Brian Cosgrove | |
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Born | Brian Joseph Cosgrove 6 April 1934 Manchester, England |
Alma mater | Manchester College of Art and Design |
Occupation(s) | Animator, designer, director, producer, sculptor |
Years active | 1966–present |
Brian Joseph Cosgrove [1] OBE (born 6 April 1934) [2] is an English animator, designer, director, producer and sculptor. With Mark Hall, he founded Cosgrove Hall Films in 1976 and produced successful animated children shows including The Wind in the Willows , Danger Mouse and Count Duckula . [3] In 2012 he won the BAFTA Special Award. [4]
Born in Manchester, [5] Cosgrove studied at Manchester College of Art and Design. It was there he met his future work partner Mark Hall. [6]
Cosgrove started his career by producing television graphics at Granada Television. [6] He later joined Stop Frame Productions, which his partner at Granada Television, Mark Hall founded, where he worked on many public service films, commercials for companies like TVTimes and directed and produced animated shows such as The Magic Ball and Sally And Jake. [6]
After Stop Frame Productions was shut down, Cosgrove and Hall founded Cosgrove Hall Films, where they produced some of the most well known animated children's shows and films in Britain, such as Danger Mouse , Count Duckula , The Wind in the Willows (which would later become a 52 episode TV series), Noddy's Toyland Adventures , Bill and Ben and Fifi and the Flowertots until 2009.
In 1989, Cosgrove directed and produced the animated feature film The BFG , based on the Roald Dahl novel of the same name. According to Cosgrove, this is one of the only adaptations, based on one of Roald Dahl's novels, that Dahl himself actually liked.
When we finished, we ran a screening in Soho, and Dahl and his family came along. They were sitting at the back, and when the film finished they stood up and applauded. He could be quite vocal, Dahl, if he didn't like something. He didn't like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at all, the 1971 Gene Wilder one. So it was a real relief that he liked our film. [7]
Since 2011, Cosgrove has been the creator and executive producer of Cosgrove Hall Fitzpatrick Entertainment. [8]
Cosgrove is good friends with actor David Jason, who has been a loyal collaborator on most of his projects. [9]
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Animation/Art Department | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1989 | The BFG | Yes | Yes | Yes | Key animator, designer and background artist |
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Animation/Art Department | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1966 | Picture Box | Yes | Episodes: "A Calm Country River in Holland" "The Seaside Holiday" | ||
1971–1972 | The Magic Ball | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
1972 | Captain Noah and His Floating Zoo | Yes | Yes | TV movie | |
Rainbow | Yes | Episodes: "Shapes" "Farm Animals" | |||
1975 | Noddy | Yes | Yes | ||
1976–1979 | Chorlton and the Wheelies | Yes | |||
Jamie and the Magic Torch | Yes | ||||
1978 | Captain Kremmen | Yes | |||
The Talking Parcel | Yes | Yes | TV movie | ||
1979 | Cinderella | Yes | TV movie | ||
1980–1986 | Cockleshell Bay | Yes | |||
1981–1992 | Danger Mouse | Yes | Yes | Yes | Animator |
1981 | The Pied Piper of Hamelin | Yes | TV short | ||
1983 | The Wind in the Willows | Yes | Yes | TV movie Model character/sculpture designer | |
1984–1990 | The Wind in the Willows | Yes | Yes | Model character/sculpture designer | |
1985-1986 | Alias the Jester | Yes | |||
1988–1993 | Count Duckula | Yes | |||
1989–1990 | Oh, Mr. Toad | Yes | Yes | Model character/sculpture designer | |
1991–1992 | Victor and Hugo | Yes | Yes | ||
1992 | Noddy's Toyland Adventures | Yes | Executive producer | ||
On Christmas Eve | Yes | Yes | TV movie | ||
Truckers | Yes | Executive producer | |||
1993 | Avenger Penguins | Yes | |||
1995 | Fantomcat | Yes | |||
1995 | Oakie Doke | Yes | |||
1996 | Sooty's Amazing Adventures | Yes | Yes | Executive producer designer | |
1997 | Captain Star | Yes | Animation producer | ||
1999 | Lavender Castle | Yes | Executive producer | ||
1999 | Foxbusters | Yes | |||
2014–2015 | Pip Ahoy! | Yes | |||
2015-2016 | Danger Mouse | Yes | |||
2017-present | Daisy & Ollie | Yes |
Year | Award | Category | Title | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | BAFTA Award | Best Children's Programme (Entertainment/Drama) | Danger Mouse | Nominated |
1984 | Nominated | |||
Best Animated Film | The Wind in the Willows | Nominated | ||
Danger Mouse | Nominated | |||
Best Children's Programme (Entertainment/Drama) | The Wind in the Willows | Won [10] | ||
1985 | The Wind in the Willows | Nominated | ||
Best Animated Film | Nominated | |||
Danger Mouse | Nominated | |||
CableACE Award | Children's Programming Series | Danger Mouse | Nominated | |
1986 | BAFTA Award | Best Children's Programme (Entertainment/Drama) | The Wind in the Willows | Nominated |
Danger Mouse | Nominated | |||
Best Short Animated Film | Alias the Jester | Won | ||
The Wind in the Willows | Nominated | |||
Danger Mouse | Nominated | |||
1987 | Best Animated Film | The Wind in the Willows | Nominated | |
Danger Mouse | Nominated | |||
1988 | Best Short Animated Film | The Wind in the Willows | Nominated | |
CableACE Award | Children's Entertainment Special or Series - 8 and Younger | Nominated | ||
1989 | Nominated | |||
1990 | BAFTA Award | Best Children's Programme (Entertainment/Drama) | The BFG | Nominated |
Sir David John White, known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He has played Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, Detective Inspector Jack Frost in A Touch of Frost, Granville in Open All Hours and Still Open All Hours, and Pop Larkin in The Darling Buds of May, as well as voicing several cartoon characters, including Mr. Toad in The Wind in the Willows, the BFG in the 1989 film, and the title characters of Danger Mouse and Count Duckula.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka.
