BAA Regional Focus – Manchester and the North-West
With the British Animation Awards happening this week, we are highlighting the amazing work done across the country as the BAA’s host their first ever satellite events across the country. In this article we head up to the land of Coronation Street, Eccles cakes and Oasis as we shine the spotlight on the North-West animation scene.
Whilst it might be unfair to stereotype the North-West – a region that spans from the Scottish to the Welsh border with Manchester and sister city Salford traditions it is worth setting the scene in UK’s second city (sorry Birmingham) to gain a sense of the history and prominence that the region has developed and maintained over the years.
Our story starts in 1956 when Granada Television was launched in the city and with it a graphics department to produce titles for shows. Recent graduates from the School of Art, Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall would join the department to provide typography and graphic design for the region’s shows. Within a few years their ambitions saw them pursue animation and with the establishment of a makeshift studio they began producing children’s television classics such as The Magic Ball and created an award winning short film The Canary, which toured film festivals. In 1971 they established Stop Frame Films to produce Sally and Jake and, after some administrative adventures, formed Cosgrove Hall Productions under Thames Television. The studio would produce not only memorable work such as Chorlton and the Wheelies, Danger Mouse, Duckula, The Wind in the Willows, The BFG and a myriad of other TV specials, series short films and much more.
Before the studio closed it produced an amazing range of work that is still enjoyed today and an amazing workforce who would go on to dominate the international animation landscape. From Oscar nominated directors to huge studios, the echoes of Cosgrove Hall are still felt in the world of animation.
Short film makers such as Barry Purves (Next, Screen Play) Bridgette Appleby (The Reluctant Dragon) and Paul Berry (The Sandman) came out of the studio to take the world by storm. It’s difficult to praise Berry’s The Sandman enough. The gothic film which owes a lot to Weimar cinema stands out to this day as a prime example of North-West ingenuity. Made by Berry alongside Colin Batty and Ian Mackinnon using the leftovers of film from The Wind in the Willows, the film is loaded with in camera special effects and incredible stop motion performances. The film not only gained an Academy Award nomination, but also ensured that Berry would be scooped up by Hollywood to continue his animation career. What’s more, it’s still scaring children to this day.
Master model makers Mackinnon and Saunders honed their craft at the studio before leaving to form their own in Altrincham and in doing so provided the region and the world with some of the finest stop motion puppets available. furnishing the films of Tim Burton (Frankenweenie, Corpse Bride), Wes Anderson (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Isle of Dogs) and Guillermo Del Toro (the upcoming Pinocchio) the studio also provided the puppets for many TV series, interstitials and more including the recent Netflix series The House, which was produced by Nexus Studios. Mackinnon and Saunders also added the bones to Bob the Builder. Devised by Keith Chapman, the famous Builder become more than a simple three word name provided by Chapman as a result of Jackie Cockle and Curtis Jobling’s production and design skills and was brought to life at HOT Animation, founded by Cockle alongside Joe Dembinski and Brian Little. The studio would also produce Brambly Hedge, Pingu and Rubber Dubbers amongst other projects.
Elsewhere in Alrincham large scale productions as a result of the work of Factory, following on from the lead of Chapman Entertainment (a London based company animating the like of Fifi and the Flowertots and Roary the Racingcar up in the North-West with the help of Cosgrove Hall) to bring The Clangers, Scream Street, Norman Picklestripes, Becca’s Bunch and The Simpsons alumni Josh Weinstein’s Strange Hill High to life. Whilst a haven for stop motion, 2D animation still thrives in the North-West, recently attracting Brown Bag Films to host a studio in Manchester from 2014-2020 to produce Nella the Princess Knight for Nickelodeon and Powerbirds for Universal Kids. Over in the Wirral, Fourth Wall produced Milo and back in Manchester Hoopla Animation have been creating the Jason Manford fronted Daisy & Ollie since 2017.
The North-West also has a thriving tech and digital sector, which encompasses games studios large and small, but to stick to the animation theme it’s worth highlighting the amazing work of Cubic Motion who provided animation for Marvel’s Spider-Man. Over in Cheshire TT Games have been building up Lego Game franchise brick by digital brick since 2005. Post production and 3D animation can be found at Flix Facilities, who put the finishing touches to Postman Pat and who recently produced Dog Loves Book and elsewhere Flipbook Studios have been animating for big name brands and internationally, co-producing, modelling, animating and rendering short film The Black Slide with Israeli animation company Hive.
Largely thanks to the regions universities and mid sized studios such as the brilliant Kilogramme, Fuzzy Duck and Flow incubating talent in the region, newer studios are becoming a more steady part of the eco system with the likes of Purple Parasol, Friend Party Studios, Gadzooks and the BAA nominated One 6th showing the region to be more than just a place where big names come to do business. One 6th’s Squib is a short that demonstrates excellent on screen ingenuity and behind the scenes economy having being made from start to finish in a matter of weeks. Having the Young Audiences Content Fund based in Manchester has been a benefit to many, including Toastie Animation who recently secured funding for a series set in Liverpool.
The North-West is renowned for its friendly people and outgoing nature. As the Director of Manchester Animation Festival it’s a constant privilege to welcome the world of animation to Manchester and to share Manchester animation with the world and to share this story. Last November we launched Animate North-West, a consortium of businesses brought together to further highlight the region as an internationally recognisable hub for animation production. The future is bright for short animation in the region, with local legends such as Barry Purves releasing new work in the shape of No Ordinary Joe which was filmed in the region and new studio Strange Acre Studios working on Woodland and One 6th working on a new short to name but a few tantalising projects in the works. The Cosgrove Hall Films Archive also exists and through Creative Industries Trafford, do amazing work to preserve the past and commission new work in the area, bringing our story full circle.
This is a mere snippet of the history of animation in the North-West and Manchester, but with a place brimming with talent like this, it feels like just the start!
Manchester Animation Festival will present a livestream of the British Animation Awards alongside a screening of North-West animation with drinks and nibbles at Media City on the 10 March 2021 starting at 6pm. Get your tickets here.