File this one under “random but lovely”, we spent an hour at the Waterside arts venue in Sale looking at the fabulous work of Altincham-based animators Mackinnon and Saunders. The duo are celebrating 30 years in the industry with an exhibition showcasing the many films, TV programmes and adverts they’ve created over the last three decades.
The big stars of their past include several Tim Burton films such as Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie and Mars Attacks!. They also created the characters for Wes Anderson’s version of Fantastic Mr Fox.
We were just as interested in their small-screen works, which include Bob The Builder, Postman Pat (sadly absent from this little exhibition), Twirlywoos and The Clangers, which seemed to delight the girls, even if their memory of a couple of the programmes was hazy. Another CBBC animation, Scream Street, got the biggest cheer, with promises to search for and watch past episodes when we got home.
The exhibition was free to attend – with a donation pot available – and was located in a cosy room just off the main entrance to the arts centre. Going in the middle of the week in school hours meant we pretty much had the place to ourselves, and we spent a happy hour staring at the armatures, props and fully formed models, marvelling at the intricate detail that goes into each model – and that’s before you account for the painstaking work in actually making the characters move.
The display is on until Saturday 11th March, 2023, so if you find yourself with an hour to spare then we would definitely recommend popping across.
