Jerry back after 75 years
Jerry the Troublesome Tyke, the mischievous cartoon dog which starred in the first silent animation films ever created in Wales, should soon be seen on Welsh cinema screens after 75 years in oblivion.Forty surviving episodes of the Tyke, an entertaining feature of the Pathé Pictorial screen magazine in cinemas every fortnight from mid 1925 to 1927, have been preserved and restored in an enterprising joint project between the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales and British Pathé.
The mercurial mutt - now the mascot of the Welsh Animation Group - was the brainchild of Cardiff projectionist Sid Griffiths who drew the cartoon and worked on the films, a blend of live action and animation, with fellow projectionist Bert Bilby.
The Jerry collection was originally held by Pathé at Pinewood and has since been digitised, but the Archive, working with the Film and Photo Laboratory in Acton, London, has gone back to the original negatives for the restoration - so that Welsh cinemas, in particular, can have access to all the extant films.
'These films are highly entertaining and superbly crafted. The Archive believes there is a significant potential audience for them,' says Iola Baines, Archive Film Development Officer. 'The films were a huge success when shown with live musical accompaniment at the 2000 Celtic Film and TV Festival. Jerry's outings have proved so popular with modern filmmakers that he's become the official logo character of WAG (the Welsh Animation Group) and features prominently in its newsletter. Jerry is becoming a cult figure and we are pleased to help ensure that cinemagoers have a chance to share in a wonderful piece of Welsh film history.'
NOTE : In a separate initiative BBC Wales are screening - in a Welsh Animation presentation at Cartoon Forum - three of the 'Jerrys' in the digitised version with a specially commissioned musical score by John Rea (and performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales). The three episodes will also be transmitted on BBC 2W in Forum week. Fourteen episodes have been licensed to BBC Wales in a two year broadcasting deal and the remaining episodes will be transmitted in 2003.
For further information, contact:
Iola Baines, Film Development Officer
National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales
029 20 333309 iola@sgrin.co.uk