Toonhound - Toon Studios

	cartoons, animation, comic strips and puppets in the UK
HOME THE HOUND british toon news & chatter MOVIE TOONS animated films & shorts TV TOONS animated series TOON MAKERS animation studios & people IT'S A PUPPET! string, hand & finger puppets COMICS characters, strips & comic books TOON GODS British animators & illustrators RESOURCES FLEETWAY ST. GENTLEMAN BRIGGS BUNTY'S BOOTY CRACKING COLLECTIBLES _______________ ABOUT ME CONTACT ME DISCLAIMER _______________		British animation and puppet studios and producers of the past and present... Each indexing includes official site links (where applicable), a brief intro/description and links to relevant Toonhound pages... A&B TV In 2005, A&B employed Monster Animation in Ireland to produce their updated version of a wobbling tea-time favourite... • Roobarb and Custard Too A Productions http://www.aproductions.co.uk/ Established in 1985 by Nigel Davies and Mark Taylor, A Productions' tvtoon credits include Rubbish King of the Jumble, BB3B, Boo! Frankenstein's Cat and most recently, Driver Dan's Story Train... • Frankenstein's Cat • Rubbish, King of the Jumble Aaargh! Animation Based in Wales, Aaargh!'s Deiniol Morris and Mike Mort brought us those prehistoric Gogs!, Aunt Tiger and ad campaigns for Levi'501's, ReadyBrek and more... • Gogs! • Gogwana Aardman Animation http://www.aardman.com Bristol based studio, famous for their groundbreaking and Acadeny Award winning claymation films with popular characters like Wallace and Gromit, Morph, Rex the Runt and the Creature Comforts animals. Key personnel include Nick Park, Peter Lord, David Sproxton, and director Richard Goleszowski. Shaun the Sheep is currently chewing up the tv scenery, and a brand-new Wallace & Gromit half-hour is in production for the BBC... • Chicken Run • Morph • A Close Shave • Rex the Runt • A Grand Day Out • Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit • Toon Gods: Nick Park Absolutely Productions http://www.absolutely-uk.com Founded in 1988 by a group of writers, performers and producers, Absolutely are a comedy-driven production company who first dipped into animated waters with Stressed Eric in 1998. 2003 saw the premiere of their children's series Meg and Mog, adapted from the popular picture books by Helen Nicol and Jan Pienkowski... • Meg and Mog • The Hound talks to Roger Mainwood • Stressed Eric Anderson Burr Gerry Anderson returned to production in the 1980s alongside Christopher Burr. Together they brought us adventures with Tiger Ninestein and those Terrahawks in 1984, and Dick Spanner in 1986... • Terrahawks Anderson Entertainment Ltd Gerry Anderson's most recent venture, utilised in the production of the all-new CGI Captain Scarlet series... • Captain Scarlet (CGI) Animated Adventures & Pictures Ltd As run by Jim Quick, Animated Adventures have recently brought us the top-rated BBC show The Likeaballs... • The Likeaballs AP Films (Associated Puppets) Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's original production partnership, through which they brought us The Adventures of Twizzle and the first series of Torchy, The Battery Boy for Roberta Leigh before going it alone with Four Feather Falls. What followed next was tv puppet heaven: SuperCar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, the first spin-off movie Thunderbirds Are Go, and indestructable Captain Scarlet.... • Captain Scarlet • Supercar • Fireball XL5 • Thunderbirds • Stingray • Thunderbirds Are Go Astley Baker Davies http://www.astleybakerdavies.com Neville Astley and Mark Baker have brought us those indominatable and enthusiastic Big Knights as well as short films like Jolly Roger. They now work with producer Phil Davies, and are currently bringing us the award-winning delights of Peppa Pig... • The Big Knights • The Hound talks to Astley Baker Davies • Peppa Pig Banjax Digital Animation http://www.banjax.com Based in Belfast, Banjax's creative team includes Richard Morrs and Alistair McIlwain of Tiny Planets fame. Under Darryl Collins stewardship, they will soon be steering Luke the Lifeboat on to our screens... Bevanfield Films In the 1980's director Timothy Forder and producer Mary Swindale brought us the intriguing delights of Murun Buchstansangur and Bill the Minder. The antics of Dennis Muir's What-a-Mess followed, together with a series of fairy tale video specials... • Bill the Minder • What-a-Mess • Murun Buchstansangur Blue