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The Wind in the Willows – Cosgrove Hall

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JOHN HAMBLEY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF COSGROVE HALL PRODUCTIONS, TELLS HOW THEY APPROACHED THE ADAPTATION OF A CLASSIC BOOK INTO AN ANIMATED FILM.

The classics of English children’s literature are a privileged inheritance, treasures to be freely shared and lovingly passed on in the hope of fresh responses from new generations. Except for THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS. That, it seems, is a work which is taken immediately into the private and exclusive ownership of each one of its readers. How else to explain the reactions my colleagues and I have had to the news that we are turning Kenneth Grahame’s beautiful story into an animated film?

The Wind in the Willows – Cosgrove Hall

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Yet from the beginning, producer-director Mark Hall and his team have aspired to something beyond historical precision: that is to be faithful not simply to the book, but to the book’s enchantment.. That ambition has taken everyone into uncharted areas of their craft. Designers and model engineers have been challenged to produce characters who’s physical … Read more

The Wind in the Willows – Cosgrove Hall

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A number of puppet animators have written to Animator’s Newsletter about the difficulty they had in keeping figures stood up or moving them about without falling over. What the puppet department at Cosgrove Hall use is a sheet of metal, which can be obtained from any local sheet metal firm, 20 or 22 gauge. On this the sets are built and the puppets have a small metal plate on their feet. Then a magnet is placed under the table to hold them in position.

Cosgrove-Hall Productions (page 1 of 3)

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ANIMATED PRODUCTIONS FROM COSGROVE-HALL RANGE FROM THE TV SERIES “DANGERMOUSE” TO THE FEATURE LENGTH “WIND IN THE WILLOWS”.

FRANK BAKER LOOKS AT HOW THEY GOT STARTED.

The early part of Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall’s story reminds me of two other animators, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. As two students Brian and Mark met at Art College, and their paths were to cross again some years later when they both joined Granada Televisions’ Graphics Department.

Cosgrove-Hall Productions (page 2 of 3)

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Each model animation production shows advances in technique. By using modern materials Cosgrove Hall’s young designers and model engineers have taken animation into entirely new areas such as the facial movements and lip synchronization in THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS. Some of the techniques used by the company, including chemical formulae of modelling plastics and the design features of the puppet skeletons, are trade secrets.

Cosgrove-Hall Productions (page 3 of 3)

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Taking fourteen months from conception to completion, once again the Cosgrove Hall mark of quality shows through. This cartoon special tells a wonderful magical tale in the Walt Disney tradition with that extra punch that has been lacking in all the recent Disney features.
The characters are many in this cartoon but each holds his own.

The Brussels Super 8 International Film Festival 1983

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I hope I have a fairly open mind about experimental work, I like to see people trying something new, but I have to say that I found 90% of the experimental films to be a complete waste of film-stock. Obviously there were good examples, I thought one of the very best films in the competition was an experimental film.

The Brussels Super 8 International Film Festival 1983

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Along with all the routine pixillation, I had the pleasure of seeing the best example I’ve seen anywhere. It was called BONNE SOIREE. This Canadian film showed a man sitting down in front of his television. The camera was kept in one position. We saw the back of the man in his armchair and across the room in front of him was his television. A series of bizarre and very funny pixillated events then took place between the man and the television set – none of which he appears to notice. It used the technique to good effect, and was just the right length – stopping while we were still enjoying the film.

The Shadows Move – the 1950s (page 1 of 4)

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IN PART FIVE KEN CLARK TAKES THE STORY OF BRITISH ANIMATION INTO THE 50s AND THE PRODUCTION OF BRITAIN’S FIRST FEATURE LENGTH CARTOON FILM No survey of British animation would be complete without a mention of the many small studios who survived the war and continued to produce films well into the peace that followed: … Read more

The Shadows Move – the 1950s (page 2 of 4)

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With the collapse of G.B. Animation, British Animated Productions and Signal Films and the defection of Anson Dyer’s animators, the field was narrowing. It is not surprising therefore, that an American sponsor should turn his attention to the strongest remaining studio. Louis de Rochemont and his associates approached Halas & Batchelor with a somewhat surprising proposition. George Orwell’s book ‘Animal Farm’ had been published in 1945 and they believed it could work in cartoon film form. The project was an immense undertaking for H & B and their partner Allan Crick. In order to honour their other commitments and do justice to the new contract the studio began to expand, and a start was made on the pre-production planning which was to take them 16 weeks.

The Shadows Move – the 1950s (page 4 of 4)

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The same meticulous attention was paid to Matyas Seiber’s musical score. Seiber was neither a newcomer nor a slouch when it came to composing music for cartoon films. He had joined the studio during the war, scoring the M.O.I. film DIGGING FOR VICTORY (1942), JUNGLE WARFARE; (1943), the famous ‘Charley’ series, and many others including a daring abstract fantasy titled MAGIC CANVAS (1948).

Metamorphosis with Cut-outs

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Someone once said to me during a discussion on the various types of animation, that the cut out type is certainly a cheap way for the would be animator to start with, practice the art and gain experience, but it is very restrictive when it came to more advanced techniques, such as metamorphosis (the change of shape from one object to another).

Metamorphosis with Cut-outs

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A hand and face were then inched in and the fish “popped” into the mouth, and when pulled out the fish was but a skeleton as depicted in childrens’ comics with a cat and dustbin.

The fish skeleton, when placed upright looked remarkably like a pine tree, and this in fact was its next shape complete with snow on top by the simple expedient of covering the bones by branches until fully built up.

What’s Up Doc?

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CHRIS PEARSON outlines the history of Warner Brothers’ famous carrot-chewing wabbit.