The BFG is a 1982 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. It is an expansion of a short story from Dahl's 1975 novel Danny, the Champion of the World. The book is dedicated to Dahl's late daughter, Olivia, who died of measles encephalitis at the age of seven in 1962.
Danger Mouse is a British animated television series produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for Thames Television. It features the eponymous Danger Mouse who worked as a secret agent and is a parody of British spy fiction, particularly the Danger Man series and James Bond. It originally ran from 28 September 1981 to 19 March 1992 on the ITV network.
Count Duckula is a British children's animated comedy horror television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall Films and produced by Thames Television as a spin-off from Danger Mouse, a series in which an early version of the Count Duckula character was a recurring villain. Count Duckula aired from 6 September 1988 to 16 February 1993 across four series; in all, 65 episodes were made, each about 22 minutes long. All have been released on DVD in the UK, while only the first series has been released in North America.
Cosgrove Hall Films was an English animation studio founded by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall, headquartered in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Cosgrove Hall was a major producer of children's television and animated programmes/films, which are still seen in over eighty countries. The company was wound down by its then owner, ITV plc, on 26 October 2009. It was mainly known for its series Danger Mouse, The Wind in the Willows and Count Duckula.
Victor & Hugo: Bunglers in Crime is a British animated series made by Cosgrove Hall Productions for Thames Television and broadcast on Children's ITV from 6 September 1991 to 29 December 1992. Its eponymous characters were based on the villains Gaston and Pierre from the 1987–1989 series Count Duckula.
John Keith Geering was a British cartoonist with a distinctive, occasionally flamboyant style, most famous for his work for DC Thomson comics including Sparky, The Topper, Cracker, Plug, Nutty, The Beano and The Dandy.
Roald Dahl's The BFG, or simply The BFG, is a 1989 British animated fantasy adventure made-for-television film directed by Brian Cosgrove from a screenplay by John Hambley, based on the 1982 novel The BFG by Roald Dahl.
Brian Trueman is an English broadcaster, writer and voice actor. He is known mainly for his work with the animation studio Cosgrove Hall. He wrote and/or narrated children's cartoon series, mostly during the 1970s and 1980s.
Avenger Penguins is a British-American animated series produced by Cosgrove Hall Films and Granada Television in 1993, and animated by both Alfonso Productions, a Spanish-based animation studio also responsible for bringing Cosgrove Hall's shows Count Duckula, Victor and Hugo: Bunglers in Crime, Fantomcat, Sooty's Amazing Adventures and The Foxbusters to life, and in-house by Cosgrove Hall themselves. It aired originally on Children's ITV and was originally going to be called Hell's Penguins, although was it renamed out of concern for how the religious audience in the US would respond. 26 episodes aired from 1993 to 1994.
The Wind in the Willows is a British stop motion animated television series that was originally broadcast between 1984 and 1988, based on characters from Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows and following the 1983 feature-length pilot film.
Keith Hopwood is an English pop and rock musician, singer-songwriter, composer, businessman and record producer, who served as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocals for the 1960s pop band, Herman's Hermits. Hopwood also served as a keyboardist, singer and guitarist for the post-Peter Noone outfit, Sour Mash, which recorded an unreleased album, A Whale of a Tale for RCA.
United Kingdom animation began at the very origins of the artform in the late 19th century. British animation has been strengthened by an influx of émigrés to the UK; renowned animators such as Lotte Reiniger (Germany), John Halas (Hungary), George Dunning and Richard Williams (Canada), Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton have all worked in the UK at various stages of their careers. Notable full-length animated features to be produced in the UK include Animal Farm (1954), Yellow Submarine (1968), Watership Down (1978), and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).
John Hambley is a British producer and screenwriter. He was executive producer for television series such as Minder, The Wind in the Willows, Danger Mouse and Count Duckula. He also produced the film The BFG, a movie for which he wrote the script.
Mark Hall was a British producer and animator who co-founded Cosgrove Hall Productions and CHF Entertainment, with Brian Cosgrove. Together, they created multiple animated series, including Danger Mouse and Count Duckula.
CHF Entertainment was an animation studio formed in 2011. It was the reincarnation of the animation company Cosgrove Hall Films which closed in 2009 after 33 years. Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall formed and ran the original Cosgrove Hall creating over 1000 episodes of animated programs such as Danger Mouse, Cockleshell Bay, Count Duckula, Lavender Castle and The Wind in the Willows, and produced Fifi and the Flowertots, Postman Pat, and Roary the Racing Car. They won a number of awards, including six BAFTAs and two international Emmys.
The BFG is a 2016 American fantasy adventure film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and based on Roald Dahl's 1982 novel of the same name. The film stars Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill in her film debut, Penelope Wilton, Jemaine Clement, Rebecca Hall, Rafe Spall and Bill Hader. In the film, a ten-year-old orphaned girl named Sophie befriends a benevolent giant dubbed the "Big Friendly Giant", who takes her to Giant Country, where they attempt to stop the man-eating giants that are invading the human world.
Malcolm "Malc" McGookin is a British cartoonist also known for his work as an animator and illustrator. He immigrated to Australia in 1995 and presently lives in Brisbane, Australia.
James Christian Hibbert is an English actor and writer. He is best known for his voice work with the animation studio Cosgrove Hall Films.