The Tate Movie Project’s The Itch of the Golden Nit has entered the record books. The film has achieved a Guinness World Record for the most individual contributions to an animated film, with 1897 contributions. More than 34,000 children took part in workshops or joined the online movie studio to submit drawings and ideas to the project.

The film is the first of its kind – an animation made by and for children. Thousands of drawings, sound effects and story ideas by children from across the UK make up the action-packed, half hour animation as part of the Cultural Olympiad.

Thousands of children and their families will be in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 23 July to celebrate all things animation with multiple screenings of ‘The Itch of The Golden Nit’. It will be the first opportunity for the public to see the film on an open-air big screen, made possible by BP and as part of the London 2012 Open Weekend. Funded by Legacy Trust UK and BP, with additional support and resources from the BBC, The Itch of the Golden Nit has been brought together by Tate and the creative magic of Aardman Animations. Aardman currently hold the Guinness World Records for the most plasticine used in a feature film, the highest grossing stop-motion movie and the smallest stop-motion animation character.

Jane Burton, Creative Director for Tate, said: “We’re delighted to have been awarded a Guinness World Record for The Itch of the Golden Nit. We’ve been blown away by how many thousands of children have got involved in the Tate Movie Project. It’s down to their creativity and enthusiasm that we’ve ended up with such a fantastic film, and the World Record makes it even more special.”

The film will be shown at regional galleries over the summer and at Vue cinemas nationwide over the August Bank Holiday. An exhibition about the project with free screenings of the film runs until the end of August at Tate Modern.