Documentary exploring more than a century of animation in Britain, including the creative and technical inventiveness of the UK's greatest animation pioneers. It gives a great insight on who was the original creators of British animation delving into their practices (recent and previous) really giving me as a viewer a time-lapse of their design processes.
The defining characteristic of British animation has always been ingenuity. Unable to compete with the big American studios, animators in Britain were forced to experiment, developing their own signature styles. The documentary uncovers the trade secrets of animation legends like Bob Godfrey, John Halas and Joy Batchelor, Len Lye and Bristol's world-renowned Aardman Animations. A interesting tale on how difficult and intelligent it was to create an animation using stop motion. The way they experimented using clay and found that it was easier to manipulate to create human life forms and motion. A discovery like this was revelational in British design as it paved the way for classics such a Wallace and Gromit.
Tracing the development of British animation from the end of the Victorian era to contemporary blockbusters, Secrets of British Animation shows the perseverance and determination that are part of the animator's mindset, going into the out of the ordinary minds of the designers, they did not seem to think like tour every person as they were able to see potential to make motion graphics in every day objects. Focusing on the handmade tradition of animation in the UK, the programme includes newly-remastered early films from the archive of the British Film Institute. Overall, a fantastic insight into British animation and the thought process of the creatives behind the movement.