Published between 1982 and 1995
Names other than the familiar Halas & Batchelor rose to the fore, though to be fair, H & B were the first to make an animated series for TV. In fact, work commenced on no less than three separate series in 1960, they we Habatales, Foo-Foo, and Snip & Snap. Australian Bob Godfrey co-directed the … Read more
Arthur Humberstone‘s rotoscoped rabbit guide to animation for ‘Watership Down’ page 1 | page 2 | page 3| page 4
“John Hubley started the film as director, and we did an hour of the film which was not usable. An hour! I can tell you that was deadly. You see, John was here for three weeks and away for four, back for four and away for three, and he alternated like that, but it didn’t … Read more
By David Coleman “You’re going to give a talk on animation at my school next Friday.” “Eh? What?” “Well I told the head¬mistress you would, so that’s that. There are disadvantages to having a sister who’s a primary school teacher. Now and then she wants a zoetrope built – or repaired. She will appropriate one’s … Read more
The Channel 4 logo is a familiar sight to channel 4 viewers. John Halas tells the fascinating story of how it came into being. Nobody would deny the usefulness of a well-considered corporate identity. Major industrial organisations have recognized its value. Corporate identities for television companies, however, are different. Television logos appear on the TV screen … Read more
The on screen sequence of the Channel 4 Logo. The 4 explodes and then reforms. page 1 | page 2 Printed in Animator’s newsletter Issue 10 (Autumn 1984)
By Ken Clark and Richard Taylor In the last edition of Animator (No. 9) I gave the impression that the credit for the Barclays Bank cartoons made at the Larkins Studios in the Fifties was due to the work of Beryl Stevens; in doing so, I belittled the contribution made by others. Richard Taylor has … Read more
The animator’s pencil drawings from Richard Taylor’s film Swimsong. In the finished film no outline was used. page 1 | page 2 Printed in Animator’s newsletter Issue 10 (Autumn 1984)
Jessica Langford runs an animation workshop in Edinburgh and much of her work involves contact with the local schools. She gives us the benefit of her experience. Animation is one of the simplest, most creative and exciting ways of making a film – and these are some of the main reasons why young people respond … Read more
Fred Wells tells us of his simple method of adding mouth movements to cut-out animation. My knowledgeable friend (we all have one) then suggested that I might find lip synch. a more difficult exercise for cut out animation. Unable to resist a challenge (the mark of an animator, I subsequently found) I picked up the … Read more
Film student lain McCall tells us of a film he made on the animation course at Liverpool Polytechnic. For the last two years, I have been involved with the many aspects of single frame film making. Whilst being conscious of the traditional concepts of animation, I am acutely aware of the infinite possibilities of expression … Read more
Frame enlargements from Christmas for Sale. Original drawings were pencil on paper and then filmed on 16mm negative stock so that the projected picture is white lines on a black background. page 1 | page 2 Printed in Animator’s newsletter Issue 10 (Autumn 1984)
By Ian Witworth of Cosgrove-Hall Animation. Animals moving have a definite pattern to the order in which they move their legs. Study the dog walking – when the front left leg is moving forward the back right leg is also in motion. The sequence of the dog running shows that the front legs begin to … Read more
Animator. Summer 1984. Issue number 9. Front cover illustration: A frame from a storyboard for 7UP by Speedy Cartoons. (See Using Storyboards for Cartoon Animation) Printed in Animator’s newsletter Issue 9 (Summer 1984)
By Frank Baker. TV Cartoons Limited are better known by their initials TVC. Formed in the summer of 1957 by George Dunning and John Coates, like all small animation studios its earlier days were spent on TV. commercials, winning many prizes for advertising at international festivals, but time was also found to work on less … Read more
With the success of the Beatles cartoon series TVC went on to produce what is now considered a major landmark in the history of animated films. THE YELLOW SUBMARINE 1968 made on a very modest budget and with only 11 months elapsing between the first character designs and it s London premiere, it met with … Read more
In 1981 TVC were again chosen as one of the animation studios to produce sequences for HEAVY METAL THE MOVIE these being soft landing and the twenty minute DEN sequence. Jimmy Murikami the director of the soft landing episode decided to use cut-out animation of a Corvette car and driver taken from specific angles which … Read more
THE SNOWMAN met with much critical acclaim and was nominated for an American Oscar and has won the British Academy Award for the best children’s film and more recently the Design and Art Directors Award for the best animation. The film was to have been shown on the cinema screen as the support film to … Read more
By Ken Clark. The feverish activity that went into the making of Britain’s first entertainment cartoon feature ANIMAL FARM ended, leaving in its wake the pertinent question: What now? Cinema audiences were on the decline. Home television, in the shape of ‘Aunty Beeb’ (BBC—TV), offered a cosy alternative to turning out on a wet night … Read more
Much had to be accomplished in little time for scant returns. The TV figure was born; chunky little figures standing about 2—3 heads high. Entertainment series for children employed all the old short-cut methods of limited animation with simple effective draughtsmanship. During the 60’s Commercial boom time, big money was made by the enterprising, and … Read more