Fish Cartoons Launched in 2003 by Richard Ollive and Gary Knowelden, Blue Fish have so far brought a jolly bunch of snails to life, and a talking mule! • Muffin the Mule • Snailsbury Tales Bob Godfrey's Movie Emporium Bob Godfrey's wobbling wonders of Tea-Time TV include Roobarb, Henry's Cat and Noah & Nelly. His short films are numerous and have been amply rewarded over the years - amongst them are Henry Nine Til Five, Dream Doll, Karma Sutra Rides Again and the Academy Award winning Great... • Great • Noah and Nelly in SkylArk • Henry's Cat • Roobarb • Toon Gods: Bob Godfrey bolexbrothers http://www.bolexbrothers.co.uk Dave Borthwick and Nick Upton introduced us to the extraordinary pixellated world of Tom Thumb before moving on to The Magic Roundabout.... • The Magic Roundabout • The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb The Brothers McLeod http://www.brothersmcleod.co.uk Greg and Myles McLeod have recently brought Pedro and Frankensheep to life for the BBC... • Pedro and Frankensheep Bumper Films John Walker and Ian Frampton's stop-motion team animated Joshua Jones, Rocky Hollow and - most notably - Fireman Sam's orginal adventures... • Fireman Sam • Rocky Hollow • Fireman Sam: Snow Business • Star Hill Ponies • Joshua Jones Calon http://www.calon.tv Founded by the former management of Siriol Productions (SuperTed, Hilltop Hospital), Cardiff-based Calon bounced those Bobinogs onto CBBC, amd they've recently called up Hana's Helpline with great success too... • Hana's Helpline Cartwn Cymru Welsh animation studio, who credits range from familiar children's series like Toucan 'Tecs to the sophisticated co-produced feature films Miracle Maker and Otherworld. The team has worked regularly with Moscow-based Christmas Films... • Faeries • Otherworld • Funnybones • Toucan 'Tecs • Miracle Maker Century 21 TV Continuing from where he left off with AP Films, Gerry Anderson brought us Thunderbird 6, Joe 90 and The Secret Service under the Century 21 banner... • Joe 90 • Thunderbird 6 • The Secret Service CMTB Animation In the 1980's Charles Mills and Terry Brain gave their initials to this small firm who, together with animator Steve Box, took a peek under The Trapdoor and told us to Stoppit and Tidyup. Brain and Box have since gone on to work for Aardman, with the latter recently co-directing the magnificent Wallace and Gromit feature, Curse of the Were-Rabbit... • Bump • The Trapdoor • Stoppit and Tidyup C.O.G http://www.consortium-of-gentlemen.co.uk/ COG is short for the Consortium of Gentleman, though both men and women are present in the team who brought us the nautical nonsense of Yoho Ahoy... • Yoho Ahoy Cole, Michael and Joanne Husband and wife team who conceived BOD, Fingerbobs and Gran. Michael Cole was a prolific producer and writer on his own too, having come from BBC tv programmes like Playschool and Ragtime. He wrote for FilmFair's Edward and Friends and contributed ideas and stories for Pigeon Street, Postman Pat and more. The Coles had a close association with producer David Yates... • BOD • Gran • Fingerbobs • The Hound talks to Lo and Alison Cole Collingwood O'Hare http://www.collingwoodohare.com The BAFTA-winning duo of Tony Collingwood and Christopher O'Hare have produced numerous hit series like Animal Stories , Eddy and the Bear, Dennis and Gnasher and Toonhound fave Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto! Recently creations Gordon Gnome and The Secret Show have continued their award-winning trend... • Animal Stories • The King's Beard • Captain Zed and the Zee Zone • Oscar's Orchestra • Dennis and Gnasher • Rarg • Eddy and the Bear • The Secret Show • Gordon the Garden Gnome • Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto! • The Hound talks to Tony Collingwood Cosgrove Hall Films http://www.chf.co.uk The suffix may have changed, but the productions roll on unabated. Cosgrove Hall Films began in 1993, emerging from the wreckage of Thames TV's lost broadcasting franchise. And they're still going as strong - if not stronger - than ever today... • Andy Pandy • Lavender Castle • Avenger Penguins • Little Robots • Bill and Ben • Oakie Doke • Brambly Hedge • Postman Pat • Engie Benjy • Rocky and the Dodos • Fantomcat • Fifi and the Flowertots • Toon Gods: Cosgrove Hall • Foxbusters Cosgrove Hall Productions http://www.chf.co.uk Founded in 1975 by Brian Cosgrove, Mark Hall, and executive producer John Hambley, Cosgrove Hall