Super Natural Gas

1975
Sound
9m

Kenneth Williams as the voice of methane? It's a gas! This British Gas sponsored short is the origin of cult kids TV classic Willo the Wisp

Remember Willo the Wisp? Commissioned to make a film about the discovery and use of offshore natural gas, the ever inventive Nick Spargo decided to make methane itself into a character and called on unique voice talent of Kenneth Williams to bring it to life. First appearing as the phenomenon of will-o'-the-wisp, then voicing the gas on its path from the seabed to the home this short is an unexpected delight.

The character clearly had more life in it, so it was perhaps unsurprising that it returned in a 26-part series first shown on the BBC in 1981 and then much repeated. Nick Spargo started his career in cartoons at the Gaumont-British Animation studio which was set up after WWII by J. Arthur Rank, which set him up for a long career in the industry with particular skills as a writer.

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.