Farewell to the Animate scheme

A few months ago I posted about the budget cut received by Arts Council England, and the possible effect it'd have on the redoubtable Animate scheme, which has been with us since 1991. Well, the word is out:

We are very sorry to announce that Animate is likely to close down at the end of March 2011, following Arts Council England’s decision not to fund our 2011 programme.

Animate began in 1990 as an Arts Council/Channel 4 scheme and has been supported by the Arts Council England continuously for 21 years.

We set up Animate Projects four years ago, following the sudden death of Dick Arnall. animateprojects.org is a unique resource, with more than 140 films, many by key figures in British animation, including 11 British Animation Awards winners and five BAFTA nominations, as well as interviews, essays and background production materials.

We are very proud of the work that we have been able to support, and would like to thank all the animators, artists, filmmakers, writers, and partners that we’ve worked with over the years, and to everyone who has taken an interest in our work.

Our programme continues, with new works online, until March, and we hope to keep the website live for some time after that.

Whilst we are exploring options for beyond March, we would appreciate any expressions of support that might help.

Thoughts on the news can be found in the blog post's comments section. A sample:

Petra Freeman: I can't believe the Arts Council is axing all funding for Animate.This is an organisation that has worked tirelessly to support and promote animation. Animate succeeds in bringing out the very best from the artists they commission by their genuine enthusisam and belief in what they do. Animate was started by the wonderful Dick Arnall who knew what a vital contribution animation makes to the world art scene . The films made are shown worldwide and are always inspiring and challenging.

ANIMATE IS UNIQUE. ARTS COUNCIL YOU ARE MAKING A MISTAKE.




Clare Kitson: The Arts Council’s decision to stop funding Animate is the most perverse I have heard for some time.

World animation has now discovered ways of making money, and fortunes are being invested in new technologies and mass production and this is great. But somewhere along the way funding for the development and nurturing of innovation has got squeezed out – EXCEPT, until now, via Animate.

These days I am frequently asked to speak about how Channel 4 was for a certain period able to develop new animation talent and new approaches in form and content, and it has become more and more obvious to me how absolutely central Animate was to that project. For the extraordinary quality and variety of the work but also because it is an extremely low-budget scheme and therefore better able to weather economic buffetings than our more lavish individual direct commissions: it has thus had a longer life than any other animation initiative. I can also second Mario Cavalli’s comments on the Animate blog, attesting to ‘the broader economic benefits’ of the scheme, ‘stimulating commercial spin-off projects, job creation and exports.’ I have witnessed this at first-hand, as well as hearing the laments of professionals around the world as to the paucity nowadays of this kind of stimulus to creative inputs into commercial projects.

I can also, incidentally, testify to the high esteem in which the scheme is held all over the world. Of course its very many festival successes are also proof of this.

I gather that Channel 4, having suffered its own economic problems, was just gearing up to move back into this area, with Animate a key component of its animation activity. With Channel 4 on the brink of renewing its backing to this unique scheme it would be all the more tragic if the Arts Council were to walk away at this stage.




Samantha Moore: This is very sad news, and an awful, retrograde step for animation/experimental film funding in particular and our arts culture in general.

Experimental work will be deprived of a place of support, information and reflection if Animate is discarded.




Roz Mortimer: I'm writing this from the USA where my colleagues were literally dumbfounded to hear that the Arts Council would cease to support such a brilliant organisation.

Over the years animate has nurtured so many British experimental filmmakers, not just by funding new work, but also via their innovative distribution and excellent websites. animateprojects.org and APEngine are invaluable resources for discussion and dissemination. A retrograde step indeed.




Max Hattler: I am deeply shocked. This is such sad news for art animation and experimental film worldwide. And it's another nail in the coffin of (once Great) Britain.

Pulling the funding only four years after Dick Arnall's passing is such an insult to his lifelong work of championing artistic animation. It is also a huge smack in the face for Gary Thomas, Jacqui Davies et al who did such a brilliant job at taking over from Dick, keeping his vision alive, and establishing the amazing www.apengine.org, an indispensable resource and source of inspiration.

What's next? Soon there won't be much left to axe, nor anything to write home about, Britain.




Apichatpong Weerasethak: I am saddened to imagine that Animate Projects will cease to exist. It has been one of the most important organizations that contribute so much to the contemporary media culture. I have worked with its team for the past 3 years and can testify to their professionalism and devotion to cinema and art. Many of my peers in Thailand and abroad are great admirers of Animate Projects and look at it as a model for creativity and education. I wish I could convince the Arts Council of England to spare a moment to reconsider their decision. With its solid portfolio and staff, Animate Projects cannot be replicate easily in the future.




Barry Macey: A sad day for me and you guys at Animate Projects. I've enjoyed viewing the Animate films over the years and would like to extend a huge thank you to the late Dick Arnall, for it was he who championed innovation with such vigour and gave me my first job in animation to boot, probably because - all those years ago - we were wearing the same 'Take6' jacket!'

