What Is Animation?
Veteran British animator Bob Godfrey (1921-2013) answers the question "What Is Animation?" His answer is by turns witty, iconoclastic and insightful and all the while is acted out by a tiny man in a bowler hat.
This hand-drawn film is based upon an interview recorded by Martin Pickles at Bob’s Acme Studio in South East London.
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Martin PicklesDirectorOde To Joy, The Curtains Of Zagra, Like Me, Only Better, The Time Travellers Of 1908, The Commuter, G.M.
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Martin PicklesWriter
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Martin PicklesProducer
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Bob GodfreyKey CastRoobarb And Custart, Henry's Cat, Great, Know Your Europeans - UK,
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Tom LoweSound DesignLike Me, Only Better
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Tanera DawkinsMusicSarah & Duck, Like Me, Only Better
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Project Type:Animation, Short
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Genres:Comedy, Factual
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Runtime:2 minutes 48 seconds
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Completion Date:August 6, 2014
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Production Budget:0 USD
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Country of Origin:United Kingdom
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Country of Filming:United Kingdom
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Quicktime HD
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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London Short Film FestivalLondon
January 15, 2015
UK Festival Premiere -
EUNIC – European Animation Week, Almaty, KazakhstanAlmaty, Kazakhstan
November 14, 2014
Kazakhstan Premiere -
New British Film FestivalMoscow
November 29, 2014
Russian Premiere -
Ottawa International Animation FestivalOttawa, Canada
September 29, 2014
North American Premiere -
Hiroshima International Animation FestivalHiroshima, Japan
August 23, 2014
Japanese Premiere -
Spotlights at Whirlygig CinemaLondon
August 6, 2014
UK Premiere
Originally from North Yorkshire, I spent several years at Oxford studying Classics, drawing cartoons, painting and designing theatre sets. I then moved to London to earn a living. But I ended up making independent films and working as a freelance animator.
Since 2009 I have curated and presented London Animation Club, a monthly social, networking and screening event for animators in the capital:
Bob Godfrey is an inspirational figure in my life and work. As a result of meeting him at Animafest Zagreb in 2004, I did an MA in Animation at the Royal College of Art and since then have specialized almost exclusively in hand drawn, 2D animation.
In 2008 I recorded a two-hour audio interview with Bob from which the narration of "What Is Animation?" is taken. We had talked of developing the ideas in it into a short film, but sadly this never happened as Bob was in his mid-eighties at the time. Very sadly, Bob passed away in 2012.
In 2013, Bob's family put out a call for short animations based on colleagues and friends memories of the man for a special retrospective of his films at Bradford Animation Festival in 2013. As a tribute to Bob, I revisited the interview and chose a short section of it as the basis of what became "What Is Animation?"
Appropriately, the film's sound designer, Tom Lowe, is actually Bob's grandson.