Friday 24 May 2013

ANIMATED ART

As you know, I am a bit of an animation nerd and, in addition to loving all forms of animated film-making, have had my own occasional flirtations with the medium: I worked with Nick Park on the original draft of The Wrong Trousers and, later, scripted two 30-minute animated films: one based on the Biblical story of Jonah, the other (left) an adaptation of Herman Melville's Moby Dick ––– don't ask why the obsession with whales!

Also, some years ago I was almost connected with a projected series devised by Martin Cheek, now a master mosaicist, but, at the time, a gifted stop-frame animator who had worked on such successful  TV series as The Wind in the Willows, Paddington Bear, Noddy in Toyland and Portland Bill.

Martin came up with a humorous, film noir-ish series featuring a Philip Marlowesque detective who just happened to be a lizard named – Art Gecko!


My friend composer Dave Hewson and I wrote a theme song for the show and recorded a demo for the show's prospective producers.


In the event we didn't get the gig and the series was never made – tough-talking, lizard gumshoes, machine-gun-toting gangsters and a gila monster heavy obviously not proving suitable fare for the Teletubbies generation!

Anyway, here's the song (and the singer) that got away...




3 comments:

Roger O B... said...

TV's loss! Better than Scooby Doo, any way!

Brian Sibley said...

True!! ;)

Anonymous said...

...And just a line of appreciation after hearing your contribution to today's Last Word. You conjured up the magician's trick so vividly that listening to your account of it was as good as seeing it with one's own eyes!