Wholesome Holiday Content

Our last podcast of the year is now live over on Skwigly (or basically anywhere you get your podcasts). In this episode we're joined by Liane-Cho Han and Maïlys Vallade, co-directors/writers of the celebrated animated feature Little Amélie or the Character of Rain. Stream below or download here.

Animation Podcasts | Skwigly · Skwigly Podcast 119 - Winter 2025

Also discussed: The launch of Skwigly pal Gareth Cavanagh's Square Window podcast, The Simpsons x Fortnite crossover and the cursed history of Simpsons video game tie-ins, Mike Judge’s laudable reboots of King of the Hill and Beavis and Butt-Head, recent festival funtimes at Encounters, Overlap, MAF and LIAF and we preview the year’s animated holiday specials. We also review Michel Gondry’s Maya, Give Me a Title, Common Side Effects, Smiling Friends and Beryl, the new book from Joanna Quinn and Les Mills.

On a fittingly seasonal note, a new animated take on Lucy Cousins's My Friend Maisy has launched this month on Sky. I had a lovely time working on this a couple months' back at Bristol's A Productions. So if you're in a snowy mood, check it out on Sky Go. 

Update 05/01/26 - the full launch episode Snowy Day is now up on their official YouTube channel:

Arts and/or Humanities

Many thanks to those of you who bought a copy of Intimate Animation at MAF (and Encounters, for that matter), we hope it proves educational. If you missed out on our exclusive festival discount I have some good news - the publisher's Black Friday sale will run until December 3rd, through which you can get both Intimate Animation and my previous book Independent Animation at a whopping 25% off (plus free international shipping).

The next event you should pencil in to check out is Figures in Focus: Skin Shows + Screentalk, a special programme curated by Abigail Addison where "animators lay bare sexuality, queerness and the body on screen" as part of the London International Animation Festival, Saturday November 29th 6:20pm at the Barbican. The screening will include Laura-Beth Cowley's BBC Arts film The Gift (on which I did some animation and sound) and is followed by a Q&A with Laura-Beth, Lizzie Watts and May Kindred-Boothby. Earlier that day, our friends at Women In Animation UK will be hosting a get together up the street at Two Brewers from 3pm-6pm.

I'm putting out one more vinyl reissue before the year is through. Coming up to fifteen years since its original release, The Book of Women is probably the closest I ever came to making an outright pop record (and the only one to get some real airplay). You can sample/buy it here - it's also still available on Spotify and Bandcamp if you prefer your music to be airborne and intangible rather than big, flat and plastic.

To end on, my fellow animationperson Gareth Cavanagh has started up his own podcast The Square Window, discussing children's programmes from the 80s and 90s. Fun listening with guests so far including myself and pals Jane, Steve, Dani and more. Give it some love on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.