This open access book uncovers the untold story of the making of Cosgrove Hall Productions' most successful works, bookended by the many others that, together, shaped an animation company which generated a ground-breaking and lasting impact like no other.Any British child of the 1980s will remember Danger Mouse - 'the world's greatest secret agent' - and The Wind in the Willows, a series produced using stop frame puppets that faithfully recreated the world of Kenneth Grahame's Edwardian story in remarkable detail. What they may not realise is that these acclaimed series, seemingly so different in style and approach, were made simultaneously under one roof: that of Cosgrove Hall Productions, in the modest suburb of Chorlton-cum-Hardy in Manchester. As the first substantial academic study on this company, this book explores the history of Cosgrove Hall Productions by delving into the pipelines behind its two most successful properties.The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

Focuses on an animated series that is both nostalgically and academically rich

Foreword Introduction Chapter 1: The Granada YearsChapter 2: Cosgrove Hall Productions is Born Chapter 3: A New Animated Mouse Chapter 4: Adaptation of a Classic Story Chapter 5: Limited Drawings and Sophisticated Models Chapter 6: Breathing Life into Chapter 7: Toad of Toad Hall Lives Chapter 8: Bringing the Shows Together Chapter 9: Post Mice and Toads Conclusion Endnotes Episode Guides: Case StudiesA Guide to Further Research BibliographyIndex