"The Snow Queen" trailer
"Arrietty" Will Be Ghibli's Biggest US Release Yet
How Much is a Ward Kimball Painting Worth?
Ricky Garduno, RIP
Follow @CartoonBrew on Twitter
YouTube
Vimeo
RSS
Follow Cartoon Brew on Facebook
|
|
|
Bob Godfrey’s Great (1975)
March 17, 2009 5:41 am
A rare treat is now online: Bob Godfrey’s epic animated short Great. This irreverent musical about 19th century British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel was the first British animated short to win an Oscar. It also won the BAFTA in 1975. Godfrey’s films usually don’t last long on YouTube so take a gander before it’s gone:
8 comments
posted in Classic, Shorts, Bob Godfrey 
|
ADVERTISEMENTS
EVENTS
RECENT BREW TV EPISODES By Sitji Chou. A man tries to understand the futility of creating human connections when they’ve been impeded by the microcosmic void between material particles.  By Nikolas Ilic. A story of a Scottish sheep farmer who shears his sheep and tosses them cliff side…  By Dylan Hayes. Lesson 1: Everyone gambles, not everyone loses. Lesson 2: The world is full of traps. Lesson 3: You cannot win if you don’t take risks.  By Jean Yi. A personal and humorous exploration of being the ‘Nice Girl’ and coming to terms with the label and all its different meanings.  By Ferg Brennan. A lonely fisherman catches an unusual fish, which he decides to keep as a pet. |
Gawd, I loved this one when it popped up on PBS back in the ’70s!
“She’s a big one!”
I recorded this on my Betamax back when it was on PBS. I still have the tape but the old Beta machine ain’t what she used to be. Anybody have this on VHS or DVD?
You can grab GREAT from youTube with the DownLoadHelper plugin for Firefox. Drop the FLV files into ConvertX or a similar program to make a DVD. Since YouTube has increased the quality of most of its video, DVDs made from YouTube files look pretty good.
Also seen this in the 70’s on PBS. I Have spent a lot of years trying to find a good copy, without any luck. I keep checking on the BBC website hoping it would show up on something that would work here in the U.S. You would think someone somewhere would want to sell an Oscar winning short. Seeing it now, I don’t think it could be made today, because of the idea that cartoons must be made for children and this had…ADULT themes!
One is reminded of that luminous and deeply moving verse:
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Gave off a peculiar smell
That he bequeathed to the nation.
It’s still there in Paddington Station.
Anybody’s who’s been to Paddington Station will agree.
God, Thanks for showing this! I actually remembered watching this on a series PBS ran called THE INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL
(hosted by Jean Marsh) Some of the music stuck with me for years!!
Considering i was but a wee lad at the time it was shown, some of the material really surprised me! No sex, please, we’re British my arse!! This is such a brilliant film!!
Great to see this again after over thirty years! I was a young animator at the time when I sat with Bob in ‘Bob’s Place’ in Wardour Street watching the rushes – early seventies some time. Still stands up remarkably well.
(wipes a tear from his eye) God bless you for posting this short.