Seventies and eighties public information films: Motorway Fog, Dazzling Man and Frozen Ponds

Here are some stills from three public information films from Richard Taylor's studio that deliver straightforward safety advice using very inventive visual techniques.

The first is 1970's Motorway Fog. It starts off with a conventional cartoon style which is replaced by something more unusual in the last few shorts.


"If a man with dangerous animals to feed went about it like this, you would not be surprised at the results."




"Then why on Earth, when it's foggy, do you drive down the motorway like this, straight into situations you can't see?"

"After all, it may not be just your neck."








Next, here's Dazzling Man from 1978 (starring, I believe, the voice of Derek Nimmo). Again, a straightforward cartoon style sits side-by-side with something more adventurous; this time, striking nighttime scenes.

"I used to have a terrible time with my headlights. I found they gave a lot of trouble to people I overtook, and traffic, and pedestrians coming towards me."









"Their effect was quite devastating."


"So I called in my doctor, Gus, the noted brain surgeon. He said there was nothing wrong with the adjustment, and then he gave me a switch which makes my lights more manageable. He calls it a dip-switch."




"Now, when I go out at night, I'm no trouble to anyone. My friends, who have cars, tell me they have dip-switches too."





Finally, the short but evocative Frozen Ponds from 1980, directed by Richard Taylor and Roger McIntosh.

"It was getting dark before they found him, sir. The body was caught under the ice you see."

"Well, his mother said he'd gone off to the pond with the others and she thought they'd be safe on their own, it wasn't that far away."

"It seems he was sliding out further than the others and the ice wasn't a thick there."

"What's that, sir? Oh, no, no, she said she'd never dreamed it was that dangerous."

"Frozen ponds can be dangerous. Always make sure you supervise children. Test the ice before they play on it, and make certain they stay close to the shore."