Plastic Platitudes

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.

Plastic Platitudes

East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia
1957-01-01
Sound
4m

J.D. Butcher, known by his middle name Douglas, was an accomplished amateur animator and filmmaker from Essex. He made both live action and animated short films and his film, “Water on the Brain”, was the ‘first time entrant’ winner in the 1955 Competition of the Amateur Cinematographers. In this film, platitudes, those clichéd remarks that we are all guilty of muttering, are here jam-packed into one long clay animated comic monologue.

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.