

I was going through some old sketchbooks when I discovered something that I had forgotten about... Peter and Marmalade. This was an idea for a cosmic horror comedy series featuring a boy and his human faced dog. These designs led to Nigel and Marmalade.

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Monthly Wallpapers - March 2025 (link below)

I'm going to start sharing a new folder of wallpapers every month with a hand picked selection of high res frames straight from episodes of Nigel and Marmalade (both vertical shorts and widescreen episodes). These images are taken direct from the source, so these will be the highest quality Nigel and Marmalade images you'll be able to get anywhere!

Folder Link: https:...

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Nigel and Marmalade #74 - Gareth’s Nostrils

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Life Update (and New Office Tour)

It's all change for me! I've moved house and got myself an office.

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Nigel and Marmalade #73 - Door Maze

Nigel and Marmalade are lost in a maze of doors

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Nigel and Marmalade #72 - Sugar Pirate

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Nigel and Marmalade #71: Book Dungeon

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[BTS VIDEO] Watch me record the voices for Nigel and Marmalade: Rat City

Here's the full episode of Rat City accompanied by my face saying all the lines. It was recorded in a few sessions over the course of months. I would record a few minutes of dialogue then animate that section, then record some more. Spot the changes in hair length to see how much time passed!

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Happy New Year!

What a year! Thanks to all of you, I was able to go full time into animation. I made 30 minutes of short animations, a full 11 minute episode and 5000 people funded the creation of Nigel and Marmalade plushies. Thank you so much! I’ve made a compilation of all the shorts I made this year for you all to enjoy: https://youtu.be/zuRjysVfSpM?si=4BVzrsvRLU0UvJwO

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OUT NOW! Nigel and Marmalade: Rat City

Watch the first full video of Nigel and Marmalade now: https://youtu.be/ZWkd1AkHfmw?si=AmoMDiJfrb-0Pmiv

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EARLY ACCESS! Nigel and Marmalade: Rat City

This is it! You are the first people in the world to see the first full episode of Nigel and Marmalade. Without your support I wouldn't have had time to work on this, so when I say this wouldn't have been possible without you, I genuinely mean it. Thank you! This video will be released publicly in a couple of days. Enjoy!

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Nigel and Marmalade #69 - Jock Mandible

Nigel and Marmalade go on an adventure with legendary hero, Jock Mandible

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Patricia’s a Year Old!

A year ago was the first time Patricia appeared in a Nigel and Marmalade video. To celebrate, here’s some behind the scenes of me recording the voices for the first Patricia video

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Making of Nigel and Marmalade #67

The short: https://youtube.com/shorts/ANCwsrHgaKs?si=Q0HItOMFYui7gBky

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Whispering Benjamin - Sketchbook Ideas

Here are my first sketches of Whispering Benjamin. I had an idea that he was so quiet Nigel had to use his magic to bring his lips all the way across the garden. I also had an idea where he cracked a big smile when he sipped the milkshake.

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Nigel and Marmalade #66 - Anxious Toad

Nigel and Marmalade help a toad with anxiety

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New short tomorrow!

This one has a spooky little character causing mischief.

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Nigel and Marmalde #65 - Sugar Mine

Nigel and Marmalade explore a sugar mine.

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Sketchbook Ideas

I like the little guy screaming “OIL”. I was wondering if there could be a There Will Be Blood type video one day. Anything stand out to you as a video idea?

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Nigel and Marmalade #64 - Helpline

Nigel and Marmalade help a hobbit over the phone

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How Patricia Was Born

The original inspiration for Patricia came from a photo I took in Glasgow museum. I then tried to draw a simplified version of it and that turned into Patricia!

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Nigel and Marmalade #62 - Cyclops

Nigel and Marmalade help a cyclops with an eye problem.

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Nigel and Marmalade #61 - Cooking With Worms

Nigel and Marmalade are following along with everyone’s favourite daytime cooking show: Cooking With Portals

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