While the United Kingdom never had an animation industry on the same scale as those of the United States, Japan or Russia, the country has long played host to a vibrant subculture of experimental animation. Animation, like any other medium, started out as an experimental endeavour. In Britain, it was pioneered by turn-of-the-century filmmaker Arthur Melbourne-Cooper,…
Women in British Animation: Thalma Goldman Cohen
“Sex has become very commercialized. But people are moving away from cheapness, it abuses them.” —Thalma Goldman Cohen In 1976, Screen International cast an eye over the position of women filmmakers in Britain. “If British Cinema, to its shame, can boast few female directors as yet,” read the article, “one field in which women…
Women in British Animation: Candy Guard
“I just want to make people laugh. Not by being silly – but by being truthful.” —Candy Guard In her student days at Newcastle Polytechnic and St Martins School of Art, Candy Guard hoped to enter live-action filmmaking. But instead, she found herself being tugged towards the world of cartoons. “I started to put ideas…
Women in British Animation: Petra Freeman
“Animation is for weirdos.” —Petra Freeman During the eighties and nineties, Channel 4’s patronage of experimental animation provided opportunities for new talent across the country. Some of these animators arrived at the medium very much through the back door, bringing with them aesthetic sensibilities unlike those of anyone else in the field. One such person…
Women In British Animation: Gillian Lacey
“When the Leeds workshop started there was very little challenging animation being done and as a result there was always an excited audience waiting to see what the next films would be.” —Gillian Lacey
Women in British Animation: Joanna Quinn
“I’m a feminist, I get angry, but I think humour’s a great weapon. I like using humour to say things.” —Joanna Quinn