Halas & Batchelor's The Owl and the Pussy-cat

The Owl and the Pussy-cat is a 1952 short films by Halas & Batchelor, designed by Brian Borthwick. It was made to be shown in stereoscopic 3D at the Festival of Britain, and is historically significant as Europe's first stereoscopic animation.

Signs of the times: Arts Council England, Animate Projects and spending cuts

One of the casualties of the government cuts announced on the 20th of October is Arts Council England, which will lose nearly 30% of its budget. This was pre-empted in September by David Shrigley's viral film An Important Message About the Arts, which makes a case for the importance of arts funding.

The Arts Council, of course, is a benefactor of Animate Projects. Animate Projects is still funding films but its backbone, the AnimateTV scheme - around in one form or another since 1991 and responsible for such gems as Petra Freeman's Jumping Joan, Jonathan Hodgson's Feeling My Way, Run Wrake's Rabbit and David Shrigley & Chris Shepherd's Who I Am and What I Want - has been on hiatus throughout 2010 due to Channel 4 holding back its arts funding.

Keep an eye on the APEngine blog for further developments.

Seventies public information films: abrasive wheels and young workers

Here are stills from three early seventies public information films on the subject of workplace saftey. First is Abrasive Wheels from 1971.

"Mmm! Mmmmf mmff!"
"What's up with you? I'm trying to do some grinding."
"Mmm gmmmd."

"Oh, the guard! Well, alright."

"Mmm mheel mmst."
"A wheel burst, did it? Well, you can still hear with the other one, can't you?"

"Mmmmh!"
"Yes, it's safe now."

"Mmmh mmhh! Mmmh mmhh!"
"What now?"
"Mmmmmmmmmmhh!"
"Oh, your hands got pulled in by the wheel, did they?"

"Serves you right. You should have shoved the rest up close to the wheel, like this. A one eighth-inch gap."

"MMMMMMMMHH!"
"'Ere! Leave me alone, I want to get on!"


"Mmmmh! Mmmhh mmmmmh!"
"Oh, I can't understand."

"Oh, the goggles! Well, all right."

"But what's all the fuss? I've never known anyone hurt by one of these."







Next is Young Workers - Fooling About from 1973.

"When he left school, Dennis Trout,
liked most of all to clown about."



"But on factory floor, the tricks of Dennis,
to his mates became a menace."



"For instance, a compressed air hose, a useful tool,
But deadly handled by a fool."


"For metal filings in the eye,
Can very often blind a guy."



"To throw a rag may seem fun,
Yet cause a mate to crush a thumb."


"So on factory floor, don't be a berk,
Keep your tricks for after work."







And finally, Young Workers - Machinery, also from 1973.

"This chap is a fiddler."

"Er, no, not that kind. Let me explain."


"This is a machine. Quite harmless when operated by a trained operator."

"Oh, most impressive! Thank you, sir."

"Now, the fiddler has not been told or taught how to use the machine."

"But he's going to fiddle. Fiddle with this, fiddle with that, and..."


"Oh, dear."


"So, at work, don't fiddle with machinery you haven't been trained to use."