"Richly illustrated with unique material from the BFI archive, British Animation is the first authoritative account of the history, art and industry of animation in Britain, covering everything from the origins of animation at the end of the Victorian era to the 21st century's pioneering digital techniques. Jez Stewart tells the story of this extraordinarily fertile area of British film, from the first experiments with stop-motion to contemporary viral videos on YouTube. Animation boomed during WWI and faltered during the 1930s, when creatives turned their hands to advertising and sponsored films for survival, but there was a flourishing encouraged by the GPO Film Unit, which commissioned films by visionary artists like Len Lye, Norman McLaren and Lotte Reiniger that were then shown in cinemas. Stewart highlights the integral role of women in the industry, the crucial boost delivered by the arrival of Channel 4 in 1982, the recent evolution of animation online and much more. The book also features focused 'close up' analyses of key animators, studios and classic films, such as Anson Dyer's Animal Farm (1954), Britain's second animated feature Yellow Submarine (1968), the children's classic Watership Down (1978) and the creations of Aardman Animations"--
Jez Stewart charts the course of this extraordinarily fertile area of British film from early experiments with stop-motion and the flourishing of animated drawings during WWI. He reveals how the rockier interwar period set the shape of the industry in enduring ways, and how creatives like Len Lye and Lotte Reiniger brought art to advertising and sponsored films, building a foundation for such distinctive talents as Bob Godfrey, Alison De Vere and George Dunning to unleash their independent visions in the age of commercial TV. Stewart highlights the integral role of women in the industry, the crucial boost delivered by the arrival of Channel 4, the emergence of online animation and much more. The book features 'close-up' analyses of key animators such as Lancelot Speed and Richard Williams, as well as more thematic takes on art, politics and music. It builds a framework for better appreciating Britain's landmark contributions to the art of animation, including Halas and Batchelor's Animal Farm (1954), Dunning's Yellow Submarine (1968) and the creations of Aardman Animations.