Running a Cinema

Running a Cinema

This animated insight into silent cinema-going is more fanciful than factual, and relishes in poking fun at the films of its time

Ever wondered what it was like to run a cinema in the 1920s? Well it was probably nothing like how it is shown in this film, but who cares when it is such great fun? Dudley Buxton was a comic illustrator and postcard artist who started making cartoon propaganda films in WW1. His 'Memoirs of Miffy' series was an attempt to continue his success into the 1920s, but like most other British animators the competition of American animation proved too strong.

Dudley Buxton's contribution to the development of film cartoons in Britain is sadly little known. He tried to move the industry on from cut-out animation to using the cel technique so common in the US. However lack of investment in the UK and favourable distribution terms for American series like Felix the Cat made it impossible to compete on level terms. Buxton continued as a key but anonymous figure in British animation into the mid-1930s, but is today better known for his saucy postcards.

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Creatures Great and Small

Fur, feathers, bugs or beaks: from the start animators have cast the whole natural world in their human comedies and dramas

Would you know Mickey was a mouse if you didn’t know his surname? Many of the most famous animated characters are drawn from the animal kingdom, but they rarely behave quite as nature intended. Anthropomorphism has a long history in storytelling - going back to Aesop and beyond - and animation has imported it into film. But whether it's Bonzo the Dog or Charley the Cat, these characters are really studies in human nature. 

23 videos in this collection

Bonzo No. 5

  • 1925

Feline Fun

  • 1986

The Clown and His Donkey

  • 1910
Kids don't always listen to their parents. But in the 70s they certainly listened to a giant ginger tabby cat...

Charley Says: Falling in the Water

  • 1973
An animated xmas with paper dog Snap

Goodwill to All Dogs

  • 1960

Superted

  • 1975

The Fabulumperous Car

  • 1972

The Six-armed Image

  • 1921

The Elstree Erbs

  • 1930

Tale of a Tendril

  • 1925

Bonzo [No. 1]

  • 1924

Bonzolino or - Bonzo Broadcasted

  • 1925

Willie Comes to Life

  • 1948

Running a Cinema

  • 1921
…and that is that. A playful animated meditation on our feline friends with some beautiful artwork.

A Cat Is a Cat

  • 1971
Charley's cat-astrophic teatime hijinks leave him with a burning message to share

Teapot

  • 1973

Topical Bonzette

  • 1925

Steve's Cannon Crackers

  • 1937

Bee Boy

  • 2005

Apodemy

  • 2012

Moxie

  • 2011

The Obvious Child

  • 2014

Booster Bonzo; Or, Bonzo in Gay Paree

  • 1925
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