Dave Anderson (cartoon writer)

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Dave Anderson (born 1963 in Coventry) is a British writer and creator of cartoons and animations including Bastard Bunny and the BAFTA nominated animation shorts, The Terribles. [1] He is a co-founder of animation studio Dog and Rabbit and was a founder-director of London-based animation production company 12Foot6, whose credits include animating the first series of Modern Toss for UK TV's Channel 4.

Contents

Early life and Bastard Bunny era

Anderson graduated from Durham University in 1985 with a degree in Law and Politics. [2] He lived briefly in Charlotte, North Carolina where he shared a house with Danna Pentes, bass player in the then up-and-coming band Fetchin Bones. Returning to the UK he worked in advertising while making ventures into cartoon writing. In 1990 Bastard Bunny appeared in his own comic. Described as "the coolest, drug-snorting, violent, club-going, psychotic rabbit in the world", [3] Bastard Bunny became a cult icon of the early 1990s London club scene. [4] Bastard Bunny's stylishly simple initial incarnation was drawn by Jiouxliegh Jacobs [5] but by 1992, Anderson's new collaborator Martyn Smith had given the weed-loving GBH-rabbit a more fieresome visual persona. [6] It was the latter incarnation which became an ever more common sight on T-shirts and 'lop ear hats' at the Sabresonic Club. [7] At this time, Bastard Bunny "became aligned" with Andy Weatherall's Sabres of Paradise label. [8] Bastard Bunny later appeared in Deadline magazine (along with Tank Girl co-created by Gorillaz artist Jamie Hewlett [9] ) and, from 1994, in the New Musical Express . The collected Bastard Bunny collection was published by Virgin Books in 1998 as Don't You Know Who I am?! – The Collected Works. [10] Bastard Bunny reappeared in 2013 after some "enforced gardening leave" [11] in a new, heavyweight on-line persona using the strap-line "He's Fat, He's Forty and He Ain't Happy". [12]

12Foot6

For much of the 1990s Anderson contributed to Future Shocks. [13] In 2000, with Tom Mortimer, he co-founded 12Foot6 which has since been the creative crucible for many successful cartoon and animation projects. [14] These include Andrew Kelleher's Dog Judo which originated as an advertising campaign for Virgin Mobile, [15] The Sensibles and a series of wordless animated shorts that were nominated for a BAFTA award in 2007. [1] He also been involved in creating short animated histories as part of the BBC Two programme Dara Ó Briain's Science Club, [16] which includes a sequence in Episode 1 called The Story of Inheritance, one in Episode 2 called The Story of Physics, one in Episode 3 called A Dodo's Guide to Extinction, one in Episode 4 called The Story of Exploration, one in Episode 5 called The Story of the Brain and one in Episode 6 called The Story of Music.

Dog & Rabbit

In 2014, Anderson and Dog Judo creative Andrew Kelleher parted ways with 12foot6 and set up animation studio Dog & Rabbit. [17] Bastard Bunny joined the new set up and was rewarded by becoming the figurehead of several craft beers by MoogBrew. [18] [19]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Bafta Nominations listing". Bafta.org. 25 November 2007. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  2. ↑ "Durham University Gazette, 1984/85". reed.dur.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  3. ↑ "Amazon review of the collected Bastard Bunny album". Amazon. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  4. ↑ "Clubbing history at OCC". Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
  5. ↑ "Cover of an original Bastard Bunny comic (issue 2) and t-shirt designs showing old and new BB looks". Imwan.com. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  6. ↑ "Compare version 1 drawn by Jiouxliegh Jacobs with version 2 (1992) drawn by Martyn Smith". Bugpowder.com. 20 July 1997. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "Cartoon & club history". Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
  8. ↑ Sabres of Paradise 'arms' featuring a Bastard Bunny head motif Archived 10 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ "Short if partial history of Bastard Bunny". Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
  10. ↑ "Amazon.co.uk". Amazon. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  11. ↑ "Bastard Bunny 2013". Archived from the original on 16 September 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  12. ↑ "BB Site". Archived from the original on 15 September 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  13. ↑ "Selection of contributions credited to 'David' Anderson". 2000ad.org. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  14. ↑ Numerous 12Foot6 animation shorts viewable online
  15. ↑ "Drawn Pictures 12Foot6 page". Drawpictures.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  16. ↑ "Animated sequences created by 12Foot6 showing the story of science". Folksonomy.co. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  17. ↑ Anderson cited as being the 'Rabbit' in Dog & Rabbit
  18. ↑ MoogBrew featuring Bastard Bunny
  19. ↑ Bastard Bunny beer reviews
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