Geoff Dunbar
Geoff Dunbar is an English animator and director known for his animated music video Rupert Bear and the Frog Song for Sir Paul McCartney and The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends from the stories by Beatrix Potter. He championed a hand-sketch style of animation.[1][2][3]
Career
[edit]He left school at 15 and joined Larkins Studio when he was 18/19. where he learnt animation. He later joined Halas and Batchelor's animation company where he started directing. In 1973 he joined Dragon Productions with Oscar Grillo, who with the Arts Council of Great Britain co-financed Lautrec. He later formed his own company, Grand Slamm Animation, where he produced Ubu. Lautrec won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1975 and Ubu won the Golden Bear award for Best Short Film at the 1979 Berlin International Film Festival.[4]
Works
[edit]He went on to produce three animations with the soundtrack by Sir Paul McCartney. He produced three episodes for the BBC of The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends.
Using his 'sketched' style of animation he produced Daumier's Law based on the work of the 19th century French artist Honoré Daumier. It won a BAFTA in 1993 for best short animation.
In collaboration with Sir Paul McCartney he adapted the Caldecott Prize-winning children's novel Tuesday by David Wiesner using computer animation.[5] The film received a BAFTA nomination in 2000.
His current company is High Eagle Productions.
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In 2019 the Barbican Music Library held an exhibition of his work: Geoff Dunbar: Art into Animation.[6]
Filmography
[edit]| Title | Year | Note |
|---|---|---|
| This Love Thing | 1970 | |
| The Condition of Man | 1971 | |
| Lautrec | 1974 | Short. Music by Laurie Scott Baker |
| Ubu[7] | 1978 | Short. Music by Laurie Scott Baker[8] |
| Rupert and the Frog Song | 1984 | Short. Music by Paul McCartney |
| The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends | BBC TV | |
| -The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny | 1992 | |
| -The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Mr. Jeremy Fisher | 1994 | |
| -The Tale of Mr. Tod | 1998 | |
| Daumier's Law | 1992 | Short. Music by Paul McCartney |
| Tropic Island Hum | 1997 | Short, Music by Paul McCartney |
| Tuesday | 2001 | Short. Music by Paul McCartney |
| The Cunning Little Vixen[9] | 2003[10] | TV movie |
References
[edit]- ^ Brown, Geoff. "BFI Screenonline: Dunbar, Geoff, Biography". www.screenonline.org.uk.
- ^ "WORLD ANIMATION CLASSICS: Geoff Dunbar". Etiuda&Anima. 26 November 2019.
- ^ Lenburg, Jeff (2006). Who's who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television's Award-winning and Legendary Animators. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 74.
- ^ "Ubu". Learning on Screen. British Universities Film & Video Council.
- ^ Brown, Geoff (14 October 2004). "Worth getting animated over". Times (London). p. 18[S]. Retrieved 20 November 2019 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ "Geoff Dunbar: Art into Animation". Barbican.
- ^ Oddball Films: Cinema Soiree: Long Lost Treasures of the Tournee of Animation - Thur. Feb. 18th - 8PM
- ^ Geoff Dunbar on UBU posted by OttawaAnimationFest on YouTube
- ^ Janáček: The Cunning Little Vixen - Opus Arte: OA0878D - DVD Video|Presto Classical
- ^ Two DVD Reviews of Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen: Film Music on the Web CD Reviews May 2003
