G R I F F E N 2 0 2 3 | 2 2 In 1998 McCartney and Dunbar teamed up again on Tropic Island Hum and followed it a year later with another short film, Tuesday, narrated by actor Dustin Hoffman and dedicated to Paul’s now late wife, Linda. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival and provided Paul and Geoff with their third BAFTA Nomination. This string of successful collaborations cemented a bond between the two men that continues to this day. Its latest manifestation is the 2020 film, When Winter Comes. Designed and animated in Geoff’s distinctive hand-drawn style, the moving images are underscored by a previously unreleased McCartney track dating from 1992, produced by George Martin. Once again, the film garnered a host of awards and nominations, including best film at the New York, Liverpool and Short Film Festivals, and best music video at the Cannes Indie and LA Shorts Festivals. So there you have it: some of the surprising connections forged in the fields of filmmaking, music and art between an ancient school and arguably the cultural and creative force of the post-war period. John Lennon’s redoubtable Aunt Mimi famously told her nephew, “Playing the guitar’s all very well, John, but you’ll never make a living at it.” A former colleague at Abingdon is alleged to have said something similar to the mother of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke (1987) at her son’s annual parents’ evening. Perhaps it just goes to show that life in the arts may be unpredictable, but it’s rarely dull. And perhaps the story of The Beatles and those from this town who have worked with them, reminds us that Abingdon is a place in which a passion for creative expression, and the determination to follow it, can lead to the most exciting and unexpected of destinations. If that is indeed the case, long may it be so. n a short film written/produced by McCartney and directed by Dunbar. Work began in 1981 and the film was released in 1984, scooping a BAFTA for the best short animation and a top 3 chart success for McCartney’s song We All Stand Together. Towards the end of the eighties, Geoff took another call from the ex-Beatle at his home in Abingdon, this time at 3am. McCartney was in New York, and in such a state of excitement that he’d clearly forgotten the time difference. Paul suggested they meet the following week to discuss another project – a film based on the work of the 19th century artist, Honoré Daumier. What became Daumier’s Law owed much to McCartney’s first wife, Linda, who’d encountered the French artist’s work when she was at school. She researched Daumier’s drawings and felt their focus on injustice could have the makings of an effective story. Meanwhile, Paul was exploring minimalism in what for him was a new approach to composing music. “In the end,” he said, “I abandoned the idea of minimalism and just got into this slightly experimental music. Linda and I hooked up the idea of injustice with my musical pieces, came up with the idea for the film and called Geoff.” The film, which Dunbar animated and directed, premiered at Cannes in 1992, where it won the Directors’ Choice Award. Later, it went on to collect the Espiga d’Oro at Valladolid and another BAFTA for best short film. The visual arts also provide Abingdon’s latest and most enduring link to the Fab Four. Abingdon Film Unit tutor Geoff Dunbar went to Abingdon County Secondary School – later to become Larkmead – where he was taught by the school’s renowned Head of Art, John Jones. Jones was both a brilliant teacher and a remarkable man – a veteran of the bloody Battle of Monte Cassino in World War II who went on to serve as Abingdon’s mayor before becoming a Freeman of the Abingdon Borough Council. As an art teacher, Jones recognised and encouraged Dunbar’s considerable gifts, and had the satisfaction of seeing his protegé make his way in London’s thriving animation scene. It was in this context, towards the end of the Sixties, that Geoff was first approached by John Lennon to make an experimental film about the construction of a London hotel. The task involved animating more than 5000 individual photos taken by photographer Iain Macmillan, the man responsible for the iconic photo of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road that adorned the cover of their final LP. What might now be a relatively straightforward timelapse operation was then an impossible labour, which resulted in Geoff passing on the opportunity to work with a member of the world’s most famous band. However, as the Sixties flowed into the Seventies, and Beatles became ex-Beatles, it wasn’t long before another invitation to collaborate came Geoff’s way, this time from another member of the Fab Four. Whether Paul McCartney knew of his former writing partner’s approach to Dunbar isn’t clear, but by the seventies, Geoff’s work as an artist, animator and film director had made him one of the hottest properties in the animation world. McCartney was certainly a fan of Dunbar’s 1978 film Ubu, which had won the prestigious Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. A few years later, Paul invited Geoff to lunch to discuss a project that was close to both their hearts – an animated film featuring their childhood comic strip hero, Rupert Bear. The result was Rupert and the Frog Song, Geoff Dunbar working with Paul McCartney on the short film Rupert and the Frog Song Abingdon is a place in which a passion for creative expression, and the determination to follow it, can lead to the most exciting and unexpected of destinations. Photo courtesy of Tarun McGinnigle
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