Published between 1982 and 1995
All in a day’s work Spider moved into the Top Ten Videos list in its first month, has run for over four years and sold more than 80,000 copies in the UK alone. Ken Clark visited director Graham Ralph. The road to success in animation is fraught with as many heartaches, setbacks and periods of … Read more
On completion of Rhinegold, Graham returned to commercials. Then one day his phone rang and Theresa asked him to meet her in a pub. Apparently, two people at the BBC had come up with the idea of a small boy in wellington boots, whenever he put them on he could wish for anything he wanted. … Read more
“Most of them are not employable straight away,” he explains, “Companies such as ours who do mainstream commercials require experienced personnel because there are so many professional requirements. No matter how talented newcomers may be they cannot possibly meet the standards. Jerry and I still direct, draw and animate and that is the problem, we … Read more
John Halas, OBE, FCSD, Hon BKSTS, FRSA. 16 April 1912 – 20 January 1995. With the passing of John Halas an era of animation has closed. It was the golden era when British animation became a dominant force in this medium. It would certainly not have happened without his influence. John was in many ways … Read more
A man with wisdom and experience to guide him By Ken Clark Abroad he is wined, dined and feted. Japan is one of his greatest admirers, with Albania and Bulgaria close followers. In America he excites great respect and where in recent times they have acted as host to his exhibition ‘Art & Animation’. A … Read more
Films made during the war years helped sharpen the intellect. In order to explain, to educate or to inform it was necessary to acquire in the short term a degree of knowledgeable expertise concerning the subject on the drawing board. From naval manoeuvres, fighting fires, growing your own vegetables, war on waste, post-war explanations re. … Read more
This project is the commencement of a life-long ambition for John Halas, and he is to be congratulated on the successful integration of conventional animation, diagrammatic stylisation, and computer generated visuals. My only criticism is of the scriptwriters. Faced with the monumental task of presenting a large part of the Bible in just half-an-hour while … Read more
One of the Nine Old Men of Disney Animation, Eric Larson, died on 25th October 1988 at the age of 83. He joined the Studio in 1933 and worked there all his life until ill-health forced him to retire soon after I had the pleasure of meeting him in the summer of 1985. He invited … Read more
By Paul Thomas. Somewhere in the womb… Suddenly, somewhere, somehow, In the land of D.N.A. Within the egg, x and y, The chromosomes did play. A gene of animation, Began its multiplication. 8 o’clock a.m. arrival… Arriving as I did, In the swinging 60s, fashion, hit parade. The building bricks of what was to be, … Read more
Animator Brian Borthwick is a rare combination of talents hiding behind a warm retiring personality, writes Ken Clark. After more than forty years in the business Brian Borthwick is an accomplished master of his craft. His modesty and dedication has endeared him to the profession at large but no more so than to his associates … Read more