Clare Kitson, former animation commissioner at U.K. broadcaster Channel 4, charts the rise of U.K. toons over the last 30 years in a new book titled British Animation: The Channel 4 Factor. Parliament Hill Publishing will release the illustrated tome on Wed, Nov. 19.
Launched in 1981, Channel 4 is government-regulated but supported by advertising. Kitson notes how this combination gave rise to constant battles between art and commerce at the network, which has been a major outlet for animated short films. The broadcaster recently launched online animation channel 4mations.tv, a collaboration between C4, Aardman Animations and Lupus Films.
In addition to providing a historical look at Channel 4’s relationship with animation, the book celebrates thirty landmarks of British animation and the artists who made them. Detailed film portraits offer insights’personal, technical and historical’into the genesis, production and ultimate impact of a range of works, from Dianne Jakson’s 1982 Oscar nominated The Snowman to Suzie Templeton’s 2007 Oscar winner Peter and the Wolf. The years in between have seen more Oscar-winners, popular series, well-known Aardman films, avant-garde works from the likes of Jan ‘vankmajer and the Quay brothers and more.
Kitson scheduled animation programs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the early ’70s and was a programmer at the National Film Theatre in the ’80s. From 1989 to 1999 she commissioned Channel 4’s animation. Her highly-praised book Yuri Norstein and Tale of Tales: An Animator’s Journey was published in 2005 by John Libbey Publishing. Kitson will present her latest book and the story behind it at the Encounters Short Film Festival, Bristol Watershed (www.encounters-festival.org.uk) on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 12 noon, and at the Curzon Soho (www.curzoncinemas.com) on Friday, Dec. 5 at 6 p.m.