Animators Could End Up on the £20 Note
The Bank of England have previously announced that a visual artist will adorn the next £20 note designed by the bank. Now that public nominations have ceased, 592 eligible visual artists have been selected for a final vote which will be conducted by the banks Banknote Character Advisory Committee and a team of external advisors. The longlist will be whittled down to 3-5 names which the governor of the Bank of England will then select from. The winning face will be announced in spring 2016 and the note will then enter circulation in the next 3-5 years alongside Sir Winston Churchill on the £5 note and Jane Austen on the £10 note.
Out of the 592 visual artists there are a few important animators that made the list. Loosely based on the current £20 note design, we’ve mocked up a few notes featuring the animators who appear on the list. Let us know which one you’d like to see in your wallet by taking part in our poll at the bottom of this article.
Arthur Melbourne-Cooper
What do you mean you’ve never heard of him? According to the claims, Melbourne-Cooper was responsible for creating some of the first animated films in this country, if not the world. His film Matches: An Appeal is often credited as the first animated film dating back to 1899 as a call for match donations for the Boer War, though some historians date it to 1914. His film Dreams of Toyland from 1908 features on our note, notable as one of the first stop motion animations.
Bob Godfrey
We’re not entirely sure how Bob would feel to be featured on a banknote, despite being famously anti establishment (well, anti-Thatcher at least) the animator deserves his place on the list for being the first British animator to win the Academy Award for short animation with his film GREAT which we’ve featured in the design.
Joy Batchelor
One half of Halas and Batchelor. Joy was an expert draftsperson and directed the first commercially released British feature film, Animal Farm. She was also nominated for an Academy Award for Automania 2000, making her the first brit to gain a nomination and the first female to do so. Her second world war work creating propaganda films alongside her hungarian born husband John found her in the curious position of being an “enemy alien” whilst creating films for the same government that classified her and her husband as such.
Norman McLaren
Pioneering Scottish born film maker McLaren set up the animation wing of the National Film Board of Canada. His work includes the Neighbours, a film with a strong anti war message.
Oliver Postgate
It is fair to say that children’s television wouldn’t be the same if it were not for the work of Smallfilms. The studio was little more than a pig shed in the countryside but between the two animators that worked within the confines of the shed, Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin, the studio managed to create television classics that are loved throughout the world. Known for Bagpuss, The Clangers and Ivor the Engine. Pogles Wood became one of the first animated television programmes created just for British TV.
Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen was born in California but ended living in the UK. He is famed for his creatures (not monsters, he never liked to call them that) and the fact that he directed, produced, made the puppets and single handedly animated most of the work he was involved in.
Which of these animators would you like to see on the £20 note? Let us know by voting on our form or by singing their praises in the comments below…
Which animator would you like to see on the new £20 note?
- Ray Harryhausen (34%)
- Oliver Postgate (18%)
- Bob Godfrey (17%)
- Joy Batchelor (17%)
- Norman McLaren (10%)
- Arthur Melbourne-Cooper (4%)
Loading ...