What do TV classics like Danger Mouse, Postman Pat, Bob the Builder or the puppets made for Hollywood blockbusters such as Guillermo del Toro‘s Pinocchio all have in common? They were created in Manchester.
“Manchester’s an amazing city, it celebrates so much. You hear a lot about music and everything else that goes on but you don’t hear about its animation history,” Steve Henderson, founder of Manchester Animation Festival, tells Prolific North, as the festival is now in full swing for its eighth edition.
“That’s what the festival is here to do, it’s here to celebrate that amazing legacy.”
That legacy can be traced back to at least 1976 when two former Granada TV employees, Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall, launched their own animation studio in Chorlton called Cosgrove Hall Films.
Starting out in a renovated “magic” shed, Cosgrove Hall soon attracted global attention after creating Danger Mouse, Count Duckula, The BFG and The Wind in the Willows, to name a few.
When Cosgrove Hall closed its doors in the 1990s, it wasn’t the end. Its success churned out even more successful animation companies.
One of those companies was animation giant Mackinnon & Saunders, launched by Ian Mackinnon and Peter Saunders. The duo have worked together since the 1980s, initially meeting at Cosgrove Hall, and started their journey to success after renting out one of Cosgrove Hall’s former workshops.
“It’s the Hollywood of the North West”
There are now around 110 animators, puppet makers, sculptors and creative pioneers at Mackinnon & Saunders’ studio, tucked away in a tranquil corner of Altrincham. From crafting the puppets for Pinocchio, the team have worked on huge hits from Fantastic Mr Fox, Corpse Bride and TV shows like Postman Pat.
“Mackinnon & Saunders went on to work with Tim Burton, Guillermo del Toro and Wes Anderson. These huge directors come to Manchester to get their puppets made. That’s because of the skills that have been fostered at Cosgrove Hall,” says Henderson.
“They’re this amazing, well kept secret. You drive past the studio and you wouldn’t know that they have all these amazing characters, puppets and sets brought to life by this army of talented individuals that create wonderful work.
“There’s not an ounce of Hollywood in them, they are so likeable and the work that they create is pure Hollywood, pure magic. That was the case for Cosgrove Hall, Factory and other animators in Manchester. It’s the Hollywood of the North West – animation’s answer to Hollywood.”
It’s not just Cosgrove Hall and Mackinnon & Saunders creating that animated magic in Manchester. The team at HOT Animation brought Pingu and Bob the Builder to our TV screens, while multi-genre animation studio Factory in Altrincham revived The Clangers for the BBC, and created animated hits like Strange Hill High and Raa Raa the Noisy Lion.
“Factory attracted Josh Weinstein, writer and producer on The Simpsons. He loves Manchester so he comes over here because he knows the animation community in Manchester is thriving, brilliant and is creative.”
Not only attracting Hollywood legends in the directing world to the region, Manchester’s talented animation industry has paved the way for major gaming companies too. Former staffers from Cosgrove Hall went on to work for Warner Bros-owned TT Games in Cheshire, working on the “fun cut scenes” for the new Lego Star Wars video game.
“All that ingenuity, fun and filmmaking all stems from Cosgrove Hall, from that Manchester ethic of creating amazing work.”
“AI is an issue…. you couldn’t have made Danger Mouse with AI”
Although it looks like a blissful picture across the animated industry in Manchester, it’s not without its challenges. “It’s really hard to make animated TV shows and films. This year, there was a welcome tax relief for animation. But Manchester is competing with the world. It’s not a cottage industry.
“It’s not just an industry, it’s a livelihood that needs to be kept an eye on and around the world. You see incredible tax incentives of 40% in places like the Canary Islands but you can’t get that in the UK, so the work is literally flying over our heads.
“Obviously there are fantastic organisations such as Animation UK, that lobby on behalf of the government, to ensure that we have a healthy ecosystem for the animation industry within the UK.”
Although technology has helped to evolve some aspects of animation and puppet making such as the use of 3D printed metal for Pinocchio’s armature by Mackinnon & Saunders, AI is just one of the potential threats to the future of animation.
“It is an issue. There are a lot of artists who are worried about their livelihoods because if you can go to a computer and type in exactly what you want and it pops up on screen, then more unscrupulous studios are more likely to do that than they are to hire an artist.
“I think what people who are worried about that need to remember is that you cannot you cannot create heart and soul with an algorithm. You need the artist, you need those people with a wonderful love and respect for the art form.
“You couldn’t have made Danger Mouse or Count Duckula with AI. You need people like Brian Cosgrove, Mark Hall, Ian Mackinnon and many more to create these wonderful things.”
“I tell people I have a PhD in Bob the Builder”
What led to the creation of Manchester Animation Festival back in 2015? Inspired by the likes of Wallace and Gromit and Beano as a child growing up in Bradford, Henderson worked as an animator after finishing at university but “not for long as our friend the credit crunch came along”.
He soon “found a home” as a volunteer at Bradford Animation Festival while doing a PhD in animation. “I tell people I have a PhD in Bob the Builder,” he laughs. “That was the case study for my PhD.”
But 2014 marked the last edition of the Bradford festival. “That evening, people came up to myself and my wife Jen Hall and asked: ‘What are you guys going to do about it?’”
“We were like, what are we supposed to do about it, we’re just as lost as you are! Gradually, we kicked the idea around about putting on our own festival in Manchester.”
Thanks to his role as editor of Skwigly Animation Magazine, where he was able to meet the region’s creators and animators, plus the collaborative nature of the animation ecosystem in Manchester, the festival has flourished over the years.
Cosgrove Hall is “probably the main reason why there’s a Manchester Animation Festival,” says Henderson. But there were two key reasons why he didn’t revive Bradford’s edition.
“It didn’t really have the infrastructure and Jen lived in Manchester, which had been crying out for an event to celebrate its animation heritage.
“When we started the festival in 2015, Jen and I said we’ll just have a film competition. We didn’t quite know how we would have the awards. Then Ian and Peter got in touch from Mackinnon & Saunders and said: ‘We hear we’re getting an animation Festival, do you want some awards?’”
The creators of Chicken Run, Aardman Animations, were just one of the big names getting in touch, asking to screen the new Shaun the Sheep movie for the first festival too.
“Before we knew it, this thing was snowballing into an actual animation festival and it wasn’t just a screening,” he explains. “We made it happen. We were really happy with the first year, then every year has just become bigger and bigger.”
Around a third of the feature films that have screened at the festival since 2015 have “disappeared” as they’re not picked up by distributors or streaming platforms, despite going on to pick up accolades at the likes of the Oscars.
Although there’s still “a lot of work to be done in recognising animation”, he believes its now more important than ever to champion Manchester’s rich animation heritage.
“Our mission is to get people to recognise that animation is for everybody,” he explains. “We’re very proud that we’re able to make the majority of screenings accessible this year. We’re providing BSL interpreters for the talks and everything’s hard of hearing subtitled this year.”
With Orion Ross, the vice president for animation at Disney, set to speak at the event, other highlights include the Manchester premiere of Aardman’s Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget; and an advanced screening of Netflix’s brand new series, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.
“We bring the world of animation to Manchester, we also share Manchester animation with the world,” he adds.
