“Can you tell what it is yet?”
- Rolf Harris
I have talked about two inspirational animators in my last blogs. These could have been referred to as ‘obituaries’ and this new blog is about another inspirational character, but this guy is still - very much so – alive and kicking!
If there is one series that I could attribute my love of animation to it would have to be “Rolf’s Cartoon Club”. This show began in 1988, when I was only six, and it showed kids how animation was made. This was an amazing learning curve for me as I always wanted to be an animator but was not completely sure how it was done. To have this reference at my disposal at such an early age was amazing.
Rolf Harris was a superb teacher, being a natural entertainer he made everything so enjoyable. I would record as many of the shows as possible and watch them repeatedly until the new episode the following week or until a stupid sibling taped over an episode! The series ran from 1988-1992 and I was devastated when it finished. For many years I could never understand how a show of such quality could have been axed?
Only later in life I found out what had happened. After reading Rolf Harris’s autobiography I found out he had to stop filming because he was simply working himself into an early grave. He used to work tirelessly to make the best show possible being a one man animation studio but he could not continue.
Rolf Harris is best known as a general entertainer and recently for “Animal Hospital” but as an artist he truly shines. He returned to his artistic side on television in 2001 with the fantastic show, simply called “Rolf on Art”. This was then followed by “Star Portraits with Rolf Harris” in 2004 where he did a total of eleven episodes and it lasted until 2007. You can see in these series just how much art means to him and it always reminds me of the days on the cartoon club.
I think he divides people nowadays with his style of entertaining and from the generation he came from. He is proper old school, a genuine all round entertainer that you just don’t get anymore. In the cynical world we live in today it’s hard for a legend like this not to be turned into a figure of ridicule because he is so emotive and passionate about everything he does.
I myself will always hold Rolf in the highest regard as a great artist, musician, entertainer and most of all an animation teacher.
So until next time…Stay Animated!
