Published between 1982 and 1995
D. J.: On your show reel all the commercials have a different style. Which one is your particular style? T. W.: We don’t have a style. That is part of the Animus philosophy. Our style is the animation quality. People working here have a strong drawing ability. If you are capable of controlling the co-ordination … Read more
D. J.: It’s nice when you see the end result. T. W.: It is if you feel you are progressing. Running a studio is a heavy responsibility. I was much happier as an animator without the responsibility but as an animator working for somebody else there was no way I could do what I wanted … Read more
Bob Godfrey asserted his independence when he left the comparatively safe haven of W.H. Larkins and became self-employed in company with Keith Learner. Although we did not know it then, they were soon to be joined by Vera Linnecar and Nancy Hanna, to become the four corner posts of Biographic Cartoon Films Ltd. Bob won … Read more
A number of films which might have been made by Disney or Fleischer in the early days are now being made by people like Stephen Spielberg. Live-action films dominated by special effects are edging further and further into areas once the sole preserve of the animation studios. On the other hand, subjects that should be … Read more
K.C.: You mean… the narration suffers in translation? B.G.: Yes! Especially puns and ‘English’ jokes. And even the English voices have proved to be a drawback. Richard Briers has a very English voice for the Roobarb series, and then there is my own voice for Hemy’s Cat… K.C.: I think the timing ofa gag suffers … Read more
Brian Sibly recalls the veteran Disney animator, Wolfgang Reitherman, who died earlier this year (1985). It is a great many years ago now that I played truant from school and sneaked into my local cinema to see Walt Disney’s Fantasia for the first time, yet I recall the occasion as if it were yesterday. Since, … Read more
Two years later saw the emergence of a very different style of animation in 101 Dalmations, co-directed by Reitherman with Hamilton Luske and Clyde Geronimi. Many of the elaborate techniques and artistic embellishments, which had been a feature of every animated film since Snow White, were now abandoned; but the revolutionary Xerox system of transferring … Read more
After 40 years in the animation business Arthur Humberstone is still going strong. He was involved with the feature films Animal Farm, The Yellow Submarine, Watership Down and The Plague Dogs. David Jefferson went along to Arthur’s home studio to find out more about his approach to animation. I first met Arthur Humberstone in 1977 … Read more
Arthur went on to become a valued member of the G.B. Animation Unit and when the studio closed, ex-Disney animator, David Hand presented Arthur with a personally signed photograph of Walt Disney, which is a very rare and treasured item. He went back to Derby and took a job as a newspaper cartoonist and his … Read more
Top: The unit of Watership Down. Bottom: Watership Down model sheets. page 1 | page 2 | page 3| page 4 | page 5