Project Curator & Archivist Rosy shares a quick update from the Cosgrove Hall Films Archive to reflect on a mammoth 5 years of activity, 2021 - 2026. Rosy also shares some upcoming activity to look forward to this year

Hello Cosgrove Hall and animation lovers,

Today I’m noticing that our blog hasn’t been updated in a while, it has made me reflect on a busy five years of activity which have barely been referenced, yet these have been some of the busiest years of activity for us. I thought I’d rectify this by sharing some updates of what I’ve been up to behind the scenes as well as share some of the highlights of our public programme over the past five years working with exhibitions, the collection and also members of the community on animation projects.

BEHIND THE SCENES

The archive’s day to day activities are at times a mystery to everyone but myself so this is an attempt to demystify some of what I get up to and also spread awareness of some concerns with animation collections along the way.

The acquisition of the Postman Pat collection in 2021 was a major milestone for us, it almost doubled the archive in size. I’ve wrestled with boxes and large scale sets on a daily basis and tried to find order within chaos of not having a perfect archive. When you outgrow a space it comes with a number of challenges in terms of public access and staff access, but this is balanced with the risk of losing work which is of significant cultural significance. We couldn’t risk not saving it! We were kindly given a new space at Waterside to migrate parts of the archive this year. Moving an archive comes with a number of challenges such as tracking movement, re-documenting locations and decision-making. One of the main challenges I faced was just physically moving a lot of boxes on a daily basis just to do simple tasks. We’re slowly migrating to the alternate space and improving our archive space so that we can host research visits and share more of the collection behind the scenes again, slowly and gently we’re getting there.

The entrance to our new permanent space next to the Children’s Library in Sale Library

We’re always looking for ways to improve our storage of animated materials, so looking out for specific conservation advice is really valuable. The blog run by Materials in Motion has been incredibly helpful in addressing some worries I had surrounding animated material and connecting us with other professionals working with animation collections. I recently visited the impressive facilities of special collections at University of Leeds and met with the conservation team to discuss their Leeds Animation Workshop collection. The team shared the conservation project the embarked on to repack 2D animation cels, they also highlighted some signs and signals of animation cel deterioration including warping, bending and how acetate can react to its environment. This is beneficial knowledge sharing is essential for working with animated materials which contains a lot of plastics.

This year we opened a new permanent exhibition in Sale Library dedicated to the Cosgrove Hall Films Archive, this has been an incredible journey to be able to share the work of Cosgrove Hall with members of the public. The exhibition features a chronological history of Cosgrove Hall and also shares some of the process of how to build an animation. One of the issues with putting on a new permanent display is that a lot of the material in your collection degrades under the conditions of having them out in public space. The Wind in the Willows models can’t be on display because they are made with delicate materials, decisions like these are very deliberate but difficult to make but we’ve attempted to reflect the breadth of Cosgrove Hall productions whilst making sure the artwork survives for future generations.

Opening a permanent exhibition has marked a new chapter for us, we’ve welcomed audiences from across the UK and overseas and the response has been phenomenal. It’s been heart-warming to see ex Cosgrove Hallers coming back together in the space and reflecting on a life of working in animation.

EXHIBITIONS

The Lost Worlds of Ray Harryhausen exhibition at Waterside 2024 - 2025

Over the past five years we’ve had a really active public programme including free animation exhibitions, public talks and workshops and also community workshops with groups.

A few of my personal highlights has been working with Mackinnon & Saunders, the Ray and Diana Harryhausen foundation and also with local independent animators like One6th on public exhibitions.

A real benefit of working with the Ray and Diana Harryhausen foundation has been that mutual care and understanding for animation heritage. We had the privilege of hosting an exhibition together at Waterside called The Lost Worlds of Ray Harryhausen: Creatures Martians and Myths 2024-2025. The exhibition is based on the book by John Walsh of Ray’s ‘Lost Movies’.

In the early nineties Cosgrove Hall and Ray Harryhausen embarked on a piloted TV film of The Odyssey, the film was never fully realised but a Cyclops puppet was produced. This connection between the animation giants was used as a jumping off point to look at some of Ray Harryhausen’s unrealised projects; imagined worlds and characters which he’d developed but never came to fruition. This included Ray’s films he’d made when he was just 17 years old in his parent’s garage. What I loved about curating this exhibition was showing that even animation legends had starting points, I found his unrealised works showed a lot more about Ray as a person and gave you a greater understanding of his creative process which was meticulous, but also hand-made and putting a lot of his own personality into his characters and mythological beings, which he cared for deeply.