Productions took over from Stop Frame Productions. The new companmy was a wholly owned subsidiary of Thames TV. They produced umpteen hit series and specials in a triumphant 18 year period, before they renamed to Cosgrove Hall Films... • A Tale of Two Toads • Grandma Bricks of Swallow St • Alias the Jester • Jamie and the Magic Torch • The BFG • Oh! Mr Toad! • Chorlton and the Iceworld • On Christmas Eve • Chorlton and the Wheelies • The Pied Piper of Hamelin • Cinderella • The Reluctant Dragon • Cockleshell Bay • The Talking Parcel • Count Duckula • Truckers • Creepy Crawlies • Victor and Hugo, Bunglers in Crime • DangerMouse • The Wind in the Willows - series • The Fool of the World... • The Wind in the Willows - feature Cosgrove House http://www.chf.co.uk An off-shoot of Cosgrove Hall, created to cover the studio's work on various third party creations. The new name first appeared on the credits for The Likeaballs... • The Likeaballs The Cut-Out Animation Co. http://www.cutout.freeserve.co.uk/ Cut-Out animate using unique and distinct cardboard cut-out designs. Alan Rogers and Peter Lang have been employed on numerous schools and education favourites like Rat-A-Tat-Tat, Rub-A-Dub-Dub, Words and Pictures and Number Crew and they've brought to life series too, like BOD and Pigeon Street for David Yates... • BOD • Pigeon Street • Ludwig (Peter Lang) Dandy Productions http://www.dandytv.com Andy Williams and Dan Berlinka 'swept' straight in to BAFTA-winning success with their Toon Disney creation Brush Head.... Ealing Animation http://www.ealinganimation.co.uk/ Ealing have brought us the numerous delights of El Nombre and Red Balloo's Dr Otter as well as BAFTA-winning Old Bear, Monty and those Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids.... • Doctor Otter • Old Bear and Friends • El Nombre • Sergeant Stripes • Monty Fat City Films http://www.fatcityfilms.co.uk/ A busy studio for hire, Jez Hall and his team have brought many folks' toons to life over the years. Hopping to the top of the list, however, is the evergreen Philbert Frog.... • Philbert Frog • Zot the Dog FilmFair FilmFair's stop-motion series of the 1970s included Paddington, The Herbs, and The Wombles. They were produced by Graham Clutterbuck and featured the distinct designs of Ivor Wood. In the 1980s the stop-motion work continued with Barrie Edwards and Martin Pullen at the fore. Moschops, Huxley Pig and Portland Bill inspired a new generation of fans. Occassionally, FilmFair have delved into 2D realms with The Perishers, Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings, Legends of Treasure Island and Martin Gates' production of The Dreamstone. In 1996 the company passed into the hands of Canada's CINAR, before arriving today under the ownership of Cookie Jar Entertainment... • The Adventures of Parsley • The Legends of Treasure Island • The Adventures of Portland Bill • Moschops • Astro Farm • Paddington • Bangers and Mash • Paddington Goes to the Movies • The Blunders • Paddington's Birthday Bonanza • Brown Bear's Wedding • The Perishers • The Dreamstone • Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings • Edward and Friends • Upstairs Downstairs Bears • The Gingerbread Man • The Wombles • Hattytown Tales • The Herbs • Huxley Pig Flicks Films Terry Ward's company has been around for thirty-odd years now. The extensive Flicks CV includes credits for Bananaman, The Mr Men, The Pondles, Nellie The Elephant, Timbuctoo and more recently, those Busy Buses... • Bananaman • Nellie the Elephant • Junglies • The Pondles • Little Misses • Timbuctoo • The Mr Men Gates, Martin Producer/director of The Snow Queen, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Ugly Duckling, and the series Bimble's Bucket and Molly's Gang. Many toon fans hold a soft-spot for The Dreamstone, the 1990-1995 series created by Mike Jupp that Gates produced for Film Fair... • The Dreamstone • The Snow Queen • Mole's Christmas • The Snow Queen's Revenge • Molly's Gang GB Animation (Gaumont-British) http://www.dhprod.com In 1944 American animator David Hand came to England to set up an animation studio for J Arthur Rank at Moor Park. 19 films were produced by this short-lived venture (9 Animaland cartoons, and 10 Musical Paintbox toons). The films were modelled after the Disney fashion - not surprising, given Hand's background working for the Mouse House on "Snow White", "Bambi", and many "Silly Symphonies". Comedian Bob