Creating The Illusion: Animation in the Northwest
Brian Cosgrove with Chorlton and Mr Toad
On Saturday a group of animation fans, animators, producers and industry legends joined together to open a new exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Manchester. the exhibition focuses on the ripple effect that the work of Cosgrove Hall had on the animation industry using, cells, puppets, photographs and production material from some of the best loved television productions to come out of not only the north west, but the whole of the UK.
Chorlton from “Chorlton and the Wheelies”
Although the exhibition is in a relatively small space, the plentiful artefacts on display are rather significant and represent a broad variety of Cosgrove Hall and Cosgrove Hall influenced creations. Not only will you find Chorlton from Chorlton and the Wheelies but also the cast of The Wind in the Willows, Danger Mouse, The BFG, Bill & Ben. (You can hear our podcast interviews with Brian Cosgrove here and here)
Paul Berry’s masterpiece “The Sandman” represented in the exhibition.
As well as the work of Cosgrove Hall puppets and work by Barry Purves and the late Paul Berry such as a puppet and set pieces from his haunting film The Sandman, which went on to kickstart MacKinnon & Saunders who also have a great deal of work from James and the Giant Peach and other maquette’s and puppets on display too.
The exhibition also restored a full sized “Igor” from Count Duckula which had a broken arm, rather ironic as fans of the show will know that it was Duckula’s mollycoddling matriarch Nanny who had the broken arm. The model used to grace the hallways of the Cosgrove Hall studio before it was recently demolished.
As one of the caretakers of an extensive animation archive myself, I must say how exciting it was to see this exhibition come to life, it compliments the exhibition at the National Media museum (MOSI’s sister museum) beautifully and adds a much needed boost to the often neglected idea that animation material from puppets to dopesheets should be preserved and displayed so future generations can enjoy, become inspired and educated using the wealth of material that might otherwise have been discarded. It is refreshing to see this exhibition and I implore others to see it too.
Creating The Illusion: Animation in the Northwest exhibits at The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester until the 3rd november 2013
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- Chorlton from “Chorlton and the Wheelies”
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- Paul Berry’s masterpiece “The Sandman” represented in the exhibition.
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- Igor from Count Duckula, lovingly restored to his former misery
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- Toby Maquette from “Toby’s Travelling Circus” by MacKinnon and Saunders/Komixx
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- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky from “Tchaikovsky: An Elegy” by Barry Purves puppet by MacKinnon and Saunders
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- Raa Raa! The Noisy Lion, another fine product of the north west
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- Danger Mouse wouldn’t be much without his faithful partner Penfold
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- A Paul Berry envelope
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- Replacement faces for Miss Spider from “James and the Giant Peach”
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- Danger Mouse run cycle. He’s the greatest.
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- Wendy and Pilchard from “Bob the Builder” prodcued by Jackie Cockle, a Cosgrove Hall Alumni
