This film is part of Free
Experimental Animation 1933
Long before MTV, Len Lye crafted this antecedent of the music video with a cheeky monkey singing and dancing to Cuban hit 'Peanut Vendor'
Overview
If you’ve ever forgotten to buy a bag of peanuts before you sleep, perhaps it’s because you missed out on this catchy little short. New Zealand-born artistic dynamo Len Lye arrived in London in the late 1920s, and simultaneously wowed and perplexed a select film audience with his avant-garde short Tusalava (1929). In 1935 his Post Office-sponsored direct animation short A Colour Box was released to far more attention and acclaim.
This experiment in form and function was made in between his better-known films, and was sadly left incomplete. The ambition was for it to be the first of a series of musical shorts but it lacked financial backing, and was perhaps too far ahead of its time. The success of A Colour Box led to a slew of relentlessly creative sponsored and advertising shorts before Lye left for America, where he continued to explore a range of creative arts, including kinetic sculpture.
Related
Short Tribute From Blues To You Short Tribute From Blues To You
Amateur film 1989 2 mins Silent Location: Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Model music men - an unusual appreciation of some legendary figures of rock.
Damaged Goods Damaged Goods
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2008 9 mins
A tragic story is played out by porcelain figurines residing in a bric-a-brac shop.
Ersatz Ersatz
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1978 14 mins Silent
An affectionate stop-motion tribute to Hollywood and cinema going, by an animator at Cosgrove-Hall Productions
Superted Superted
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1975 9 mins
Don’t tell the Spotty man but Superted has a new friend. A stop motion predecessor of the superhero teddy idea
Animated Putty Animated Putty
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1911 4 mins Silent
Long, long before Wallace met Gromit filmmakers performed malleable magic to bring clay to life
South Sea Sweethearts South Sea Sweethearts
Advert 1938 6 mins
Say aloha to a Technicolor cinema ad for Horlicks from the master of the Puppetoon, George Pal
Laura Mulvey in Conversation Laura Mulvey in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 76 mins
Laura Mulvey in conversation, following her BFI Fellowship Award.
George Clooney in Conversation George Clooney in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 74 mins
George Clooney visited BFI Southbank to look back on his life and career.
Chloé Zhao Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Chloé Zhao Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 65 mins
The Oscar®- winning director of Nomadland discusses her unique approach to filmmaking and the inspiration behind the adaptation of Hamnet.
Edgar Wright on The Running Man Edgar Wright on The Running Man
Inside Film 2025 28 mins
The director talks to Mark Kermode about putting Stephen King's dystopian life-or-death gameshow thriller through its paces.
Richard Linklater Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Richard Linklater Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 69 mins
Richard Linklater discusses his remarkable and wide-ranging body of work, including Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague.
Daniel Day-Lewis Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Daniel Day-Lewis Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 73 mins
Daniel Day-Lewis, the ultimate actor’s actor discusses his career in conversation with Mark Kermode.