Monkhouse actually began his career here as a Gag Artist, whilst animator Bob Godfrey was rejected by the studio. Characters created here included Ginger Nutt, Corny the Crow and Dusty the Mole. Feature film versions of The Hunting of the Snark and The First Men in the Moon were planned but never made it to the screen. The studio closed in 1950. Today, the rights to the toons created there are held by David Hand's son, who has fashioned modern versions of them for distribution worldwide... • Animaland • Musical Paintbox Grand Slamm Childrens Films http://www.gscfilms.com Ginger Gibbons set up Grand Slamm in 1994. First up was Percy the Park Keeper. Kipper, Angelina Ballerina and Sheeep have followed, and they've even progressed onto more adult fare via their two Bosom Pals films... • Angelina Ballerina • Percy: After the Storm • Angelina: Princess Dance • Percy: One Snowy Night • Angelina: The Show Must Go On • Percy: The Rescue Party • Kipper • Percy: The Secret Path • Percy the Park Keeper Halas & Batchelor http://www.halasandbatchelor.co.uk For so many years, the studio set up by John Halas and Joy Batchelor was Britain's animation industry. They made a huge contribution to the War Effort, and almost singelhandedly created the business of commercial animation in the UK. This is the team who, in 1955, brought us the UK's first full-length animated feature Animal Farm. Later came several of our earliest animated series including DoDo, Foo-Foo, and Snip and Snap. The list of production credits is huge and the vast scope of work ranges from numerous short films and specials to contributions to such US imports as "The Osmonds", "The Jacksons", and even "The Jetsons"... • The Abu films • Habatales • Animal Farm • Handling Ships • The Charley films • Ruddigore • DoDo • Water for Fire Fighting • Foo Foo Hibbert Ralph Animation (HRA) www.hra-online.com/ Jimmy Hibbert returned to HRA after Graham Ralph's buy-out of Hibbert Ralph Entertainment (see below), and under this banner, he has brought us the farm-based fun of Tractor Tom... Hibbert Ralph Entertainment Jimmy Hibbert and Graham Ralph launched HRE as an off-shoot from their hugely successful commercials outfit, Hibbert Ralph Animation (HRA). They brought us the joys of Spider, William's Wish Wellingtons, The First Snow of Winter and The Forgotten Toys, before they went their separate ways... • The First Snow of Winter • Second Star to the Left • Spider • William's Wish Wellingtons Honeycomb Animation http://www.honeycombanimation.co.uk/ Simon and Sara Orr have brought us the BAA winning series Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids, and the tales of Binka the black and white cat. Currently the animals of Funky Valley are proving very popular on Five... • Binka • Wolves, Witches and Giants • Funky Valley • Tube Mice • Grizzly Tales HOT Animation http://www.hotanimation.com Instigated to bring Bob the Builder to life, HOT have also animated all the tie-in films and specials, four Brambly Hedge films, Rubbadubbers and the all-new Pingu... • Bob the Builder • Bob the Builder: Project: Build It • Bob the Builder: Bob's Big Plan • Bob the Builder: Built to be Wild • Bob the Builder: A Christmas to Remember • Bob the Builder: Knights of Can-a-Lot • Bob the Builder: Race to the Finish • Bob the Builder: Scrambler to the Rescue • Bob the Builder: Snowed Under • Bob the Builder: When Bob Became a Builder • Brambly Hedge: The High Hills • Brambly Hedge: Sea Story • Brambly Hedge: The Secret Staircase • Pingu • Rubbadubbers Illuminated Films http://www.illuminatedfilms.com/ Illuminated's Iain Harvey was executive producer on TVC.s The Snowman and Father Christmas. He and Illuminated have brought us the award-winning specials War Game, Prince Cinders, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar as well as the 2001 feature film Christmas Carol: The Movie. Currently, Little Princess is proving to be a big royal hit with viewers... • Christmas Carol: The Movie • Little Princess • War Game John Cary Studios John Cary has been working in the animation industry for more than thirty years, animating for Richard Williams, producing with Silverfox/Graham Ralph and consulting for the likes of S4C. He has been appointed to numerous high-level animation boards and panels. In 1998, working as John Cary Studios, he produced The Adventures of Captain Pugwash... •The Adventures of Captain Pugwash John Ryan Studios Author, illustrator