Rolf Harris attacks the Government for failing to support animators
The cartoonist Rolf Harris has attacked the Government for failing to support the British animation industry.
Published: 7:30AM BST 06 Apr 2010
The cartoonist Rolf Harris has attacked the Government for failing to support the British animation industry.Harris, the Australian television presenter is widely remembered for shows including Rolf Harris's Cartoon Time on BBC One, said the Government was failing to protect the “rich heritage and wealth of talent in animation in the UK”.
Although the British animation workforce is one of the most recognisable worldwide, with successes including Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builderand Wallace and Gromit, the industry has halved in the last five years.
Harris, who turned 80 last week, said: “I feel I have an empathy with those working in animation, probably because my first job on television was drawing cartoons and, later, one of the most fulfilling programmes I did was ‘Rolf’s Cartoon Club’.
“It saddens me to learn from my friends in the animation industry that business is disappearing overseas, due to lack of Government support here. There is such a rich heritage and wealth of talent in animation in the UK.
“Many other countries give tax support in this area and it’s a great shame that more isn’t being done here in the way of tax incentives to match those given to the film industry. Let’s enable the home grown UK animation businesses to compete internationally.”
Animation production in England has fallen from 84 per cent to 28 per cent in the last five years, although the world’s animation industry has risen to an estimated 70 billion pounds, according to Screen Digest.
Harris, is patron of the newly formed group Animation UK, a new campaign to preserve British animation, joins a growing call to protect British children’s programmes.
One per cent of the 113,000 hours of children’s programmes broadcast last year were new commissions made in Britain, according to a recent report by the House of Lords which expressed concern at the increase in imported programmes on British television.
Oli Hyatt, chairman of Animation UK, “As a child, I used to love Bagpuss, The Magic Roundabout and The Wombles. As a country we are great at producing children’s animation. But over the last five years, over 50 per cent of the industry has dissapreared because it is so much cheaper to commission animators outside of the UK, like India and the US. Unless some action is taken, here’s a real risk of British animation disappearing altogether, which would be a big loss culturally and economically.”
The organisation has called for tax breaks, like those in Ireland and Canada, and a Government-backed animation fund.
Save English animation
SIR – The English animation industry is at a tipping point: it either survives or dies.
Thomas and Friends, Bob the Builder, Noddy and Wallace & Gromit are all programmes that have turned England into a recognised centre for animation. However, within a matter of years, we will not be producing any such fantastic properties as a result of tax breaks and government incentives in other countries.
As a group of broadcasters, production companies and animators, we are calling for the Government to put English animation on a level playing field with the rest of the world. We must remain competitive and change must come soon, before talent leaks abroad, taking the industry with it.
The Government spends millions on educating some of the best talent the industry has, only for them to ply their trade abroad, lured away by the promise of jobs. Animation has contributed millions to the British economy. As an industry that has a heritage that we can be proud of, it would be unforgivable for it to disappear from England.
The Government has the ability to save the industry. It has already put in place a system to support film-making; it can do the same for animation. We hope that come 2012, the year of the Cultural Olympiad, we still have an animation industry we can be proud of.
Oli Hyatt
Founder, Blue Zoo Productions
Gregg Lynn
Managing Director, Chapman Entertainment
Howard Litton
Managing Director, Nickelodeon UK
Miles Bullough
Head of Broadcast, Aardman Animations
Jeff Dunn
CEO, HIT Entertainment
Rolf Harris attacks the Government for failing to support animators
The cartoonist Rolf Harris has attacked the Government for failing to support the British animation industry.
Published: 7:30AM BST 06 Apr 2010
Harris, the Australian television presenter is widely remembered for shows including Rolf Harris's Cartoon Time on BBC One, said the Government was failing to protect the “rich heritage and wealth of talent in animation in the UK”.
Although the British animation workforce is one of the most recognisable worldwide, with successes including Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builderand Wallace and Gromit, the industry has halved in the last five years.
Harris, who turned 80 last week, said: “I feel I have an empathy with those working in animation, probably because my first job on television was drawing cartoons and, later, one of the most fulfilling programmes I did was ‘Rolf’s Cartoon Club’.
“It saddens me to learn from my friends in the animation industry that business is disappearing overseas, due to lack of Government support here. There is such a rich heritage and wealth of talent in animation in the UK.
“Many other countries give tax support in this area and it’s a great shame that more isn’t being done here in the way of tax incentives to match those given to the film industry. Let’s enable the home grown UK animation businesses to compete internationally.”
Animation production in England has fallen from 84 per cent to 28 per cent in the last five years, although the world’s animation industry has risen to an estimated 70 billion pounds, according to Screen Digest.
Harris, is patron of the newly formed group Animation UK, a new campaign to preserve British animation, joins a growing call to protect British children’s programmes.
One per cent of the 113,000 hours of children’s programmes broadcast last year were new commissions made in Britain, according to a recent report by the House of Lords which expressed concern at the increase in imported programmes on British television.
Oli Hyatt, chairman of Animation UK, “As a child, I used to love Bagpuss, The Magic Roundabout and The Wombles. As a country we are great at producing children’s animation. But over the last five years, over 50 per cent of the industry has dissapreared because it is so much cheaper to commission animators outside of the UK, like India and the US. Unless some action is taken, here’s a real risk of British animation disappearing altogether, which would be a big loss culturally and economically.”
The organisation has called for tax breaks, like those in Ireland and Canada, and a Government-backed animation fund.
Save English animation
SIR – The English animation industry is at a tipping point: it either survives or dies.
Thomas and Friends, Bob the Builder, Noddy and Wallace & Gromit are all programmes that have turned England into a recognised centre for animation. However, within a matter of years, we will not be producing any such fantastic properties as a result of tax breaks and government incentives in other countries.
As a group of broadcasters, production companies and animators, we are calling for the Government to put English animation on a level playing field with the rest of the world. We must remain competitive and change must come soon, before talent leaks abroad, taking the industry with it.
The Government spends millions on educating some of the best talent the industry has, only for them to ply their trade abroad, lured away by the promise of jobs. Animation has contributed millions to the British economy. As an industry that has a heritage that we can be proud of, it would be unforgivable for it to disappear from England.
The Government has the ability to save the industry. It has already put in place a system to support film-making; it can do the same for animation. We hope that come 2012, the year of the Cultural Olympiad, we still have an animation industry we can be proud of.
Oli Hyatt
Founder, Blue Zoo Productions
Gregg Lynn
Managing Director, Chapman Entertainment
Howard Litton
Managing Director, Nickelodeon UK
Miles Bullough
Head of Broadcast, Aardman Animations
Jeff Dunn
CEO, HIT Entertainment
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