Ethel and Ernest Premise Film Review

Fig 1. Movie Poster.

Ethel and Ernst is an ordinary story made extraordinary through animation, the core themes are family, home, life and love, these are all universal themes that appeal greatly to everyone British or not. The characters are the heart of the film, it's challenging because we experience these characters's life and can relate them to our own especially a British audience with World War 2. The ending is challenging because it’s real, it's something that will happen to everyone which makes the film identifiable and touching.

Raymond Briggs is an illustrator and a writer, he wrote and illustrated 'The Snowman' (1982), 'When the Wind Blows' (1986), 'Father Christmas' (1991) and many other books including one about his parents - 'Ethel and Ernst' (1998) which was adapted into an animation in 2016. He created this picture book as a way of remembering his parents, many of his books have been adapted into films in the past so it was no surprise when this award winning best seller became another. This was Briggs's personal story, he was really anxious and concerned about this becoming a film so trusted it with people who have worked on his stories previously, Roger Mainwood was one of the animators who animated 'The Snowman' and this became his first feature film that he directed. Unlike other films, Briggs was eager to be involved and worked very closely with Mainwood on the script, when asked who was the film made for, Mainwood said it was ultimately for Raymond.

Fig 2. Ethel and Ernest in production.

Ethel and Ernest was made digitally — hand drawing on large tablets, (see fig 2) art director Robin Shaw had to replicate the crayon rich texture in Briggs's illustrations so using modern techniques came up with compositing actual painted textures in photoshop to achieve that effect. This choice of medium has a massive impact on the narrative making it all the more personal to Briggs, his style is distinctively his own and reflects his British culture so to tell the story of his family through his eyes and art gives more insight into Briggs’s perspective making it all the more original and extraordinary in addition to supporting the core themes.

Fig 3. Animation Team.

Ethel and Ernest was a big production by a small studio: Lupus Films, (see fig 3). The book alone was a best seller which won the "Best Illustrated Book of the Year" at the 1999 British Book Awards. The film won 3 awards at international festivals for Best Animation in addition to 6 other nominations.

Bibliography:

Howlett, A. (2018). Wivenhoe animator who worked on The Snowman directs new Raymond Briggs film Ethel and Ernest. [online] East Anglian Daily Times. Available at: http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/wivenhoe-animator-who-worked-on-the-snowman-directs-new-raymond-briggs-film-ethel-and-ernest-1-4821215 [Accessed 15 Feb. 2018].

YouTube. (2018). Behind the scenes of Ethel and Ernest. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTcnESXoKn0&feature=youtu.be [Accessed 15 Feb. 2018].

Illustration List:

Figure 1. Ethel and Ernest Movie Poster (2016) [Poster] At: http://pekin.mae.lu/fr/News/10th-anniversary-edition-of-EU-Film-Festival

Figure 2. Behind the scenes of Ethel and Ernest (2016) [user-generated content online] Creat. Vintage Books. 27 October 2016 At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTcnESXoKn0&feature=youtu.be (Accessed on: 15 February 2018)

Figure 3. Behind the scenes of Ethel and Ernest (2016) [user-generated content online] Creat. Vintage Books. 27 October 2016 At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTcnESXoKn0&feature=youtu.be (Accessed on: 15 February 2018)