This exhibition was followed by Meet the Puppet Masters, which was a celebration of 10 years of animation at Waterside, exhibiting animators who we had previously worked with. Including the wonderful Nina Gantz, Joseph Wallace, Jess Wheeler, Ian Mackinnon and One6th.

It was a particular joy to work with One6th artists as they installed their own sets in the space for a very special installation of their artwork from Two Black Boys in Paradise based on the poem by Dean Atta. The team are hyper local but creating highly thoughtful and highly personal stories.

Being able to celebrate the success of local animation legends Mackinnon & Saunders was a really special moment in 2022. Mackinnon & Saunders have brought stories to life, from model-making to animation production and kept the spirit of animation alive locally. The team has worked with some of the best known directors in the industry, Tim Burton’s Mars Attack and Corpse Bride, Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox and recently Guillermo del toro’s Pinocchio. The exhibition showcased the skill and artistry behind some of the most iconic characters from stop motion animation from the last 30 years. The team at Mackinnon & Saunders are incredibly valuable locally and it was a real honour to host their 30 year celebration exhibition.

A LIVING ARCHIVE: Working with communities

Sharing traditional animation techniques with members of the public and creating a ‘living archive’ which is brought to life by the people that learn from it is one of our greatest aspirations. The responses to these processes always blows me away. Throughout this period we’ve run short bursts of collaborative community projects. Participants have got to work directly with animators to tell their own stories in animation, the medium and the message is totally dependant on the group. Animators have worked with ARC, Bury Art Gallery, CAN and members of the public of a wide variety of ages to teach animation skills. Our new exhibition in Sale Library showcases the finished films of many of these workshops, from sustained 12 week programmes to drop-in and ticketed workshops.

Last year Melody in Motion saw young people aged 13 – 20 including those who have experienced displacement or forced migration, work in the art forms of live music and animation. The group created an inspiring multi-media piece that explored the issues that mattered to the group. Melody in Motion introduced animation to the creative mix through a unique partnership between CAN (Community Arts North) and Creative Industries Trafford and ourselves. The group worked with animators Johnathan Garvey and Sanna Räsänen and CAN’s Music Leader Emma Marsh.

FUTURE
One of the questions I keep getting asked about is about the advancement in AI and the threat it poses to traditional hand made processes. I’m optimistic that even the most painstaking processes like stop motion will continue to be revived.

Still from Nayelli Ojeda’s Yugen, a Mexican stop motion animated film made with ceramics and natural materials

I believe hand-made is not dead and will continue to thrive. When you look at the last few years of animation successes in awards, stop motion is still one of the defining mediums within animation. Nina Gantz and One6th have won BAFTAs for stop motion productions in the last couple of years. Directors are still turning towards the hand crafted and hand-made, their popularity and success signals that there is still an appetite for these processes. I see audiences searching and responding to things that are authentically made.

One of the most interesting events run by Creative Industries Trafford was a talk by Mexican animator Nayelli Ojeda. She makes stop motion using ceramics, it was incredibly interesting seeing her material process. She brought along a puppet made from tree bark, which was completely posable and had hands with knuckles. Making stop motion and hand-drawn comes at a cost, it’s highly expensive and resource heavy. I expect to see more of a shift towards sustainable production in the way Nayelli’s Yugen is made. But I believe skillsets like stop motion and hand made are still valued in society today.

Puppet Masters Conference Tickets

This year we have a whole programme upcoming shaped around the art of hand-made production. There’s a lot to look forward to, our Puppet Masters Animation conference 2026 is back, you can purchase tickets via the link below, full speaker list to be announced soon but expect to hear from animators Nayelli Ojeda, Lizzy Hobbs and more!

New Roots - Learn more and apply here

We have also released an animation commission NEW ROOTS which is live until the deadline on the 4th September 2026 at 5pm.

Supermedium

We have an upcoming animation exhibition at Waterside in the Autumn called Camera Obscura: Experiments in Animation which focuses on the art of the hand-made animated cinema and a further collaboration with Castlefield Gallery, Supermedium we’ll be showcasing parts of the collection in Manchester from the archive alongside contemporary fine art for the first time.

Finally, just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you from us at Cosgrove Hall Films Archive and Waterside. Your support and love of animation keeps us going and we’re always overwhelmed from the response from the public.

Thanks everyone!

Rosy

Five Year Reflection