Important among these is the relative impact of the international animation industry, which in several instances has been seen as both a challenge to produce more local content, and as a creative and/or commercial inspiration to follow or work against.
[3] Griffiths and Brian White set up together in Charing Cross Road, London in 1929, producing animated advertisements for the Superads agency.
These GPO productions and the many wartime propaganda films led to an industry of animators with a diversity of design styles, well versed in conveying messages efficiently and clearly.
Puppeteer Gordon Murray for example, would branch off from his work on the Watch with Mother to create several stop motion animated children's series in the 1960s, including Camberwick Green (1966), Trumpton (1967) and Chigley (1969).
Modelmaker Peter Firmin and writer Oliver Postgate similarly created several stop-motion animated works for children during this period, including Pingwings (1961–1964), Pogles' Wood (1966–1967) and Clangers (1969–1972).
A few years later, Terry Gilliam developed his own distinctive style of anarchic cut out animation for Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974) by employing similar motifs drawn from British culture, figures, and localities.
This deviation from the Disney-codified squash and stretch approach would become a staple of Britain's boutique-driven animation culture, and would inform the more experimental films and TV segments that emerged in the following decades.
[12] In the realm of theatrical animation, 1978 saw the release of Watership Down, adapted from a novel of the same name, which was commercially successful while at the same time featuring a much darker thematic approach to the cel-animated artform than its US contemporaries.
Alison de Vere was one of the first independent women animators to make an impact such as Mr Pascal (1979), which gained the Grand Prix at the Annecy Festival, and The Black Dog (1987).
Channel 4 was a fundamental supporter of fringe media on British broadcast TV, pushing for increased representations of underexposed issues of ethnicity and sexuality, as well as fostering political critique and artistic experimentation.
It is during this time that Aardman would break through to the mainstream as well, thanks in large part to the shorts Creature Comforts (1989) and the Wallace and Gromit films, all of which were directed by Nick Park.
Mechanised puppetry mixed with limited stop-motion animation would similarly continue to be used in a few successful shows created during this time, such as Thomas the Tank Engine.
In 1991, Steven Spielberg's Amblimation would be established as well, producing several features as well as broadcast programming, including An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), We're Back!
[17] It is leading up to and during this period that several shows aiming to marry avant garde aesthetics, subversive humour and prime-time appeal were produced, including Crapston Villas (1995–1997), Pond Life (1996–2000), Stressed Eric (1998–2000), Bob and Margaret (1998–2001), Rex the Runt (1998-2005), Monkey Dust (2003–2005), Modern Toss (2004–2008), I am Not an Animal (2004) and Popetown (2005).
Notable original productions during the contemporary era adopt a similarly didactic tone as these shows, with maternal/paternal voiceover featuring prominently, as can be seen in Peppa Pig (2004–) and Sarah & Duck (2013–2017).
During the 1990s and 2000s, the UK saw the emergence of a local video game industry, with derivative areas of production devoted to computer motion graphics generated in their wake.
Aardman would sign co-financing and distribution deals with DreamWorks Animation for Chicken Run (2000), Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and Flushed Away (2006), Columbia for Arthur Christmas (2011) and Pirates!
Due to the early fragmentation of the industry which created a culture of interrelating but independent production companies, the UK has been able to continuously generate aesthetically innovative and often socially incisive animated works.