Sky's the limit for animator (From Wiltshire Times)

Sky's the limit for animator

11:22am Friday 26th October 2007 in News By Katie Adams

A NORTH Wiltshire animator who has worked on Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and The Iron Giant has just finished a commercial for satellite network Sky TV.

Richard Bazley, 44, who lives in Box, spent nine weeks working on the 60 second £300,000 project.

The commercial, featuring a cartoon character called Cool Cat, was designed to show Sky's global concerns and their ongoing work as a carbon neutral company.

The ad shows the cat making his way through the countryside to the sound of Three Dog Night's song Joy to The World.

Mr Bazley has lived in Box for the past seven years with his wife Ann and their two children Matthew, 13 and Jonathon, eight.

He said: "I spent the week days working on the project for Sky in London.

"I then spent time here at home working on the commercial at weekends."

Mr Bazley, who is a veteran of the animation world, lived in Los Angeles, California for seven years and got his big break in his mid twenties working on the Disney film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

His projects have included acting as supervising animator on the Warner Bros production The Iron Giant.

He has also been involved in other animations including Hercules, Pocahontas, Osmosis Jones and Thumbelina.

He said "My wife and I wanted to bring up our children in England so we moved back to send them to school here. We chose Box because at the time I had an office at the Corsham Media Park.

"My wife was originally from Bristol too so we had ties with the area."

Mr Bazley said his children are impressed with the new commercial but are used to seeing their father's work on TV.

He said: "My mother saw it on TV recently when she was watching Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and she rang me up to say she had enjoyed it."

The director said his children may have an artistic streak but are more concerned with football.

He said: "I am very proud of the commercial as it was my baby and it is now opening doors."

Mr Bazley is currently working on a project with Gary Kurtz, who produced Star Wars. He is keeping the details under wraps for now.

Any Wiltshire businessmen are interested in investing in such a project can email him at rmbazley@yahoo.com