A selection of reflections upon animation events visited: On a sunny afternoon in London, I weaved my way across Waterloo Bridge to the charming Garden Cinema to hear Animation Director Paul Vester reflect upon his life and work. Paul Vester - Saturday 11 October 2025. On route were many members of a peace demonstration beginning to make their way home, wearily carrying placards. Political tensions in the Middle East were apparent in Vester's film “In the Woods” (2008). (Im

Only discovered recently (March 2025) that some of my early polar coordinate experiments bear a resemblance to the work of John Whitney. It's amazing for me to finally discover someone who related to this topic in a similar way, long before me and dedicated his life to it, going way beyond my modest dabbling: Mike: John Whitney: Mike: John Whitney: James Whitney (John's brother) Mike: John Whitney really dedicated himself to these subjects and developed them. He seemed partic

Comically exaggerated sketch by Mike of a thin man clad in black holding a book... Some notes upon my personal experience with acting, mostly for my own reference and reflection – to be revised and updated - Might be of interest to some collaborators. Following an “Acting for Animation” taster session at UCA, we learnt how acting is an important element in creating a believable animated character. Thinking about how a character moves, putting yourself in their shoes and cr

Queuing for an event at the Annecy Animation Festival, I noticed an amazing shop selling high quality graphic novels. I mentioned Moebius to French animator, Pierre-Loïs who was standing in line too, his eyes widened, he nodded reverentially and said, “He’s like a god to us!” There’s a good BBC 4 documentary "In Search of Moebius" In one part of the documentary he talks about the mysterious source of his inspiration: “I create forms and ideas but I’m not responsible for them

Here's a selection films I managed to see at the Annecy Animation Festival 2024: I loved the narrators voice, it felt very sincere and...

Note: These blogs are frequently updated, rewritten, with new links and photos added. I went to the Annecy Animation Festival 2024 in...