and animator John Ryan is famous for the unique caption animation techniques employed on his productions of Captain Pugwash, Sir Prancelot and Mary, Mungo and Midge. He has also presented a series based upon his Ark Stories... • The Adventures of Sir Prancelot • Captain Pugwash • Ark Stories • Mary Mungo and Midge King Rollo Films http://www.kingrollofilms.co.uk Rollo's David McKee is, of course, a hugely successful author and illustrator. His distinctive work is on show in Mr Benn and King Rollo - from which the studio took its name. They have since brought Tony Ross' Towser to our screens, as well as Victor and Maria, and recently we've had the BAFTA-winning delights of Maisy, and Wide Eye... • Anytime Tales • Towser • King Rollo • Victor and Maria • Mr Benn • Wide Eye • Spot Little Entertainment Company http://www.thelittleentertainmentgroup.co.uk/ Keith Littler's company is actually quite big, having brought us the joys of Billy, Merlin the Magical Puppy and Little Red Tractor... • Little Red Tractor • Merlin the Magical Puppy London Films http://www.imagic.demon.co.uk/london_films/animation.html Short-lived animation studio instigated by Alexander Korda in 1934. The studio gets a name-check here at Toonhound for the 1936 short The Fox Hunt which featured on its crew list none other than the late great Carl Giles. London Films still distribute films and series today - like Bevanfield's Bill the Minder and Derek Philips' Aubrey... • Toon Gods: Carl Giles Lupus Films http://www.lupusfilms.net Camilla Deaking and Ruth Fielding set up Lupus in 2002, after a stint as the arts and animation commissioning team for Channel 4. The dynamic duo put together production teams as required for each of their projects. Their first animated special was Little Wolf's Book of Badness, and they are soon to unleash a new CG-animated version of Pinky & Perky upon an unsuspecting British public... • Little Wolf's Book of Badness Maddocks Animation Cartoonist Peter Maddocks and his team - which includes family members Simon and Guy Maddocks - have brought us the delights of The Family Ness Jimbo and the JetSet, Penny Crayon and Caribou Kitchen... • The Family Ness • Penny Crayon • Jimbo and the JetSet Marall-Smith Studios http://www.marall-smith.com/index.htm The creators of that monocled mantis Manfred. They remain involved in a range of pre and post -production activities. .. • Manfred Mark Mason Animation http://www.markmasonanimation.co.uk An animator for hire, Mark Mason singlehandedly animated and inbetweened Philbert Frog - 13 episodes in 13 weeks! - He has also worked on the likes of Raggy Dolls for Yorkshire TV, and William's Wish Wellingtons and Angelmouse for Hibbert Ralph. Mark has a continuing relationship with Graham Ralph, being an animation director with Silverfox Films... • Angelmouse • Second Star to the Left • Philbert Frog • William's Wish Wellingtons • Raggy Dolls Monster Animation http://www.monsteranimation.ie/ This busy Irish studio have brought us the wobbly delights of Roobarb and Custard Too, and they've recently introduced us to the cute inhabitants of Fluffy Gardens - the latter being created, written and directed by Monster's Jason Tammemagi... • Fluffy Gardens • A Q&A with Jason Tammemagi • Roobarb and Custard Too Murray, Gordon From strings to stop-motion, Gordon Murrays miniature worlds of Rubovia and Trumptonshire remain beloved by the nation. In the 1970's he brought us a selection of Gublin Legends and the tongue-twisting Skip and Fuffy before retiring from the toon business. But - my - what a legacy he's left to us... • Camberwick Green • Skip and Fuffy • Chigley • Trumpton • The Gublin Legends Nepenthe Martin Rosen brought us animated adaptations of two Richard Adams novels - in 1978 and 1982 - before withdrawing from the animation world for a while. But he was drawn back to the rabbits of Watership Down for a tv series in 1999... • Plague Dogs • Watership Down - series • Watership Down - film Peafur Productions "P fer Production" - Geddit? Comedians-come-writers David Freedman and Alan Gilbey operated under the Peafur banner between 2000 and 2003, during which time they brought us the joys of Mr Hell and Bounty Hamster - produced in conjunction with SilverFox Films ... • Aaagh! - It's The Mr Hell Show • Bounty Hamster • The Hound talks to Peafur's Alan Gilbey Pelham Films Pioneering children's author turned puppet producer Roberta Leigh worked with Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's AP Films for a while, to bring us The Adventures of Twizzle and Torchy, The Battery Boy. Leigh then forged ahead with colleague Arthur Povis to bring us the 1961 classic Sara and Hoppity and sci-fi adventure series Space Patrol... Pesky Productions http://www.pesky.com/ The "flash" duo of David Hodgson and Claire Underwood have moved from titles and commercial work to series, having taken their first full-fledged creation The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers on a successful world tour... • The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers (shorts) • The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers (series) • The Hound talks to Pesky Productions Playboard Puppets Ian Allen and the late John Thirtle brought their hugely succesful stage puppets to our tv screens via their self-titled Playboard series and sketches on Rainbow and Playschool, and the charming delights of Button Moon. These performances featured distinctive puppets operated against a jet-black backdrop. But Playboard then moved on, creating an entire seaside town for Spooks of Bottle Bay and numerous puppets for commercial and promotional events and adverts - work which Ian Allen continues today, alongside his theatrical endeavours... • Button Moon • Spooks of Bottle Bay Red Balloo Red Balloo's David Bonner used to be a policeman, but he swopped the uniform for a toon suit to bring us The Lampies and Dr. Otter. Red Balloo is no more, alas, but the Lampies are now in the capable hands of LP productions... • Doctor Otter • The Lampies Red Kite http://www.redkite-animation.com Scotland's finest here. Red Kite champion independent artists and animators and have built up a distinct animation portfolio of short films, amongst them Rachel Bevan-Bakers Beaches, Elizabeth Hobbs' The Emperor and The Witches and Bob Godgrey's Many Deaths of Norman Spittal. On their current slate are several tv series, including The Frightened Family, The Secret World of Benjamin Bear, Wilf The Witch's Dog and Katie Morag... Silver Fox Films http://www.silverfoxfilms.co.uk/ Graham Ralph was formerly one half of Hibbert Ralph Entetainment. He started Silver Fox Films in 1999 with a view to continuing the production of award-winnning tv series and specials which previously included Spider William's Wish Wellingtons, The First Snow of Winter and The Forgotten Toys. The team consists of Graham Ralph, producer Helen Cohen and animation directors Mark Mason and Paul Stone. Silver Fox animated the Christmas story Second Star to the Left as well as Bounty Hamster with Peafur Productions. Their all-new CGI series of The Magic Roundabout is currently - erm - doing the rounds... • Angelmouse • Second Star to the Left • Bounty Hamster • Spider • The First Snow of Winter • William's Wish Wellingtons Siriol Cardiff based Siriol hit the big-time with SuperTed in the early 1980s. The three founder members later separated, leaving Robin Lyons in control of the studio until Entertainment Rights purchased its library of award-winning titles in Summer 2005. Robin now runs Siriol's replacement, Calon. Oh, and Siriol is Welsh for "cheerful"... • The Blobs • Romuald the Reindeer • Fireman Sam • Santa's First Christmas • Hilltop Hospital • SuperTed • Meeow! • Wil Cwac Cwac • The Princess and the Goblin SmallFilms http://www.smallfilms.co.uk Working from their converted cowshed in Canterbury, Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin created a dozen animated worlds to treasure. Their evergreen productions spanned four decades and included Bagpuss, The Clangers, Ivor the Engine, Noggin the Nog, and Pogles Wood... • Alexander the Mouse • Noggin the Nog • Bagpuss • Pingwings • The Clangers • Pinny's House • Ivor the Engine • Pogles Wood • Toon Gods: Oliver Postgate Snowden Fine http://www.awn.com/snowden-fine Oscar™ winning creators of the short film Bob's Birthday which spawned a highly successful series Bob and Margaret, but just as famous in the animation world for their short films George and Rosemary, Second Class Mail and In and Out. New toons are now following, including Ricky Sprocket Showbiz Boy... • Bob and Margaret • The Hound talks to Snowden Fine Spellbound Entertainment http://www.spellbound.uk.com/ Formed in 2001 by Peter Curtis and Nick Barrington, Spellbound have "helped" themselves to worldwide acclaim with The Koala Brothers... • The Koala Brothers • The Koala Brothers' Outback Christmas Stardust Pictures http://www.stardust-pics.com/ Founded in 1995 by Dino Athanassiou (Legends of Treasure Island), Stardust provide a full range of animated services for folks in need. They also have a full slate of projects in development, including an exciting animated adaptation of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde... Stop Frame Productions http://www.chf.co.uk This was the original partnership of Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall, formed in 1972. The name was kept for three years, until 1975, when Cosgrove Hall Productions was born... • The Magic Ball • Sally and Jake • Noddy Summerton Mill Ltd http://www.summertonmill.com Otherwise known as Pete Bryden and Ed Cookson, creators of the stop-motion gem that is Summerton Mill... • Summerton Mill Telemagination http://www.telemagination.co.uk They began with 80s hi-tech favourite Telebugs, and moved on to Farthing Wood and Noah's Island before bringing us the award-winning special The Last Polar Bears . Now owned by TV-Loonland of Munich, Telemagination have given us Pongwiffy and Little Ghosts, and they've co-produced the animated Redwall series. Most recently, they've the big step into features with a retelling of Heidi, and we've had those mad medieval Metalheads... • The Animals of Farthing Wood • Redwall • Heidi • Telebugs • Metalheads Tell-Tale Productions http://www.entertainmentrights.com Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan launched Tell-Tale in 1994, primarily as a writing vehicle. But since then they have created and produced such hugely-popular series as The Tweenies, Boo, and the extraterrestrial animated series BB3. Tell-Tale was acquired by Entertainment Rights in 2004, from where the company now operates as ER's Creative Division... Triffic Films http://www.triffic.co.uk Tim Searle's team have brought us the award-winning delights of 2DTV and the controversially comical I am Not an Animal. The studio also has a healthy slate of credits sequences, pop promos and commercials under its belt... • I am Not an Animal Turner, Mary and John Read Long-time associates of Gerry Anderson, Mary Turner and John Read struck out for Nutwood with The Adventures of Rupert Bear, then brought us Mumfie, the toomfoolery of Cloppa Castle and the fruitful delights of The Munch Bunch.... • The Adventures of Rupert Bear • Here Comes Mumfie • Cloppa Castle • The Munch Bunch TVC London / John Coates John Coates and TVC have been it, seen it, done it, in the animation world. In 1968 Coates was line producer on Yellow Submarine. Under the TVC banner he has brought us The Snowman, Father Christmas, Granpa, Peter Rabbit and Friends, The Bear, and many more specials, plus a shelf-load of BAFTAs, Emmy-nominations, and festival awards to go with them. In the noughites John Coates has hired himself out as producer on series such as Fantastic Flying Journey and The Storystore, and on film specials like The Tale of Jack Frost... • Barney • The Tale of Jack Frost • The Bear • When the Wind Blows • Father Christmas • The Willows in Winter • Granpa • Wind in the Willows • The Snowman • The World of Peter Rabbit • The Storystore • Yellow Submarine Uli Meyer http://www.ulimeyer.com/ Uli Meyer has a tidy list of feature animation credits under his belt, and his animation studio continues to work on commercial, promos and series. They animated The Lampies for Red Balloo, and developed Dr Otter when it was still a 2D concept... • The Lampies Wark Clements http://www.warkclements.com In 2002, Wark Clements set sail for adventure with the puppet delights of Captain Abercromby... • Captain Abercromby Woodland Animations Stop-motion maestro Ivor Wood lends his name to this production outfit, through which he has brought us '80s favourites Charlie Chalk and Postman Pat, Bertha and Gran. Of course, for many years, Wood was an integral part of the FilmFair studio and his lengthy career stretches back to the 1960s when he was designing characters and directing for The Magic Roundabout... • Bertha • Gran • Charlie Chalk • Postman Pat Yates, David Busy producer and director of such favourites as BOD, The Flumps and Pigeon Street in association with Alan Rogers and Peter Lang of Cut-Out, and the prolific Michael Cole... • Astro Farm • Ludwig • BOD • Pigeon Street • The Flumps • Wombles specials • The Gingerbread Man
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