In the Fifties, United Productions of America (U.P.A.) had enjoyed a spectacular success with their new style of animation, typified by the Gerald McBoing Boing shorts. The style was distinctly reminiscent of work done at Larkins and 11 & B, nevertheless, U.P.A. richly deserved the accolades. Flushed with success they decided to open a branch … Read more
Sheila Graber is a well known professional animator whose work is often seen on television. She gives us some tips on getting our characters moving. These are not meant to be definitive methods of timing two and four legged movement they are just based on sequences that I’ve done in the past which I have … Read more
RUNNING TOWARDS CAMERA: can easily be done in as few as a dozen drawings. Use a vanishing point: and draw a few guide lines from it to establish the size of your character. Starting with the smallest let the figure grow step by step. When filming zoom into centre field over the last two or … Read more
David Jefferson looks at the late night feature film programmes presented at the Cambridge Animation Festival held September 1983. A strong bunch of films were chosen for the feature section of the Cambridge Festival. Some were familiar works such as THE PLAGUE DOGS and FRITZ THE CAT, others were brand new and not yet generally … Read more
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TWICE UPON A TIME uses an animation process called ‘LUMGE’ animation. This is a development of cut out animation using backlit coloured tissue paper. It gives the colours a bright, clean look. A special rostrum camera was developed for the film that uses a system of mirrors to combine up to five levels of images … Read more
A comment by Ken Clark Computer games are limited in their ability to produce a graphic display by the K-factor. 16K cannot be expected to generate complicated pictures in full colour. Yet, the public is being coaxed into buying and using home computers by means of a plethora of games. While this is an excellent … Read more
David Coleman tells us about Animated Black Theatre and Camera movements. Most of you have seen live-action “black theatre” puppet shows, where the stage and the puppeteers are completely dressed in black and can thus manipulate the puppets in space (without the need for strings, sticks or other obtrusive equipment) while themselves remaining “invisible”. It … Read more
In one scene from “Vulture” in which each of the three characters is filmed on a separate exposure, we see in the far distance a man in red (i.e. an element in the composition that remains on an implied “ground”) watching the vulture – on the same level to start with – spreading his wings … Read more
By Ian Whitworth. Ian Whitworth is an animator with Cosgrove Hall Productions. He begins a series about getting good movement in animated drawings. Tips that I would like to pass on are the importance of keying your action, good key poses can carry your animation if your in-betweens are a little out. Also don’t just … Read more
page 1 | page 2 Printed in Animator’s newsletter Issue 9 (Summer 1984)
Walt Disney Productions are celebrating Donald Duck’s 50th anniversary this year (1984). Chris Pearson looks at Donald’s long and eventful career. (Mickey Mouse is) so much of an institution that we’re limited in what we can do with him. If we have Mickey kicking someone in the pants, we get a million letters from mothers … Read more
The above statement, published in an issue of DISNEY NEWS, the studio magazine, remains as the most mythical of all the claims to Donalds creation but, judging by Donald’s irascible nature, is probably the most appropriate. It is however, pure Disney legend. As I have previously mentioned, the inspiration for Donald’s voice came from an … Read more
Donald’s bombastic nature provided a welcome antidote to theatre audiences who up until then had only seen mindlessly cheerful characters like Mickey the Mouse, Flip the Frog and Bosko the Blackboy in happy-go-lucky situations. In such films as the all-time classic THE BAND CONCERT (1935) Donald would manage to steal the show time and time … Read more
Daisy Duck first entered Donald’s life in MR. DUCK STEPS OUT (1940) in which our hero’s courageous attempts to impress the love of his life are totally ruined once again by his nephews. Daisy was never a particularly interesting character, serving only as an object for Donald’s efforts much in the same way the machines … Read more
By Ray Cowell. I see that getting ideas for cartoons is the biggest problem with most amateur animators. I find that I usually have an abundance of ideas but finishing them off and bringing them into being is my biggest let-down. I find that one way of getting ideas for scripts is to use the … Read more
David Jefferson tells of the advantages of using storyboards and looks at two professional storyboards done for TV adverts. It has been said that the storyboard was invented at the Walt Disney studios. This may be true although it is hard to imagine a cartoon film being made without first having the scenes mapped out … Read more
It shows the animator what the scriptwriter and the director have in mind. Again it is much better to get the interpretation of a scene sorted out at the start rather than trust to luck that the animator sees it along the same lines as the director. What if you are the scriptwriter, animator and … Read more
Babycham Party storyboard by Speedy Cartoons. page 1 | page 2 | page 3 Printed in Animator’s newsletter Issue 9 (Summer 1984)
Animator’s Newsletter Spring 1984 Issue No. 8 Illustration: Scene from “The Three Knights” made by Mark Baker at W.S.C.A.D.