On a film-by-film basis, Derek Phillips was one of the most prolific contributors to the British independent animation scene of the sixties and seventies. The BFI Database covers Phillips' career from directing So Soon in 1960 to working as a camera operator on Henry's Cat in 1985. Between the two he directed dozens of short films and the 1980 TV series Aubrey; in 1992 he produced another series, Car-Toon with Little Brmm (also known as The Adventures of the Little Red Car).After this, he seems to have vanished from view; I don't know of any later projects that he worked on, and very little has been written about his animation.
A Passing Phase from 1966 is one of Phillips' earlier shorts. It suffers in comparison with Bruno Bozzetto's 1990 Grasshoppers, which is a wittier and punchier short with the same basic idea, although it could be argued that Phillips' film is more visually inventive.
1969's A Note from Above is a more minimalist film.
The Battle, from 1970. John Daborn provided the backgrounds.
I'm not sure when this one was made; the BFI database lists a 1974 film called The Losers [sic] Club and a short from 1982 called Welcome to the Loser's Club. The second sounds like some kind of remake, and because of its ambiguous title sequence this one could be either of them.
The minute-long Weird from 1973 consists of two strange characters meeting each other, falling about laughing and then walking their separate ways. Very short films such as this may account for Phillips' lengthy filmography.
A Concert from 1975 is a similarly brief film, clocking in at under a minute long. For some reason a number of sources give its title as "A" Concert.
