Giro the Germ Episode 1

1927
Silent
6m

The germs in this silent 1920s cartoon seem to have caught the Flapper bug

By 1927 the Flapper craze seems to have even reached the germs in your bin. This Health and Cleanliness Council cartoon features animation that is both primitive and progressive. Sprinkled throughout are rotoscoped scenes where the movements of real dancers have been traced onto animated characters, giving some of these germs a rather loveable flapper charm. Four 'Giro' films were made between 1927 and 1936, with the last Giro - Fast and Loose (also on the Player) revealing a completely different style and full use of sound

Health propaganda cartoon, illustrating how germs are spread by house flies. One of a series for children on cleanliness.

Giro the germ and friends are born in a bin with the lid left off and carried away by flies. They turn away from a clean home, but enter a grimy one and infect a man and his wife. The doctor arrives and tells them to clean.

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.