Bob Godfrey, who has died aged 91, was the godfather of British animation, celebrated for short films including the initially banned Kama Sutra Rides Again (1972) and the Oscar-winning Great (1975) as well as his children’s TV series Roobarb (1974), narrated by Richard Briers, and the Bafta-winning Henry’s Cat (1982-93), narrated by Bob.
It’s partly the simplicity: there’s this kid who has an “omnitrix” on his wrist that means he can turn himself into 10 different types of alien and save the world. But alongside that, there’s his personality: full of bravado, full of himself, so you get comedy in among the action, too. Know what I thought? I thought: “This is the summer blockbuster that I wanted to see when I was nine but I never did.”
The team behind the hit cartoon Ben 10 on their boy with a magic watch, and drawing crazy-coloured alien life
As part of Amnesty International’s 2012 death penalty campaign the Guardian and animators from Sherbet tell the extraordinary story of Mohammad Mostafaei, a lawyer who has saved 20 of the 40 juveniles he has defended from execution in Iran. Actor Paul Bettany speaks the lawyer’s words
Source: Patrick Kingsley/xtranormal
Still don’t get what the UK budget announcement means?
With the help of his animated friends, Patrick Kingsley takes you through stamp duty, tax evasion and cuts to child benefit
Take a trip down memory lane – the BBC was able to enhance the picture in these old children’s animations after reels of 50-year-old footage were found in its creator’s attic. Film of Gordon Murray’s other creations Camberwick Green and Chigley was also found. Now all 39 episodes of the three series have been re-mastered
Do you organise the books in your bookshelf alphabetically or by the colour of the sleeves? Possibly not. But Canadian ad man Sean Ohlenkamp and his wife do, and filmed the results using stop-frame animation to make a charming video. Now they have gone one stage further and rearranged the titles in a Toronto bookshop at night. The results are truly magical – books dance around the shelves, colours change and the shop comes to life. There are some witty nods to Tim Burton, Michel Gondry and Pantone colour charts in there, and it all goes to show, as it says at the end, “There’s nothing quite like a real book”.
Find out what else reached the Guardian viral video chart here.
A selection of stories, photos, quotes, video and audio from guardian.co.uk, curated by James Walsh, Hannah Waldram, Carmen Fishwick and the Guardian's editorial team. We are also editors of the news tag.
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