Ever Been Had?

1917
Silent
7m

Blackly comic cartoon portrait of an apocalyptic England, destroyed 50 years after signing a premature peace in WWI.

Featuring a henpecked man on the moon, the last Englishman on Earth, and electric death rays, this remarkable cartoon skilfully treads a tightrope between sci-fi, comedy, and propaganda. In just two years, popular postcard artist Dudley Buxton moved from simple lightning sketching on camera to this animated mini-masterpiece. Make sure you stick around for the killer punchline…

First World War fantasy animation

Early Animation

The dawn of a new celluloid art: Britain's animation pioneers at peace and war

When you're creating a new art form, everything is experimental. The pioneers of animation in Britain cast a range of subjects as the stars of their films - the toys of an Edwardian child; insects and animals; Kaiser Bill and John Bull. But even the richest of fantasies on display here offer a window into the turbulent era in which they were made. When the nation went to war, animation was conscripted to meet its propaganda needs. In peacetime, the industry sought success as an entertainer, but found a career in sales.