NORTH-EAST names could soon be emblazoned among the credits of animated blockbusters like Monsters Inc and Ice Age thanks to a new course launched in the region.

The first 15 students have just enrolled on the BA (Hons) Animation course at Sunderland University - the first university degree of its type in the UK. The course has attracted international interest.

They are already learning to blend the latest computer technology with artistic flair to produce the sort of work that could soon appear in films, computer games and television graphics.

The degree will build on existing courses in design, model-making and illustration that have been taught at the university.

Two students recently went to work for Aardmans Animation, the makers of Wallace and Gromit, after graduating from Sunderland.

Lecturer Melanie Hani said: "Students will attend the famous Annecy Animation Festival in France as part of their course, and in their final year we hope they will be exhibiting their own work there."

Animation began in the early part of the last century and there are numerous methods - including cut-out (like the original South Park), two-dimensional illustration (The Simpsons), computer animation (Ice Age) and model animation (Wallace and Gromit). They are all taught at Sunderland.

The university's young animators are using the latest, industry-standard equipment, computers and software and are learning the basic principles of animation that all Disney animators learn.

Students already have some work on show at an exhibition at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens. The free exhibition, at The Open Space, runs until Sunday, February 23