Animation Cocktail

From the collection of

East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia

The East Anglian Film Archive, the UK's first regional film archive, offers a unique record of the East of England's social and cultural history. As part of the University of East Anglia, we continue to lead moving image heritage research and inspire audience participation through community projects and events. Our collections represent a broad range of amateur and professional creativity, from 1896 to the present day.

Animation Cocktail

East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia
1977-01-01
Silent
20m

A frog projectionist, a drunken hound, and shadow muscle men make up this Animation Cocktail of stop-motion sequences by filmmaker Jon Coley.

Reel One of Jon Coley's Jonamation Trilogy; 'Jonamation' referring to the filmmaker's mix of stop-motion animation and live-action. Coley uses the stop-motion technique to animate characters using a range of materials including clay models, puppets, shadow figures, hand-drawings, even inanimate objects such as cups and lamps spring to life in Coley's choregraphed sequences. Coley worked on these sequences under the supervision of filmmaker Ray Harryhausen.

The filmmaker's raw talent for this art form was nurtured from a young age. Coley remembers at aged 3 seeing a clip on TV from the 1953 film 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms' and becoming fascinated with the work of Ray Harryhausen, which encouraged him to make his own dinosaur models. In later years, Coley got to work with Harryhausen, and some of the sequences on this reel were done under Harryhausen's supervision. The reel was then used to show to film companies, to show the filmmaker's potential and to gain further work.

DIY Animation

Amateur animation auteurs bring their homegrown creations to life

The requirements for making an animated film are pretty low. With a camera that shoots in single frames and an idea in your back pocket, you're well on your way. This collection showcases an assortment of dining table Disneys, who combine homebrewed talent with the all-important dedication and patience required to bring a story to life one frame at a time. Not that this was necessarily a solitary pursuit. From the 1950s onwards networks of amateur animators like The Grasshopper Group collaborated on filmmaking and distribution, and animated shorts were often a highlight of the amateur filmmaking scene.