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Animated Britain

An animated portrait of a nation, brought to life frame by painstaking frame

 

Since the early 1900s a disparate array of artists in Britain have drawn, sculpted, snipped, stamped, posed, clicked and scratched their art into celluloid life. This collection surveys a stunningly rich history, from the age of the pioneers to the best commercial and independent animators, taking in home hobbyists bitten by the animation bug. 

Through its own weird alchemy, animation can bring our wildest imaginings to life, and yet it can also be a powerful tool for exploring our everyday reality. Silly, surreal, sweet or caustic, this dizzyingly diverse selection showcases British animation's unique contribution to the art form, and offers a history ripe for rediscovery.

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Max Beeza and the City in the SkyMax Beeza and the City in the Sky

Animation & Artists Moving Image197724 mins

As sublime as it is silly, this ambitious animated short mixes a vision of a dystopian, tower block Britain with anarchic vaudeville humour

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Vote for FrogletVote for Froglet

Animation & Artists Moving Image19747 mins

As the general election is held in the UK, it's polling day for the Clangers on a small blue planet far away.

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SupertedSuperted

Animation & Artists Moving Image19759 mins

Don’t tell the Spotty man but Superted has a new friend. A stop motion predecessor of the superhero teddy idea

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Animated Britain (trailer)Animated Britain (trailer)

Promotional20181 mins

Discover an animated portrait of Britain, brought to life frame by painstaking frame, with our free-to-view BFI Player archive collection - available as part of Animation 2018, a year-long celebration of animation

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The United KingdomThe United Kingdom

Animation & Artists Moving Image19945 mins

What does it mean to be British? You might not have a much clearer idea after watching this animated portrait, but you will certainly be entertained

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Bunty the Bouncing BassoonBunty the Bouncing Bassoon

Animation & Artists Moving Image19636 mins

Warning! If you step into the Merry Music Shop then this singalong cartoon is an animated earworm in waiting!

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The AeronautsThe Aeronauts

Animation & Artists Moving Image198412 mins

A reet gradely yarn in cartoon form, as a boy and his grandad fly from Wigan to “Th’ USA” in the 1930s

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David Low AnimationDavid Low Animation

Animation & Artists Moving Image19360 mins

Gad Sir, it’s an animated Colonel Blimp! David Low’s drawings were brought to life in this test for a sadly unrealised political cartoon project

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The Family HolidayThe Family Holiday

Animation & Artists Moving Image19758 mins

Got your holidays booked yet? Take a look at what Terminal Tours have to offer in this consciously coarse comic cartoon

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Two off the CuffTwo off the Cuff

Animation & Artists Moving Image19689 mins

Animated special offer! 2-for-1 cartoon from Bob Godfrey, with the voice of Ronnie Barker

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LautrecLautrec

Animation & Artists Moving Image19746 mins

If anyone can bring Henri Toulouse-Lautrec’s sketchbooks to life, Geoff Dunbar can-can

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That Yorkshire SoundThat Yorkshire Sound

Short documentary20173 mins

An audio-driven animated documentary covering a day of life in Yorkshire.

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Polygamous Polonius RevisitedPolygamous Polonius Revisited

Animation & Artists Moving Image19858 mins

A cartoon character assassination of the Iron Lady with a healthy dollop of lunacy from Bob “Roobarb” Godfrey

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Little Tom ThumbLittle Tom Thumb

Animation & Artists Moving Image19677 mins

Worst. Parents. Ever. But a lovely animated tale using cut-out animation designed by Sunniva Kellquist

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I Wanna MinkI Wanna Mink

Animation & Artists Moving Image19599 mins

A cartoon cautionary tale of a marriage turning sour, featuring real-life husband and wife Sam Wanamaker and Charlotte Holland

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Honestly It's the Story of My LifeHonestly It's the Story of My Life

Animation & Artists Moving Image19905 mins

A down-to-earth portrait of art school life from Sarah Ann Kennedy, creator of Crapston Villas and voice of Miss Rabbit and Nanny Plum

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Animation Has ChangedAnimation Has Changed

Advert19717 mins

Out with the old and in with the new – one of Britain’s leading animation companies pitches its new image with great humour

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To Our Children's Children's ChildrenTo Our Children's Children's Children

Animation & Artists Moving Image19697 mins

This is one small step for The Moody Blues… It may not have led to any giant leaps, but it’s a fun cartoon take on British space exploration

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Polygamous PoloniusPolygamous Polonius

Animation & Artists Moving Image19609 mins

An off-beat animated love story of sorts as Polonius meets his match in Agnes the art lecturer

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A Short Tall StoryA Short Tall Story

Animation & Artists Moving Image19704 mins

This animated allegory with a message of mediation was so successful it was adopted by the United Nations

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The ProfessorThe Professor

Animation & Artists Moving Image19677 mins

A nutty professor meets a very hungry caterpillar in this animated chase cartoon brimming with swinging 60s backdrops.

