Press Release

REGENT STREET CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ILLUMINATE REGENT STREET

8 November 2006

The Regent Street Christmas lights were switched on last night by three of the actors that voiced the characters in the Dreamworks/Aardman feature film ‘Flushed Away’, Ian McKellen (Toad), Andy Serkis (Spike) and Shane Richie (Sid,) alongside the film’s producer and co-founder of Aardman Peter Lord. The switch-on event, held at the Regent Street flagship store of the British luxury fashion label Aquascutum, marks the beginning of the West End’s Christmas shopping season.

This year the Regent Street Christmas lights, sponsored by animation giants Dreamworks/Aardman, are created by revolutionary new technology, Electro-Luminescent (EL) lighting. The panels that feature the characters from “Flushed Away” are wafer thin, use 90 per cent less electricity than previously years and generate no heat. This technology allows areas of the design to flash on and off selectively or sequentially. This new advanced technology is a true first for Regent Street.  

Previous films from the Dreamworks/Aardman feature stable include Oscar®-winning hits ‘Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit’ and ‘Shrek’. ‘Flushed Away’, tells the story of a pampered pet rat who is flushed down the toilet from his penthouse apartment in West End beneath the streets of London, where he has to learn a whole new way of life. The film also stars the voices of Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman, Bill Nighy and Jean Reno.

In recent years over 40 new shops and restaurants have opened on Regent Street including Brooks Brothers, Timberland, Kurt Geiger, Quiksilver, Penhaligons, Apple, Ted Baker, Hobbs, Kipling, Mamas & Papas, Lacoste Habitiat Zara Home and Coast. The influx of contemporary brands join established Regent Street names such as Aquascutum, Liberty, Hamleys and Austin Reed.  All your Christmas shopping wish list gifts can be found in Regent Street  

Personal shoppers and VIP services can be found at Aquascutum, Liberty, Hawes & Curtis, Burberry, Austin Reed and Mama’s and Papa’s.

The breathtaking Christmas lights will be displayed from Tuesday 7 November 2006 to January 6, 2007. Flushed Away will be screened in cinemas from 1 December.