Wind in the Willows
Wind in the Willows

We’re delighted to announce that we have acquired 25 original Wind in the Willows puppets.

The Wind in the Willows was one of the studio’s first major successes in stop motion. The animated film was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films in 1983, adapted from the Kenneth Grahame classic. The film earned Cosgrove Hall Films a BAFTA and an Emmy award, and this success led to the creation of a stop motion series for ITV also produced by Cosgrove Hall Films. The show was voiced by Sir David Jason, Michael Horden, Peter Sallis, Richard Pearson and Ian Carmichael.

Thanks to the generosity and kindness of both Andrew Dunning and Lee Young - the MD at Duke’s Auctioneers – Waterside has been gifted these treasures for posterity and its archives.

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Stop MotionWaterside ArtsWind in the Willows
Cataloguing Animation Collections
Cataloguing Animation Collections

An overview of approaching the mammoth task of cataloguing a vast animation collection and some practical observations. We began cataloguing the animation collection in October 2017, this post breaks down this aspect of the documentation process.

A lot of work goes into housing the Cosgrove Hall Films Archive, it’s an interesting process to share because when you say ‘archive’ people imagine a polished, systemised complete store like in museums and galleries. Simply getting to that stage takes a lot of refining and attention to detail and can take years.

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Waterside Artscataloguing, superted, archives, animation archives
Behind the Scenes of the Animation City Interviews
Behind the Scenes of the Animation City Interviews

In September 2017 the Waterside team brought together Cosgrove Hall legends for a filmed conversation with Ric Michaels. These interviews begin to form an oral history of the animation studio, introducing fans to some of the faces behind Cosgrove Hall creations and establish Manchester as the home of the studio.

Ric Michaels interviewed Cosgrove Hall founder Brian Cosgrove, BAFTA award-winning CHF Animator Barry Purves, CHF model-maker and founder of Mackinnon & Saunders, Peter Saunders, and finally ex-development producer at CHF Westley Wood who recognised the significance of the archive and was instrumental in establishing it at Waterside.

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Waterside ArtsBarry Purves, Westley Wood, Brian Cosgrove, Salford, University of Salford, Animation city, Waterside, Mackinnon & Saunders, Peter Saunders
Cosgrove Hall Films Archive: The Journey Begins
Cosgrove Hall Films Archive: The Journey Begins

The journey that brought the Cosgrove Hall Films Archive to Waterside began way back in 2008. This is when our artists' development strand CIT (Creative Industries Trafford) invited Chris Bowden, a producer at Mackinnon & Saunders, over to deliver a talk for animators. 

Chris' insights into the work of Mackinnon & Saunders and the mix of creative skills that go into animation productions began a long discussion at the venue about how fascinating it would be to exhibit some of Mackinnon & Saunders' work at Waterside. We wanted to showcase how animators, puppeteers, character designers, writers and craft-makers work together to create some of our best loved animated characters.

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Waterside Artswaterside arts, archive, mediacity, richard evans