The Boy Who Wanted to Make Pictures

1924
Silent
4m

Kodak pocket cameras provide the perfect substitute for a budding portrait artist in this early advert based on the drawings of Harold Bateman.

A cartoon advertisement for Kodak demonstrates that their pocket cameras can be perfect for those who don't feel gifted with other artistic talents. With cartoons by H.M. Bateman, famed for his The Man Who... and The Boy Who... newspaper series, animator David Barker brings movement to characters only previously seen in print.

ADVERTISING/ANIMATION. Cartoon advertisement for Kodak pocket cameras.
Cartoons by H.M. Bateman. Animated by David Barker.

Animated Ads

British animation won great success as an entertainer, but it has long had a lucrative second career in sales

In cinemas and on TV, animated adverts have frequently outshone the main attraction. In the early days of the cinema, animated ads were often relative epics, with five-minute comic encounters leading to a pack-shot punchline. The arrival of commercial television in 1955 brought the animated ad down to bite-size, but if anything they packed an even harder punch. Advertisers found that animation could soften the edges of a hard sell approach, and bring cartoon brand characters to life.