"It will get cold... Very, very cold...
     It will freeze over, and then it will be mine!"
 

     In this animated opera, Robin Oakapple is a cursed fellow in hiding from his
     dreadful ancestral burden and deeply in love with the fair Rose Maybud. 
     His family, The Murgatroyds, have been snared by the spell of a witch which
     forces them to commit a wicked crime each day, or die in horrible agony...

     Joy Batchelor directed this heavily-abridged version of Gilbert and Sullivan's
     1887 opera, with a new running narration from the lead character of Robin
     Oakapple. It was the first opera to be adapted into animated form, and another
     groundbreaking production from Halas & Batchelor who were previously
     responsible for Britain's first ever full length animated feature Animal Farm...

     Ruddigore wasn't first operatic choice for the animated treatment. Plans to
     rework The Mikado, Pirates Of Penzance and HMS Pinafore were all rejected
     by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company...

     Production commenced in August 1964 and finally concluded in Autumn 1967.
     There were significant cuts and abridgments made throughout, in accordance
     with the needs and requests of D'Oyly Carte and the various financiers
     involved...

 

      director:     Joy Batchelor
     producers:  John Halas, Jim Laurie
     writer:        Joy Batchelor - abridged version of the
                       Gilbert & Sullivan opera
     animation:  Harold Whitaker, Tony Guy, Tony Whitehouse
     music:        D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
                       conducted by James Walker 
     voices:        John Reed (Robin Oakapple)
                       David Palmer (Richard Dauntless)
                       Kenneth Sandford (Sire Despard Murgatroyd)
                       Donald Adams (Sir Roderic Murgatroyd)
                       George Cook (Old Adam)
                       Ann Hood (Rose Maybud)
                       Peggy Ann Jones (Mad Margaret)
                       Gillian Knight (Dame Hannah)
                       Jennifer Toye (Zorah)

 

      On the web


       Halas & Batchelor
       The official site, detailing the Halas & Batchelor archive - amazing the
       things this company were involved in over the years. Ruddigore is here,
       of course, and you can view a clip of it here too...

       Gilbert & Sullivan Discography and Archive
       The film's production history is chronicled here...

       Animation Research Centre
       The Surrey-based centre have an extensive Halas & Batchelor collection,
       and they present a huely informative studio and production history online
       here, together with an archive of the rest of their extraordinary work...