"Animated documentary" may seem a contradiction, but the connection in Britain dates back to the 1930s, when documentaries and experimental animation were produced side by side as homegrown alternatives to Hollywood's advancing influence. The new wave of British animation has revived this independent spirit as artists again mine the real world: photographs with their aura of authenticity, sound recordings and interviews, history, and more subjective realms such as memory. Included are Nick Park's Oscar-winning Creature Comforts, plus a new episode, in which interviews with the public emanate from the mouths of plasticine animals, revealing the funny or poignant sides of existence. Robert Bradbrook's Home Road Movies reconstructs childhood memories of family vacations, while Chris Shepherd's Dad's Dead is a gritty photographic drama of growing up in a deprived neighborhood. Tim Webb's A is for Autism is a collaboration with autistic subjects, who, like the subjects of Paul Vester's Abductees, provided drawings and interviews. (IK)Creature Comforts (dir. Nick Park, 1989, 5 mins.) — The original Oscar-winning claymation, in which vox pop interviews with visitors to the zoo, and with residents of a retirement home, are placed in the mouths of zoo animals.
A is for Autism (dir. Tim Webb, 1992, 11 mins.) — A collaboration between the film-maker and autistic subjects, who performed the music track as well as providing interviews and drawings which inspired the animation.
No Experience Necessary (dir. Stephen Loveridge, 2003, 3 mins.) — Three kids in empty shops talk about their tedious work whilst they invent distractions to defeat the monotony. The film is an animated series of painted and drawn portraits, which have then been scanned and digitally extended.
The Phantom Museum: Random Forays into Sir Henry Wellcome's Medical Collection (dir. Brothers Quay, 2003, 11 1/2 mins.) — Sir Henry Wellcome (1853-1936) amassed one of the world's largest museum collections, capturing human culture and history through medical eyes. The film uses animation to imaginatively "document" this extraordinary assemblage and simultaneously reveal an extremely beautiful yet odd inner cosmos of things.
Home Road Movies (dir. Robert Bradbrook, 2001, 12 mins.) — An autobiographical childhood memory of a father who wanted the family car to make him a better parent...
Abductees (dir. Paul Vester, 1995, 11 mins.) — Based on interviews, hypnotic regression tapes, and drawings by members of a support group of New Yorkers who believe they have been abducted by aliens.
Dad's Dead (dir. Chris Shepherd, 2003, 11 mins.) — Through a series of ghostly reminiscences a young man tries to piece together fragmented moments from the past, when he was captive to the influence of a deceitful and violent friend. A gritty drama using manipulated live action combined with ghostly digital animation.
Creature Comforts: The Circus (dir. Richard Goleszewsky, 2003, 10 mins.) — A US premiere for one episode from a brand new series based on the award winning original short by the celebrated Aardman Animations.