Do you speak Clanger? – an introductory history of the Smallfilms studio

The iconic animations produced by Canterbury-based Smallfilms studio between 1958-1984, including Ivor the Engine, Noggin the Nog, Pingwings, Pogles’ Wood, Clangers, and Bagpuss, amongst others, constitute a significant thread of British cultural history. Furthermore, a show like Clangers, which enjoyed a reboot in 2015 (BBC/NBC), confirms the lasting popular appeal of the story worlds – and the animation aesthetics contained therein – created by Smallfilms. However, these works are largely overlooked in the existing scholarly literature and are even less well known internationally. To help remedy this, I am currently initiating a Leverhulme Trust-funded research project to establish a comprehensive historical record of Smallfilms and their animated films.

As part of this project I have been granted access to the surviving studio site and all archival documents, as well as the full co-operation of Smallfilms co-founder Peter Firmin. Consequently, this paper will serve a double purpose: to provide a bitesize historical account of the Smallfilms studio as well as providing an up-to-date account of this ongoing research project. Audience members can look forward to short clips from the animated shows, pictures from the archive, and original interview footage filmed with Peter Firmin.