10 British YouTube Animators to Watch
Weebl
If you were on the internet back in the days where Newgrounds was popular, then you’ve no doubt heard of the brilliant animator – Weebl! Jonathan Picking has been animating under the pseudonym Weebl since 2002 and has been going ever since. Originally uploading simple flash animations to Newgrounds he rose to extreme fame for his animation – “Badger Badger Badger” which bought Picking significant attention from MTV, Yahoo and Dave.
As well as Badger Badger Badger, he also created the ever popular animation series – Weebl and Bob. The series revolves around the characters Weebl and Bob (obviously) as we see their various fallouts and insulting each other. Still animating on Newgrounds and now also on YouTube, Picking has created a wide variety of different (Animal-related) viral videos including Narwhals, Crabs and Owls.
Cyriak
I first heard about Cyriak back at the FLIP Animation Festival where he spoke about his brilliant animation experiences. Cyriak combines creative with crazy to deliver some brilliant animations. If you want to see how to use After Effects to the best of it’s ability follow Cyriak! Cyriak has the incredible ability to take a simple image/video and blow your mind with it. Though his videos may be a little weird or scary, on the whole – they’re pretty child friendly! Just take a look at his most famous video – Cows & Cows & Cows
Eddsworld
Similar to Weebl, Eddsworld started out on Newgrounds back in 2003 by brilliant animator – Edd Gould. After taking 7 months out to learn all about animation and how to use Flash, he started creating his media franchise. Since then he has also moved to YouTube and worked with many YouTube stars including Tom Ridgewell (We’ll get to him later), Paul Ter Voorde as well as creating special episodes for the BBC and the United Nations.
Unfortunately, Edd Gould passed away last year due to cancer however his legacy lives on. Constant collaborator and friend, Tom Ridgewell has now taken over the show and promises to continue the show. They launched an IndieGoGo campaign to raise money to keep Edd’s Legacy alive and Tim Hautekiet has taken over as Edd’s character. Currently the show is at a halt as Ridgewell is currently battling depression.
Wonchop
Now this animator you may not of heard of, but I can guarantee you’ve seen his handy work! Wonchop Animation, also known as Ben Smallman is the animator for Tomska’s viral asdfmovie series. Once again, animating on Flash, Smallman started working with Tomska in September 2011 on asdfmovie4 and they’ve been animating together ever since. As well as that, Smallman also creates animations on his own channel, some are asdf-related, some are just stand alone animations. Either way you should check him out! He has just released the latest asdfmovie episode which you should also watch.
RageNineteen
It seems like half the people in this list wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Tomska, but yet ANOTHER Tomska collaborator. RageNineteen AKA Jamie Spicer-Lewis was a frequent Tomska animator and before Wonchop, he animated asdfmovie 3 &5 as well as also provided brilliant content on his own channel. One of his most watched series is ACTION BUNNIES in which he has taken clear inspiration from asdfmovie and transformed it into a real Hare-raising piece!
Harry Partridge
Like many others on this list, Harry Partridge started in the days of Newgrounds. Starting out in 2004, Partridge works on Flash to create various awesome animations! He is also the animator/director/writer behind the popular series – Starbarians. An 80’s style cartoon about Killgar and Hogstrong as they journey across space. He has also made a few Skyrim related videos which brought in a lot of views and is his most watched video to date. He gained a lot of “controversy” after he made a video slating the animation website – GoAnimate. His new video “With Animation You Can” should pretty much show you just how creative he is.
Lee Hardcastle
Spicing up the list a bit is Lee Hardcastle. Whilst almost everyone on this list is on the 2D train, Lee is a stop-motion-er. Lee’s hilarious work takes the aesthetic style of a nostalgic 10 year old animator playing with plasticine and mixes it with guns, blood, sex and more over-18 behaviour. As well as that, Lee has created various animations of famous films however he’s shortened them into 60 seconds. This includes The Lion King, The Thing, The Raid, The Exorcist and more! As well as that, Lee participated in the ABC’s of Death project. Lee was given the letter T in which T is for Toilet. You can check out his segment below.
Simon’s Cat
Now if you’ve ever been on Youtube and you’re an animator, you’ve no doubt heard of Simon’s Cat! Out of all the internet cats out there, Simon’s Cat is clearly the coolest! Simon’s Cat is a black and white animation series by Simon Tofield. Animated on Flash, Simon has used simple line drawings to tell the story of his cat which is inspired by his real life cat, Hugh. Simon’s Cat uses various tricks and cons to convince it’s owner to feed him. But Tofield has turned Simon’s Cat into a real business, with book deals which have led to 6 books being published in various languages and also snatching up a deal with Disney. Check out the latest video!
David Firth
David Firth is another animator who gets his views from being weird and wonderful! His web series “Salad Fingers” revolves around a strange character named Salad Fingers. Starting in 2004, Firth has gained a lot of popularity from the series, raking in an incredible 100 million views! Salad Fingers is creepy, eerie, strange but best of all – distinctive. As well as this, Firth also creates other animations outside of the Salad Fingers series. These vary in characters, story and design however another series which is running strong though not as popular as Salad Fingers is the wonderful adventures of “Burnt Face Man” which I think speaks for itself. Check out the first episode of Salad Fingers below!
Element Animation
Like many users on YouTube, Element Animation likes to play a certain game… MINECRAFT. And Element Animation has created an incredible amount of videos related to that. With Minecraft being such a popular game, it only makes sense to create some animations about such a game. Many users currently do this however Element Animation goes beyond just using the game to create Machinima Animation and actually makes it’s own animation and it is for this reason why it has gained over 1 million subscribers! They’ve even created an incredible tutorial which will help you become a better animator. 😉
3 Bonuses
YouTube is filled with thousands of animators, film-makers and some incredible work, and we couldn’t possibly fit them all into one article. Here are three bonus animators to get you going before you discover more talent for yourself. And please do share your own in the comments section below!
Birdbox Studio
Birdbox Studio has a bit different to many of the others on this list, in terms of style and animator. Whilst many of the animators on this list use YouTube as their main way of income, Birdbox is actually a freelance studio who produces hilarious YouTube shorts on the side. The studio has produced work for gaming site King.com, book distributors Penguin and Three Olives Vodka.
Brothers McLeod
The Brothers McLeod are a BAFTA-winning duo consisting of Myles McLeod and Greg McLeod based in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Myles does the writing whilst Greg does the animation and together they have created spectacular work over the past few years. Working with the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 as well as also creating their own shorts, TV pilots and more, the Brothers McLeod are incredibly experienced. They have almost finished their 365 project in which they must animate one second of animation a day.
White Robot
White Robot is a team of two which got a lot of attention earlier this year when they took home the BAFTA for Best Short Animation. Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson are a duo at the top of their game right now. Alongside winning a BAFTA for The Making of Longbird, the duo also have time to upload hilarious animations to the web. One thing we’ve learnt from the duo is that they sure do love their birds! Nothing defines the craziness of YouTube like an animation of a turkey singing dubstep.