Channel Frederator Blog

Animator William Garratt’s quirky cartoon “Le Tuff Talk” is only one of many fun films (in addition to oodles of commercial work) in his repertoire. Let’s talk the talk with him about cartoons, Bo Diddley, and bad mouthing.Channel Frederator: Where did you study animation?William Garratt: I did a three month course in 2D animation at the University of the West of England here in Bristol (in the UK ), which was great fun and very useful. Apart from that, it’s been very much a process of trial and error.CF: What are your favorite films/cartoons?WG: I love “The Big Snit” by Richard Conde – it manages to be both very funny and very humane at the same time. “The Cat Came Back” by Cordell Barker is another favourite, as is “Bob’s Birthday” by Alison Snowden and David Fine. I recently saw “Mary and Max” by Adam Elliot, which was great. Plus of course the Pixar films, Spongebob, and the Simpsons.CF: “Le Tuff Talk” is hilarious. What gave you the idea for the film?WG: I wanted to do something that was open-ended in format - listening to “Say Man” by Bo Diddley gave me the idea for two blokes trading elaborate insults. I also wanted it to be mostly visual in impact, so I decided to have the characters speak in almost-recognisable French. There was an English comedy writer called Miles Kington who did a column called “Let’s Parlez Franglais”, which gave me the idea for that.CF: What are you working on now?WG: I’m currently doing freelance work for a viral company, and working on a pitch for a children’s TV series. Plus I’ve got a load of ideas for more episodes of “Le Tuff Talk”, and for more short films…CF: What is the best insult you’ve ever used?WG: I usually think of a good insult about three hours after the opportunity to use it has passed.We’ll get back to you then. Thanks for the interview, William!You can check out William’s film “Le Tuff Talk” right here on Channel Frederator!

-Bailee DesRocher