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BSA206 Animation 1986-1989

When the Wind Blows (1986) is an adaption of a Raymond Briggs graphic novel. It's about an old couple who naively follow survival instructions after a nuclear war breaks out. It used photographed model sets for backgrounds. It is praised by critics and is an argument against the nuclear arms race.

Brothers Quay were influenced by Eastern European animation, surrealism and Jan Svankmajer's work. They created nightmarish stopmotions. Street of the Crocodile (1986) is their best known work.

The video for Sledgehammer (1986) rejuvenated Peter Gabriels career. It is a mixture of people-motion and stop-motion and was directed by Stephen R. Johnston and made by Aardman Animation and Brothers Quay. It became one of the most played videos on MTV and considered one of the best videos ever made.

The debut film from Joanna Quinn, Girls Night Out (1987), was about a woman called Beryl who gets taken to a male strip club by her work friends. The short film won several awards at the Annecy Animation Film Festival.

Family Dog (1987) was directed by Brad Bird and part of Steven Spielburg's TV series Amazing Stories. It had a larger budget and production value than other TV animations of the time. It is credited for having a role in the revival of quality animations such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), The Little Mermaid (1989) and The Simpsons (1990).

Wicked City (1987) was directed by Yashiaki Kawairi. It is an influential dark gothic sci-fi thriller. It was made in Japan but later re-released in the West where is grew a cult following.

Also in Japan, the manga artist Kalsuhiro Otomo released the animated version of his epic sci-fi, Akira in 1988. The film was a huge success, bringing anime to a whole new audience in the West. It was reported to be the first Japanese film to use the standard Western technique of recording sound before the picture, before that the sound had been dubbed over the picture.

Prometheus Garden (1988) was made by Bruce Bickford in the USA. Bickford was a stopmotion animator who produced stream-of-consciousness worlds. The film is loosely based on the Greek myth of Prometheus, who created mortals from clay.

Breakfast on the Grass (1987) was Pritt Barn's multi award winning short film. Pritt Barn was an Estonian who became an influential figure in Eastern Europe for his roughly drawn but expensive animations. Breakfast on the Grass is a surreal animation where the characters join at the end to form a Manet painting. Rugrats was influenced by the style.

The Hill Farm (1988) was made by Mark Baker. It is a dialogue free short film the shows the events of three days and how different people use the same hilly countryside. He worked on the film alone and it took Baker three years to make. The hilly terrain of the film would later feature in Mark Baker and Neville Astley's worldwide hit, Peppa Pig (2005). I think that the film suited it's lack of dialogue. It was easily understood without it and I think that the lack of dialogue made The Hill Farm more emotional than it would have been if the story had've been explained using dialogue. As well as this, I liked the animation style, and I can see the simple-shape style that is also used in Peppa Pig. (By this I mean, his character's are animated in simple shapes that are expressive but not overly complex).


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