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Children of Wax

Children of Wax

Delightful African folk tale collected by Alexander McCall Smith and animated by industry veteran Kathleen 'Spud' Houston

Long before Alexander McCall Smith opened The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency he introduced a number of traditional African folk tales to new readers. Children of Wax was the title story of a collection first published in 1989, his interest rooted in his birth in Bulawayo. This animated version was designed, drawn and directed by just one woman, Kathleen 'Spud' Houston, something of a legend herself, having started her cartoon career over 50 years earlier.

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From the collection

Women of Animation

Celebrating pioneers and boundary-pushing female artists

16 videos in this collection

1

Honestly It's the Story of My Life

  • 1990
2

Mildred

  • 1960
3

The Dirt Inside

  • 1998
4

Children of Wax

  • 1988
5

Pretend You'll Survive

  • 1981
6

Green Men, Yellow Woman

  • 1973
7

Two Faces

  • 1968
8

Slug Life

  • 2018
Worst. Parents. Ever. But a lovely animated tale using cut-out animation designed by Sunniva Kellquist
9

Little Tom Thumb

  • 1967
10

Childhood Memories

  • 2018
The animated short on the terrors of nuclear apocalypse that become a sensation when it played on the Ed Sullivan show, leaving middle America highly disturbed.
11

A Short Vision

  • 1956
An animated tale with a Lutheran message that's equal parts Christmas spirit and good old-fashioned guilt
12

The Candlemaker

  • 1957
No man is an island, but Charley represents his nation in this economical cartoon tale of Britain's economics
13

Robinson Charley

  • 1948
Long before the 'Charley Says' campaign of the 1970s and '80s, another cartoon Charley was used to demystify the newly created NHS.
14

Your Very Good Health

  • 1948
A cartoon fantasy brings fabric patterns to life in a literal soap opera - yet even here the reality of Home Front life creeps in
15

Carnival in the Clothes Cupboard

  • 1941
Santa's on strike! This charming animation for the GPO advises early posting to keep Father Christmas onside.
16

Christmas is Coming

  • 1951
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