Connery-voiced animation teaser draws scorn

A VIRAL marketing campaign for an animated feature film starring the voice of Sir Sean Connery has backfired, with fans giving it the thumbs down before it has even been released.

A three-minute "sizzler" reel for Sir Billi The Vet, which appeared on websites and Youtube, has had a poor reception, with pages of damning comments, criticising the quality of animation as "dated" and "awful" and attacking the dialogue and performances.

One viewer described it as "one of the most horrible animated films ever". Another said: "Nobody will pay money to see this… the animation is so bad" and "On behalf of my countrymen and of my city (Edinburgh), I humbly apologise to the rest of the world for this abomination."

Other posts questioned Edinburgh-born Connery's decision to take the leading role. "Why, Sean why?!?", one wrote, while another said: "That's it Sir Sean Connery, you can retire, I give up. If you're going to give this film some sort of credibility, you need to let the film business go."

The film, which has been five years in the making, revolves around an ageing, skateboarding veterinarian, Sir Billi, who, according to its producers Glasgow Animation, "goes above and beyond the call of duty fighting villainous policemen and powerful lairds in a battle to save an illegal fugitive – Bessie Boo the beaver".

Written and directed by Tessa Hartmann, who runs a public relations and events company, and her film director husband Sascha , it has a cast of big voiceover names, including Alan Cumming, Miriam Margolyes, Greg Hemphill, Ford Kiernan and Dame Shirley Bassey, who sings the title track.

Although no release date has been set, the company hopes it will come out next year.

However, the clip's poor reception has spread across the internet, with critical comments appearing on Twitter and gossip website Popbitch, as well as a number of film and animation blogs.

The influential US movie site Slashfilm slammed the animation as "a disparate collection of elements that lack any sense of unity or place", adding that the style and level of animation was ten years out of date.

Viral marketing has become a common tool for filmmakers, releasing teaser trailers and images of films in advance of their release to help generate interest in a project.

Yesterday Hartmann, who also runs the Scottish Fashion Awards, rejected the negative reviews. "I've seen some of them, but I think you have to take the rough with the smooth. It happened to Avatar. Everyone slagged it off years ago. It's just the industry. When you start playing with the big boys, you've just got to go with it. I'm not concerned in the slightest."

Hartmann also said she did not think the negative reaction would have any significant impact on the film when it came out. "They have to wait and see the whole product," she said.