Bradford festival to pay tribute to man behind Roobarb and Henry's Cat cartoons

Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell will take part in a panel discussing the career of the late animator, followed by screenings of his rarely seen films, including part of his great unfinished animater feature Jumbo, voiced by Frankie Howerd.

Artists Sean Vicary, Elizabeth Hobbs and Mandy McIntosh will also be attending the festival to take part in a question-and-answer session following a showcase of their work, as featured in 15 animated films produced by Animate Projects for Channel 4’s Random Acts.

Other guests include stop-motion expert Lee Hardcastle who will present a masterclass, including a screening of his soon-to-be-completed short film Ghost Burger.

Mr Hardcastle’s animation credits include Pingu’s The Thing and Claycat’s The Raid and he won a competition to direct a segment of the film The ABCs of Death, screened at this year’s Bradford International Film Festival.

The festival, which also pays tribute to Ray Harryhausen, opens on Wednesday, November 13, with a 20th anniversary gala drinks reception at the National Media Museum, followed by an anniversary screening of Tim Burton’s acclaimed The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Festival director Deb Singleton said: “The world of animation has transformed since the first festival took place in 1994.

“As well as looking ahead by delving into cutting-edge animation techniques and watching the latest films, we’ll also be paying tribute to those legends of animation who are sadly no longer with us, including John Coates, Bob Godfrey and Ray Harryhausen.’’ The final guests to be announced for the BAF Game 2013 strand of the festival include Martin Binfield, animation lead at Mode 7 Games, the company behind Frozen Synapse. He will attend the festival for a talk on the development of their follow-up project.

l Bradford Animation Festival runs at the National Media Museum from November 12-16. For tickets call 0844 856 3797 or go to baf.org.uk.