- Errol Le Cain
Errol Le Cain (1941–1989) was a British animator and children's book illustrator. He won the
Kate Greenaway Medal in 1985.Biography
Born in
Singapore on 5th March 1941, Errol Le Cain was evacuated with his family the year following the Japanese invasion. He lived in India for several years before eventually settling in the UK after WWII.With no formal art education, his noted talent was nevertheless evident from an early age. Fascinated by cinema, he made his first animated film, "The Enchanted Mouse," with a friend's 8mm camera at age 11. His next work, "The Little Goatherd," was created on a 16mm camera at the age of 15, and came to the attention of British film distributor Pearl and Dean Limited. In 1956, he moved to London to pursue a career in animation. Married with two children, he died after a long illness on 3rd January 1989, aged 47.
Animation & TV work
In 1965, Le Cain joined
Richard Williams 's animation studio and worked on a wide range of animation projects, including film titles for "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Casino Royale". His most important work with Richard Williams is the unfinished animated film "The Thief and the Cobbler ".Le Cain turned freelance in 1969, working on sets for
BBC productions as well as continuing with animation projects and developing his career as a children's book illustrator.His animation work for the BBC began with a production of
Hans Christian Andersen 's "The Snow Queen", first broadcast on BBC2 on Christmas Day 1976, using live actors over backdrops designed by Le Cain. A picture-book version of the story with his illustrations was published by Viking Kestrel in 1979. This production was followed by "The Light Princess" (broadcast 24th December 1978 BBC2), "The Mystery of the Disappearing Schoolgirls" (28th December 1980) andLeon Garfield 's "The Ghost Downstairs" (broadcast 26th December 1982 on BBC2).Children's book illustration
In 1968, Le Cain's first children's illustrations were published for "King Arthur's Sword" (
Faber & Faber ), which began a long association with this publisher that continued up to his death. Le Cain illustrated 48 children's books during his lifetime, most noted for their richly decorative watercolours and masterful command of design and colour. He was shortlisted for theKate Greenaway Medal twice, for "The Cabbage Princess" in 1969 and "Thorn Rose" in 1976, and eventually received the first prize in the Award for "Hiawatha's Childhood" in 1985. Particularly notable titles included (but are not limited to):*"The Cabbage Princess" (Faber & Faber) 1969
*"Sir Orfeo" (Faber & Faber) 1970
*"The Child in the Bamboo Grove" (Faber & Faber) 1971
*"Cinderella" (Faber & Faber) 1972
*"The King's White Elephant" (Faber & Faber) 1973
*"King Orville and the Bullfrogs" (Faber & Faber) 1974
*"Thorn Rose" (Faber & Faber) 1975
*"The Flying Ship" (Faber & Faber) 1975
*"The Twelve Dancing Princesses" (Faber & Faber) 1978
*"Beauty and The Beast" (Faber & Faber) 1979
*"The Snow Queen" (Viking Kestrel) 1979
*"Mrs Fox's Wedding" (Faber & Faber) 1980
*"Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp" (Faber & Faber) 1981
*"Molly Whuppie" (Faber & Faber) 1983
*"Hiawatha's Childhood" (Faber & Faber) 1984
*"Growltiger's Last Stand and Other Poems" (Faber & Faber) 1986
*"Christmas 1993 or Santa's Last Ride" (Faber & Faber) 1987
*"The Enchanter's Daughter" (Jonathan Cape) 1986
*"Alfi and the Dark" (Hodder & Stoughton) 1988
*"The Pied Piper of Hamelin" (Faber & Faber) 1988
*"Mr Mistoffelees with Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer" (Faber & Faber) 1990References
*"Errol Le Cain, The Enchanter of Images" Holp Shuppan, Japan 1992
External links
* [http://www.errollecain.com/ The Illustrated Work of Errol Le Cain]
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