The Mysterious Traveller

Not so long ago, in a studio far,  far away.... Yes, it's all bloomin' Star Wars at the moment. A parsec away from fatigue? Perhaps. But regardless of what you think of the new film (Rise of Skywalker) the toy industry shall never suffer. Every high street shop has a section dedicated to Star Wars. Whether for toys, costumes, stationary, books, collectables, magazines and stuff; everywhere from Woolworths to Toy"R"Us will have a Star Wars logo slapped onto something.     My appreciation, however, for some of the newer Hasbro Star Wars range has suffered. You may call them pet peeves, I call them sloppy engineering especially when it comes to things like limited poseable parts or shoddy face sculpts. Coming from an animated background does scupper my expectations, I admit, as all the characters I encounter are fully poseable puppets that would make splendid toys (but they are not, they are absolutely not toys).     The Black Series (6 inch) is a q...

I had only heard little nuggets concerning Anomolisa but it had all been reletively positive. Animators at work had mentioned it and there were online rumblings of an adult based stop motion film on the horizon. There was also a Channel 4 interview conducted by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, where directors and producers (of Anomolisa ) Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson described as best they could the logistics behind such a production. I think Krishnan Guru-Murthy wanted to try a different angle, perhaps relating to tax breaks, but it resulted in a very awkward coversation over politics and their thoughts on Trump. It might have been considered a wasted opportunity to plug the film, but behold! A fairly sizeable clip was shown and it looked absolutely bloody marvellous. And so did the rest of the film . A jolly ol' gr oup of us let our hair down last Friday ni ght to watch Anomolisa at Manchester' s Home cinema complex (it's love ly and shiney ther e) and t...

This blog post is dedicated to all the brave souls who have succumbed to the tyranny of flu (non- gender specific). For I have become a bed ridden blancmange and therefore missed vital studio time where I have been practicing the art of silicone moulding. But we are not here to wallow in my snotty pit of carcoon, as I have been inspired to divulge into the world of stop motion after recently watching an episode of the 1984 animated series of  The Wind in the Willows.  This was, of course, when Cosgrove Hall was in it's prime. But despite the closure of this legendary studio, the area surrounding this part of Manchester is still teaming with animated life;  a new hope  to young graduates. I have had the privilege of meeting and becoming acquainted with Barry Purves, director of The Wind in the Willows , so it's quite a different experience when watching these animations again because they feel even more personal (due to my career choice). I know about the length...

                        I reckon it's always healthy to start a post with some holiday snaps. Although, I'm not going away for a while so the next post could include photos of me having a right ol' time wearing a Hawaiian shirt and outrageous sunglasses... in Coventry. Anyway, me and Lucy went skiing in February and did a damn good job on the snowy slopes of the Black Forests in Germany. I even managed the steeper part of a blue slope and overtook a toddler. Now, you may think that's no big feat (just realised the little joke in there!) but these little buggers can ski/snowboard with no fear whatsoever. They even sing when they breeze past you, which just feels like a mocking and a half. I have to say, one of the highlights was the glorious weather we had on Valentines Day and the opportunity I had to climb into a wilderness hut with a stick (which was actually a double barrelled shotgun). I pretended to be E...