Deep within this dank and uninviting place lives Berk, overworked servant of The Thing Upstairs.
But thats nothing compared to the horrors that lurk beneath the trap door.
Creatively improvising solutions like that plinth seems typical of CMTB Animations vibrant, hands-on approach to their work.
The Bristol-based animation studio prized flexibility and performance over neatness and perfection.
The result gave their creations a terrifically unpredictable energy.
That freedom privileged performance above all else.
Slickness isnt important, said Box.
Take the voice recording.
We were in fits most of the time.
you’re free to see why.
Mills and Brains dialogue for lead character Berk is full of delightful silliness.
Given a west-country drawl by Rushton, Berk is the BFG trapped in the body of a blue egg.
The Trap Doors horror-inspired world of scunge and bugpipes was irresistible to children.
Boni,The Trap Doors corporeally challenged talking skull also voiced by Rushton, offers yet more joy.
Variety and experimentation were key toThe Trap Door.Its titular plot unit was included precisely for that reason.
What kind of characters?
Monsters and creepy things and strange things and things getting squashed and pulled apart, according to Charlie Mills.
The essence of animating with Plasticine, really, is the flexibility, concluded Mills.
The illusion is that theyre all quite well-animated, I hope!
Thirteen five-minute episodes ofStoppit And Tidyupwere made for the BBC and broadcast in 1988.
), made via the high-tech approach of Sellotaping a camera to a table top.
No doubt, their dynamic, accessible approach to their art inspired many young animators in turn.
Earlier this year, at the age of sixty, Terry Brain died after two years suffering from cancer.
According tohis son David, he spent his last years making a new animated series in his spare room.
So theres still more to come.
That we can do.
He made it our pleasure.
