Viva Brighton Issue #70 December 2018

EXHIBITION
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before I show them to
anyone else.
What is Raymond like
to work with? Raymond
is brilliant to work with
because he understands the
things we are doing to turn
illustration into animation…
He’s very respectful, he’s very
appreciative. I think he knows
how much I love his work and how
faithful I try to remain to it. But he always
finds some little detail that could be improved!
In the Brighton Museum show, I learnt
that the original animators added personal
touches, such as the little boy’s name being
James; Do you? Raymond’s upbringing and
mine are actually quite similar. With Ethel and
Ernest, for instance, the layout of Raymond’s
childhood house is very similar to the layout of
my house when I was a boy, so there were lots
of details that I was
really able to get into…
But when it comes to
renaming things, or
bringing things into the
film that are just to do
with me, I don’t do that,
because it’s Raymond’s.
How do you deal with
the theme of loss that’s so
pertinent in the original? It’s really
difficult because it’s not just about losing a
person or a thing, it’s about that nostalgia that
you can feel, even when you’re a child. I can
remember it myself, when you have a really
good time and then it’s over, and there’s a
sense of loss… It’s about trying to capture that,
rather than just a sense of grief.
Interview by Chloë King
The Snowman runs till 6th January, Brighton
Museum.
Robin Shaw’s illustrations from The Snowman by Michael Morpurgo
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