A Colour Box

A Colour Box

Part experimental cinema, part advert for the parcel post service, always joyful.

Rarely has a film exploded onto cinema screens with such a joyful splash of colour and rhythm as A Colour Box. Made as a commercial for the General Post Office, New Zealand born Len Lye painted directly onto the film strip, synchronising his dynamic shapes and squiggles with an upbeat rumba track. The film captured the heart of audiences on its release in 1935 and continues to do so today.

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From the collection

Animated Classics

Showcasing the best and brightest of British animation

12 videos in this collection

What does it mean to be British? You might not have a much clearer idea after watching this animated portrait, but you will certainly be entertained

The United Kingdom

  • 1994
If anyone can bring Henri Toulouse-Lautrec’s sketchbooks to life, Geoff Dunbar can-can

Lautrec

  • 1974
This animated allegory with a message of mediation was so successful it was adopted by the United Nations

A Short Tall Story

  • 1970
Tennis match escalates into apocalypse

Players

  • 1982

Music Man

  • 1938
Part experimental cinema, part advert for the parcel post service, always joyful.

A Colour Box

  • 1935

The Victor

  • 1985

Carmen

  • 1936
A line-drawing love story in a surreal land, made to advertise Empire Air Mail but withheld due to "Freudian" symbolism.

Love on the Wing

  • 1939

Fox Hunt

  • 1936

The Ladder

  • 1967

Ubu

  • 1978
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