Cycling Proficiency Scheme: Father and Son

1959
Sound
1m

"Dad... I want a bike!” Fun animated campaign aimed at 50s parents and their over-eager offspring.

This simple line animation by top British team Halas and Batchelor extols the virtues of the National Cycling Proficiency scheme, launched by the Government in 1958 after being introduced locally in 1947. Parents are warned not to let their child become another casualty statistic, a message that rings ever more true on today's increasingly congested roads.

Animated public information film giving advice on choosing the right bike for your child and on safety using a very simple line drawing style animation.

A boy asks his father for a bike, and the voiceover explains how the first thing to do is find a bike that is the right size for the child. Rather than
teach the child themselves, parents should send them to their local cycling proficiency scheme where they can learn from the experts. Illustrated examples include, the correct way to turn right on a road, how to approach road junctions and how to approach zebra crossings. Lastly parents should make a regular check of brakes, lights and tyres, and "your child won't be one of the thousands killed or injured every year on our roads."

Animation Goes to Work

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

Animation has an almost magical ability to charm and captivate. And those same qualities also make it a strikingly effective communication tool. It grabs attention, speaks to all ages, and can distil complex messages into simple and appealing visual metaphors. For government or other august bodies, cartoon antics have often been the perfect jam to sweeten the pill of official communications, whether to explain sweeping change or impart health and safety messages. And for the inventive animator, even the most utilitarian brief is no barrier to the most outlandish of treatments.