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ErsatzErsatz

Animation & Artists Moving Image197814 minsSilent

An affectionate stop-motion tribute to Hollywood and cinema going, by an animator at Cosgrove-Hall Productions

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Dream DollDream Doll

Animation & Artists Moving Image197912 minsSilent

A relationship liable to blow up at any moment is at the heart of this animated short about a man and an inflatable sex doll

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MildredMildred

Animation & Artists Moving Image196010 mins

A future Beatles director and former Goon script a beautifully designed comic cartoon for BP

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Johann Sebastian Bach In Euro DeutschlandJohann Sebastian Bach In Euro Deutschland

Animation & Artists Moving Image19955 mins

Do you know your Europeans? This animated overview of Germany with Bach was part of a series on the new European Union

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CustardCustard

Animation & Artists Moving Image197422 mins

Trust me – you will never look at custard the same way again

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Henry 9 'til 5Henry 9 'til 5

Animation & Artists Moving Image19706 mins

This cartoon might be NSFW, but it shows that your imagination doesn’t have to be

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Pear-shaped HillPear-shaped Hill

Animation & Artists Moving Image19707 mins

Are you sitting comfortably? Then let this classic bedtime story begin, with added animation to bring the illustrations to life

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The MathematicianThe Mathematician

Animation & Artists Moving Image19763 mins

2 + 2 = BOOM! The apocalyptic danger of maths is explored in this computer animated cartoon from the mind of Stan Hayward

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Dear Margery BoobsDear Margery Boobs

Animation & Artists Moving Image19775 mins

Agony Aunt finds her romantic match in a man with increasingly complicated sex fantasies.

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PlayersPlayers

Animation & Artists Moving Image19827 mins

Tennis match escalates into apocalypse

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Internet StoryInternet Story

Animation & Artists Moving Image201010 mins

A fast-paced and experimental film told through fragments of internet videos, animations, blogs and news articles.

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A Date with an EnfieldA Date with an Enfield

Animation & Artists Moving Image20162 mins Location: Enfield

Personal film about love and memory, animated over hundreds of frames of Google Streetview.

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The Dirt InsideThe Dirt Inside

Animation & Artists Moving Image19986 mins

A slab of clay is wrought, eviscerated and shattered to render an account of date rape with staggering effectiveness

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Tropical BreezesTropical Breezes

Animation & Artists Moving Image193011 mins

A British Steamboat Willie? This early British sound cartoon might not have been the first, but it’s a cracker

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Music ManMusic Man

Animation & Artists Moving Image19386 mins

Music lesson daydreams turn nightmares in this European influenced Technicolor cartoon

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Boogie Rag Roll - Thunderclap JonesBoogie Rag Roll - Thunderclap Jones

Animation & Artists Moving Image19636 mins

Frantic Welsh boogie-woogie maestro Thunderclap Jones pounds the piano in this fast and furious pop promo

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TopologyTopology

Animation & Artists Moving Image19699 mins

A maths lesson is an excuse for an animator’s tour de force

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Dodo in Christmas AdventureDodo in Christmas Adventure

Animation & Artists Moving Image19655 mins

Meet the animated sci-fi fixer from a strange atomic race who knows the value of Christmas.

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The Christmas VisitorThe Christmas Visitor

Animation & Artists Moving Image19587 mins

The Night Before Christmas meets Toy Story in this charming British cartoon from 1958.

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Selwyn's Lucky DaySelwyn's Lucky Day

Animation & Artists Moving Image20008 mins

A story of valleys life and and the lottery, this is truly a winning animation. Watch it and love it!

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The Mail Goes ThroughThe Mail Goes Through

Animation & Artists Moving Image194710 mins

Witness the no-so-great train robbery in this post-war cartoon, produced "in glorious monochrome"

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Children of WaxChildren of Wax

Animation & Artists Moving Image19887 mins

Delightful African folk tale collected by Alexander McCall Smith and animated by industry veteran Kathleen “Spud” Houston

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Midsummer NightmareMidsummer Nightmare

Animation & Artists Moving Image19579 mins

For Puck’s sake watch this. Shakespeare’s “shrewd and knavish sprite” emerges in the C20th and takes on the modern obsession of television

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Plain Man's Guide to AdvertisingPlain Man's Guide to Advertising

Animation & Artists Moving Image196220 mins

Does your home suffer from BO? This gag filled pastiche of the ad industry is happy to nibble the hand that feeds it

Explore further

Early Animation
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Early Animation

The dawn of a new celluloid art: Britain's animation pioneers at peace and war

DIY Animation
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DIY Animation

Amateur animation auteurs bring their homegrown creations to life

Animation Goes to Work
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Animation Goes to Work

For those with an official message to get across, animation is the perfect messenger 

Animated Ads
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Animated Ads

British animation won great success as an entertainer, but it has long had a lucrative second career in sales

Creatures Great and Small
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Creatures Great and Small

Fur, feathers, bugs or beaks: from the start animators have cast the whole natural world in their human comedies and dramas

The Animator’s Art
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The Animator’s Art

Free from commercial restraints, animators explore their art

Animate Projects
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Animate Projects

Animate Projects is a strategic agency that works at the intersection of animation, film and art - animateprojects.org

Animation 2018
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Animation 2018

13 new short films from new and emerging animators, commissioned through a prestigious initiative by the BFI, BBC Four, and BBC Arts.

Stop Motion
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Stop Motion

Reality and fantasy collide to extraordinary effect when you bring the inanimate to life, one frame at a time. 

More Animated Britain films in our Rentals collection.