Know Your Europeans: UK

This Bob Godfrey short was produced by John Halas in 1994, one year before his death. As the title suggests it was part of a series, with other countries in Europe providing their own shorts along similar lines. Christoph Simon contributed the German short, Aidan Hickey the Irish film, and Abi Feijó the Portuguese cartoon; the series as a whole was produced by Halas and Andi Mindel. Unfortunately, the budget ran out, and the Irish and Portuguese shorts were never released (thanks to Andi Mindel for contacting me with this information).

A clip can be seen online here and the complete short is included on both this DVD compilation and the disc included with Vivien Halas and Paul Wells' book Halas & Batchelor Cartoons: An Animated History.


























(Anyone else think that skinhead looks a bit like William Hague?)

Gnomeo & Juliet: a pair of star-cross'd film industries

The world of animated features has seen quite a few UK/US co-productions in the last few years - Valiant, Corpse Bride, Flushed Away, Fantastic Mr. Fox and now Gnomeo & Juliet. Of course, all that really matters is that the crew from both countries involved do a good job - but those of us who are examining a specific country's animation are left with the fiddly task of finding out who did what. On the one hand we have Corpse Bride, generally thought of as an American film but actually animated at 3 Mills Studios in London; on the other we have Jan Svankmajer's Alice, listed by various websites as partially a UK production even though, as far as I can tell, British involvement was limited to funding from Channel 4.

And so, let's take a look at Gnomeo & Juliet. According to IMDB, the three production companies involved are Starz Animation, a US-based studio that also worked on The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything and Space Chimps; Touchstone; and Rocket Pictures, the British company launched by Elton John, who provided Gnomeo's soundtrack.

The film was directed by the Texan Kelly Asbury (Shrek 2, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron). IMDB lists nine writers, aside from Willie Shakespeare: John R. Smith and Rob Sprackling (Captain Butler, Mike Bassett: Manager) apparently wrote the original screenplay, which was subsequently amended by Mark Burton (Spitting Image, 2DTV, Wallace and Gromit), Kevin Cecil (Little Britain, Black Books), Emily Cook (Ratatouille), Kathy Greenberg, (US/Canadian series The L Word, Ratatouille), Andy Riley (the Bunny Suicides books), Steve Hamilton Shaw (worked as a producer on a couple of other Rocket Pictures efforts) and director Asbury.

Voice talents include James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Ozzy Osbourne, Michael Caine, Patrick Stewart, Matt Lucas, Julie Waters, Richard Wilson and, erm, Hulk Hogan. So, it looks like Gnomeo & Juliet is the result of American direction, American animation, a largely British cast, a largely British writing crew, and Elton John's music (and moolah).

Public information films: sick pay, school leaving and flues

I don't know who made any of these films, but I'd like to find out - particularly in the case of this one, Statutory Sick Pay, which is a lovely piece of cartooning.


"It's Harry, Mr. Barlow - wants a word."

"Harry? Where th'eck are thou?"


"At home sick, Mr. Barlow - I don't reckon I'll be in this week."


"Ooh, I'm right sorry to hear that, lad. (He's better off at home anyway, specially if it's catching)"


"Still, th'done the right thing getting in touch, so's I can get tha sick pay sorted."

"Britain's new sick bay scheme is now law, making it your employer's responsibility to give you the first eight weeks of your sick pay. Look for details in the press, or ask at works about the new arrangements."

"You ought to know, you know!"








Next, here's School Leaving Age, from the early seventies.


"Your dad - ninety years old, bless him - had to leave school at..."
"I left school at eleven!"



"It didn't give him much of a chance in life, did it?"
"Give me no chance in life!"



"This was all very wrong, and the school leaving age was raised."
"It was better for my lad! We made sure he stayed 'til he was fourteen!"

"Yes, it was better for you - but not good enough."

"To give my lad the right start in life he should have ha more schooling."
"That was going to cost money - and there were depressions and wars."
"I was at wipers! EEH-EEH-EEH-EEH-EEH!"


"But now, at long last, all children will get the chance they deserve. For in 1972, the school leaving age will be raised from fifteen to sixteen."


"You make sure that lad makes the best of it!"
"Be patinet with grandad - he's a bit jealous."
"Huh!"







And finally, Keep Flues and Chimneys Clear.



"The gas water heater in your bathroom is safe if used properly, but it needs a flow of air in and out."


"A blocked ventilator or a blocked flue can be dangerous. Keep flues an ventilators clear - always."