Getting Lippy

In episode 92 of the Skwigly Animation Podcast we look back at 30 years of Lip Synch, the game-changing series of short films from Aardman Animations. A short film ‘package’ produced by Aardman for Channel 4 in 1989, Lip Synch expanded on the techniques used for earlier shorts series Animated Conversations and Conversation Pieces, consisting of five early outings for now-established directors: War Story, Going Equipped (Dir. Peter Lord), Ident (Dir. Richard Starzak), Next (Dir. Barry Purves) and the Oscar-winning Creature Comforts (Dir. Nick Park, later of Wallace and Gromit fame).
Following on from our 25th anniversary coverage, to mark the occasion special guest host Alex Dudok de Wit brings us an exclusive chat with Peter Lord, Barry Purves, David Sproxton and Richard 'Golly' Starzak.
Also discussed in this episode: The enduring legacy of the animation great Richard Williams – known for such industry milestones as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Animator’s Survival Kit and The Thief and the Cobbler – who sadly passed away this month.
Stream above or download here.

Love, Death and Rabbits

In the first episode of a brand new season of our podcast series Intimate Animation,  Laura-Beth and I meet illustrator, animator and designer Caitlin McCarthy. Since graduating from Camberwell Caitlin’s work in illustration quickly expanded to experimental moving image projects and animation, ultimately leading to her involvement with London-based production studio Strange Beast – alongside such artists as previous podcast guest Anna Ginsburg. Having created animation for clients including VOW, Red Bull, School of Life, Nike and New York Public Library, Caitlin’s work also often deals with themes of love and intimacy, includes animated segments for The Female Orgasm, an episode of the Vox/Netflix production Explained as well as the independent short films Paraphilia and Coldsore, the latter of which will be screening at Bristol’s Encounters Festival next month.
Also discussed in this episode: The curiously short lifespan of Lisa Hanawalt's promising new adult animated sitcom Tuca and Bertie as well as ongoing Netflix shows Bojack Horseman, Big Mouth and Love Death + Robots. We also pay tribute to the late great animation legend Richard Williams, whose body of work includes bringing the iconic modern animation ‘bombshell’ Jessica Rabbit to life. Download here or stream above.

 

On that subject it's been a very emotionally-charged couple of days seeing on social media just how impactful the work of Richard Williams has been and how many top-tier players in the industry owe a debt of gratitude to his work and legacy, from The Animator's Survival Kit to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and beyond.
I was enormously privileged to get to speak with him during my coverage of the Encounters Film Festival's 2015 edition at which he premiered Prologue, an Oscar/BAFTA-nominated offshoot of a continuing passion project made at his Aardman base where he spent his final years. This would sadly turn out to be his final appearance on the podcast, but as with all our interactions he was warm, witty, open and honest and I remain immensely grateful for the opportunity. We'll be discussing his work more in the next episode of the podcast but in the meantime I wanted to give this chat another share - again you can stream below or download here.
The last time I saw Richard in person was a year or so ago during a presentation of Aardman's character animation course graduates in which he gave a very impassioned speech about how impressed he was with their work, which I can only imagine made their decades.
He will not be forgotten anytime soon, that's for sure.

Fight Club

In the latest episode of the Skwigly Animation Podcast we’re delighted to welcome back legendary animator and The Animator’s Survival Kit author Richard Williams to discuss his incredible new short film Prologue. Known for his work as Animation Director on the highly-acclaimed Who Framed Roger Rabbit and his recently-restored feature film masterwork The Thief and The Cobbler, Richard has produced the stunningly rendered new piece as an offshoot of a longer-form feature. Produced by Imogen Sutton with the assistance of Aardman Animations, Prologue premiered at this year’s Annecy festival and will begin an Oscar-qualifying run of screenings at the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles from September 11th through to the 17th.
Rendered with exquisite detail and jaw-dropping realism, Prologue (an offshoot from Richard’s ongoing, longer-form project bearing the tongue-in-cheek working title Will I Live to Finish This?) depicts a brutal fight between Athenian and Spartan warriors while a young girl looks on.
Also discussed in this episode are recent Bristol Festival of Puppetry and Cardiff Animation Nights events, the much-anticipated Danger Mouse remake and animation programmer Kieran Argo discusses the highlights of the upcoming Encounters Festival in Bristol at which Prologue will have its UK premiere on September 18th.
Thanks so much to Kieran and Imogen as well as Kellie and Beryl at Plaster for all their help getting this one organised as it was a real privilege to get such insight from the man himself.
Stream the latest episode below, subscribe on iTunes or direct download here.

Figgy Podding

It's very nearly Christmas, so before I leave you beautiful people in the very capable hands of my good buddy Prescheduled Posting I'll point you in the direction of our last Skwigly Podcast of 2013. Unlike last year the topics discussed aren't especially seasonal but I whipped up another one our adorably cringey li'l plays at the start regardless. We're incorrigible.
In this episode we have Steve's interview with master puppetsmen Mackinnon and Saunders, I chat with Jerry Beck, the most proactive man in the animation historian biz, while Skwigly contributor and animation author Stephen Cavalier gets the skinny on Disney's Frozen from the directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck. Especially nice is that we get to pull out an earlier interview with one of animation's greatest living masters Richard Williams, the man behind The Animator's Survival Kit and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The plan was to have this up for our Encounters coverage but that, for reasons I'm still not really clear on, wasn't to be. At any rate he makes for a great end-of-year get, so special thanks to Kieran and Jude from Encounters for their help getting it sorted. As ever you can subscribe, download for keepsies or stream below:
Also today I was able to put up a video featuring my recent, informal live BAF interview with Joanna Quinn discussing the making of her festival ident. Some nifty exclusive footage included in this one, so give it a watch if you fancy a glimpse into this fantastic woman's process: