London 2012 Olympics: How the BBC's new opening titles compare

The BBC has revealed its opening titles, with music by Elbow, for its Games coverage. Telegraph Sport looks at how its animated athletes compare to previous sequences and how foreign broadcasters are promoting London 2012. Love them or hate them, the BBC’s animated athletes will become unavoidable over the coming weeks. First seen at half-time in the Euro 2012 final, the opening title sequence and its accompanying soundtrack mark a continuation of the broadcaster’s approach from four years ago.

Like in Beijing, the corporation has commissioned a contemporary band to compose its theme for the Olympics - Mercury Prize-winners Elbow follow in the footsteps of Damon Albarn, the man behind Gorillaz, who created the music to accompany the BBC’s ‘Monkey Movie’ titles in 2008.

A full-length trailer premiered on Tuesday night on BBC One and is based on a “Stadium UK” concept devised by creative agency Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe Y&R. Production was outsourced to Red Bee Media, with animation by Passion Pictures.

It features animated athletes performing Olympic events around the country’s landmarks , such as sailing in front of the white cliffs of dover and gymnastics on the Millennium Bridge.

The music – titled ‘First Steps’ – will be available to download with profits going to Children in Need.

Viewers may recognise a similarity to another television advert by the same creative agency. Lloyds TSB’s latest ‘For the Journey’ adverts feature animated people carrying the Olympic torch around the UK. Their head of marketing, Gordon Lott, described the BBC’s trailer as “excellent” but jokingly added on twitter: “Can confirm Lloyds haven’t sponsored it.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4ViLiXA0E70