A Christmas Carol at BFI 9th December

A Christmas Carol, 1971

Richard Williams' animated Oscar-winning adaptation of the Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol is to be screened at the BFI on Sunday 9th December at 3pm, along with two other British animated classics: Raymond Briggs' The Snow Man and Father Christmas.

The event is a great opportunity to see some beautiful home-grown animation, and after the screening there will be a Q&A with directors Dave Unwin and Richard Williams.

And, if you are lucky, you might even get a chance to have your copy of "The Animator's Survival Kit" signed by the author. 

Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim

What's this all about?
2018 is BFI's Year of Animation and, with Christmas looming, they are hosting a celebration of British animation with a seasonal theme.

AMPAS Restoration
The screening takes place at the BFI on the South Bank at 3pm on Sunday 9th December, in association with AMPAS, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the folks who host the Oscars), following the AMPAS-financed restoration of A Christmas Carol, enabling audiences to see the short film in its full HD glory.

Richard Williams Animation, 1970

RWA 1970s. From left: Unknown, Ken Harris, Grim Natwick, Art Babbitt, Richard Purdum, Dick Williams

A Christmas Carol was a twenty-two minute TV special for US broadcast, produced by Looney Tunes legend Chuck Jones. Many scenes, especially those including Uncle Scrooge, were animated by Ken Harris, one of Chuck's star animators from Road Runner days (watch out for when Scrooge looks a bit like the Coyote). Other legendary animators from the first Golden Age of Animation included Grim Natwick and Emery Hawkins.

Art Director Roy Naisbitt did the background layouts, creating a sense of the atmosphere of 19th century London. Look out for the super-fast pans over the city - that's all Roy's work.  Roy later went on to do the two and a half dimensional background layouts for The Thief and The Cobbler, and he also did the layout work for the two-minute short cartoon that opens the 1988 hit "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?".  It is Roy's work that gives the film's opening its unique character.

So come along on sunday 9th December and travel back in time to Victorian London - and also to Soho in the early 1970s.

The Escape Studios Animation Blog is a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our new BA/MA starting in September 2019, follow this link.