From Len Lye to Gollum - New Zealand Animators

Presented by an animated pencil, but no less authoritative for it, From Len Lye to Gollum traces the history of Kiwi animation from birth in 1929, to the triumphs of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The interviews and animated footage cover every base, from early pioneers (Len Lye, Disney import John Ewing) to the possibilities opened by computers (Weta Digital, Ian Taylor’s Animation Research). Along the way Euan Frizzell remembers the dog he found hardest to animate and the famous blue pencil; and Andrew Adamson speculates on how ignorance helped keep Shrek fresh.

...it was still advertising that was both the sketchpad and the natural bedrock of the new generation of 3D animators.

– The blue pencil narrator

Key Cast & Crew

Chris Wilks

Writer, Director

Euan Frizzell

Director of Animation, Subject

Ray Ruawhare

Producer, Creator

Paul Chattington

Sound Recordist

Mark Austin

Composer

Tony Woollams

Sound