When Buggs Bunny first hit the screen, in 1938, he was, as one might expect, totally different from the Warner Brothers character that we know today. In Porky’s Hare Hunt, the unofficial debut of the first prototype rabbit, Porky Pig goes hunting with his dog and before long they come across the abject of their expedition: rabbits. Unfortunately for Porky, however, the rabbit he and his dog choose as the victim of their sport turns out to be a totally obnoxious and completely insane creature who proceeds to drive the two as batty as he is. with Porky eventually winding up in hospital.

What’s Up Doc?

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The farce that follows is typical of the now-familiar latter-day hunting cartoons with Bugs and Daffy, with Bugs continually eluding his pursuer in much the same way as he eluded Porky Pig in his primeval debut. Elmer is just as stupid as we all remember him to be (BUGS: What’s Up Doc?:

The photo’s of Eadweard Muybridge

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MORRIS LAKIN LOOKS AT TWO BOOKS: ‘ANIMALS IN MOTION’ AND ‘THE HUMAN FIGURE IN MOTION’

Previously, if you had suggested to me that a nineteenth century photographer could be of help to me in animating I would have been rather dubious about it. But Eadweard Muybridge was more than a photographer, he was an innovator and a student of motion, the first man able to prove that he had made accurate assertions about how animals moved. It may seem incredible to us but a hundred years or so ago people did not know how animals moved for sure, until Muybridge came along and utilised dry plate photographic techniques to study the subject.

The photo’s of Eadweard Muybridge

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Of course, you need not only copy life, but in the process of characterization you need a real starting point to work from. Walt Disney made a comment to that effect (but you can read all about that in ‘Disney Animation – the Illusion of Life’- for yourself). From the Muybridge books you are able to appreciate the balance and weight of real creatures in motion.

The photo’s of Eadweard Muybridge

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An interesting incident is captured an plate 74. A pigeon has wandered in front of a performing acrobat and has been scared into flight and been captured by the cameras. There are more intentional studies of ‘Animals in Motion‘ in the so titled second book.

The photo’s of Eadweard Muybridge

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Ever heard of the Ricochet being applied as a term in animal motion? Well, it is the word used to describe the progress of a kangaroo (boooing!)

At first sight, the book says, it appears that no rules can be drawn about an animal leaping, but there are general tendencies which are illustrated.

Gallery by Mark Fuller

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MARK FULLER TALKS ABOUT THE ANIMATION COURSE AT LIVERPOOL POLYTECHNIC AND THE MAKING OF HIS FILM ‘GALLERY’

After three years at Liverpool Polytechnic under the guidance of Ray Fields, I feel I am only now beginning to benefit from his seemingly unique philosophy concern¬ing the development of a young film maker.

Gallery by Mark Fuller

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To move away from a reliance on technical understanding and rational thought I feel is not necessarily a mistake at times, and has for many proved profitable in terms of develop¬ment of the true spirit of art and ideas, the awareness and depth of vision that can be liberated from areas below the conscious self, where true creativity originates, can take art, and animation as the new art form, away from its traditional portrayal of life, which has been my grounding up to now, towards a more internal approach hopefully with depth of meaning universally.

Gallery by Mark Fuller

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There are obvious ideas of being a spectator, which I hope I have recovered from now, which is also suggested in the title, this I think came from my interest at the time in existentialist ideas found in the outsider. Apart from this as an influence it was quite a personal film, which I am aware of now finishing college, has its pitfalls, for if the work is too precious or only understood by close friends it plays a very limited role, something I would not wish, even though it is only personal experiences and immediate surroundings that can be of real value, as source for me to comment upon with feeling.

The making of Busby

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‘BUSBY’ WAS CHOSEN AS THE MOST POPULAR FILM AT THE ANIMA FESTIVAL HELD LAST SEPTEMBER. GEORGE DANIELS GIVES US THE BACKGROUND TO THE FILM. I don’t know why I wanted to pay tribute to a man who, 50 odd years ago was well known for his unique musical direction and dance routines, the like of … Read more

Dragon’s Lair

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Animation enters the gaming arena

Animation history is about to have another “first.” The videogame phenomenon, which recently invaded the animation world via Saturday morning and computer animation graphics, is about to feel the wrath of the animated drawing, itself, as DRAGON’S LAIR premieres this summer (Refers to 1983 in USA).

Dragon’s Lair

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Developed by Advanced Micro Computer Systems, distributed by Cinematronics, and animated by the Don Bluth Studio, DRAGON’S LAIR uses the laserdisc to accomplish what computer graphics have yet to do, create life-like animation for arcade games.

Australian animation in the 1970s

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A lot has been written about the recent Australian cinema “breakthrough” (as we like to call it). In the early ‘70’s the Australian Government offered attractive incentives to film investors who suddenly found it a worthwhile proposition to make feature-length films in Australia, and about Australians.

Australian animation in the 1970s

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Yoram Gross, an Israeli born animator, who immigrated to Australia after founding an important puppet animation studio in Israel, has produced a considerable number of successes.

What is ASIFA

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ASIFA was formed in 1960 by a group of professional animators to co-ordinate and further the interest of this dynamic medium.

Edinburgh Film Festival 1983

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Another interesting show was the student animation, ranging from the trailer for the National Film Schools next epic “1884”, very polished, Disney type animation, to some self indulgent experimental films.

The Shadows Move – G.B. Animation

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In 1944, the Rank Group set up a small cartoon unit, lust six people and a tea-boy. This little group joined forces with G.B. Instructional Films, and became the nucleus of a much grander organisation: G.B. Animation.