Errol Le Cain
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British animator and children's book illustrator Errol Le Cain (5 March 1941, Singapore – 3 January 1989, England)
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[edit] Early life
Born in Singapore on 5th March 1941, he was evacuated with his family the following 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.
[edit] 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) and Leon Garfield's The Ghost Downstairs (broadcast 26th December 1982 on BBC2).
[edit] 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. 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) 1990
He was shortlisted for the Kate 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.
Married with two children, he died after a long illness on 3rd January 1989, aged 47.
[edit] References
Errol Le Cain, The Enchanter of Images Holp Shuppan, Japan 1992