70s public information films: junctions, caravans, and axe-wielding maniacs

Here's Junction Lanes, a 1974 public information film.

"Hey, Dad, you know the traffic lights at the top?"
"Mmm?"

"You know if you want to go straight on, the offside lane's favourite?"
"Is it?"

"Well, today the other lane cleared first."
"Oh yes?"
"Well, in a case like that, is it alright to change lanes?"

"Not if something's coming up in the other lane it isn't."

"Oh. Well, I won't do it again, Dad - not in your car, anyway."

"Ooooh!"
"I'm off to the Himalayas, Dad!"

"When approaching lights, pick your lane early and stick to it."
"I won't do it again, Dad, honest!"








Next up is 1976's Caravan Instability (or, as the narrator at the start has it, Claude Goes to the Seaside: A Cautionary Tale for Caravaners)

There, think I've got everything in. Heh-hey, I'm looking forward to our holiday, aren't you dear?"
"Yes, dear."


"Just a moment - with all this weight at the back I'm not safe to be taken anywhere."
"Oh, do stop fussing, Claude."
"You mark my words!"



"Stop!"


"That's done it - the whole lot's shifted up front. You'll never manage, now."
"Hey, hold your head up, Claude! You're making it very hard to steer."

"Oi! There's a speed limit for caravans, you know!"
"Alright, alright, don't panic, I'm putting the breaks on."

"Hey, pack that in, Claude!"
"It's not my fault, I told you we were overloaded!"

"Next time you take a caravan on holiday, please, don't overload it and keep within the speed limit."









And finally Door Chain, also from 1976, which features a modified version of the song Green Door.

"Who can it be? Perhaps..."


"It's your rich aunt Annie who you love to see, outside the front door..."

"...or your loving husband who has lost his key outside the front door..."

"Now I wonder who is it going to be outside the front door..."

"But stop! On the other hand, could it be that..."

"...there's a real gone con man who'll take you in, outside the front door?"



"Or a mad, bad axe-man who is deep in sin outside the front door?"


"So put the chain on the door before you let them in through the front door."



"See who's there first before you open the door - put the chain on."

The life and underdocumented death of Cosgrove Hall

Founded in 1976, Cosgrove Hall arguably took over from Halas & Batchelor as the popular face of British animation, a role which has since been taken on by Aardman. The studio is best-known for Danger Mouse and its spin-off Duckula - certainly these two appear to have garnered the most international attention compared to the rest of the company's library.

In 2009 it was reported that the studio was on the brink of closure and, sure enough, it folded soon afterwards. A lot of people seemed to miss the news - this 2010 article honouring Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall states that "Cosgrove Hall is still home to many talented animators".

Andy Fanton, who pitched a pilot starring his Carroty Kid character to the studio, wrote a blog post on the closure:

Personally speaking, I find this very sad indeed. I had the very good fortune to work with some of the talented folk at Cosgrove Hall, when I was developing my Carrotty Kid idea for TV. The people there were lovely and enthusiastic, and really wanted to produce great cartoons despite being starved of cash at nearly every turn. The studio spent much of it’s final years as a ‘studio-for-hire’, producing work on behalf of other companies, but the desire to try and return to what they did best, in producing their own, original shows was clearly and passionately evident. It’s just a pity that they weren’t given any real chance to do so.

So, a sad and ignoble end to one of the country’s finest animation houses, and another kick in the gut to a home-grown animation industry which was already on the floor. Surely our kids deserve better than nothing but imports and a diet of reality TV talent shows? I’d like to think so, and if you feel the same why not join up and support the Save Kids’ TV campaign?

Enthusiasts of the studio's earlier work had been showing concern for some time. The fansite Cosgrove Hall Ate My Brain (which hasn't been updated since 2006, but is still worth a read) comments:

[Avenger Penguins] just wasn't as lovably quirky as previous CH cartoons, even though it was more technically accomplished. This may have something to do with CH's parent company Thames losing its broadcasting licence in the early 1990s, leaving CH in the poo. Their eventual rescuing by Pearson TV and Anglia seemed to lead not only to a name change (Cosgrove Hall Productions to Cosgrove Hall Films), but also a change in direction, as the shows started to become more "mainstream" and less silly. Or maybe I'm just bitter because I miss Brian Trueman, I dunno.

Will the studio's latter works such as Roger to the Rescue and Fifi and the Flowertots become as fondly-remembered as the likes of Danger Mouse and Duckula? Only time will tell.

Anyone interested in this studio should read this online archive of a 1986 issue of Animator magazine, dedicated almost entirely to Cosgrove Hall.

Trade Tattoo by Len Lye

Trade Tattoo is a promotional short made by Len Lye in 1937 for the GPO. The film utilises live action footage, composited so that it blends in and out of Lye's abstract animation.

More information about it can be found at Screenonline.