Mark Baker (born 8 April 1959) is an English

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

and producer whose works include the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-nominated short films ''The Hill Farm'' (1988), '' The Village'' (1993) and ''Jolly Roger'' (1998). He is also known for co-creating ''

Peppa Pig ''Peppa Pig'' is a British preschool animated television series created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker. Produced by Hasbro Entertainment and Karrot Animation and formerly produced by Astley Baker Davies, the show follows Peppa, an anthro ...

'' (2004–present) and '' Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom'' (2009–2013) with Neville Astley.

Information

A contemporary of

Nick Park Nicholas Wulstan Park (born 6 December 1958) is an English filmmaker and animator who created '' Wallace & Gromit'', '' Creature Comforts'', '' Chicken Run'', '' Shaun the Sheep'', and '' Early Man''. Park has been nominated for an Academy ...

at the National Film and Television School in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Mark Baker now works for Astley Baker Davies. His films, ''The Hill Farm'' and ''Jolly Roger'' and ''The Village'', were included in the Animation Show of Shows. Through his career, Baker has received Oscar nominations for his works of animated short films. He emerged as an animator in the 1970s. He is known to draw in a childlike style, but the underlying meanings of his work represent a sophisticated world view. His film ''The Hill Farm'' (1988) received an Oscar nomination, a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

, the Grand Prix at the Annecy Animation Festival, the praise of the Russian animator Yuri Norstein, and others. Baker completed ''The Village'' for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in 1993. In 1994, Baker partnered with Neville Astley to create the production company of Astley Baker that was later changed to the name of Astley Baker Davies with the addition of producer Phil Davies. In 2003 he participated in Kihachirō Kawamoto's collaborative project '' Winter Days''.

Background

Mark Baker was born in London on 8 April 1959. In his teen years, Baker began to make animated films on 8 mm. Then he continued to study animation at the West Surrey College of Art and Design (now University for the Creative Arts) where he created the short film ''The Three Knights'' (1982). He then continued on in his career by animating television commercials for the duration of a year for Richard Purdum Productions. Baker then enrolled in the National Film and Television School where he created his short film ''The Hill Farm'' (1988). He graduated in 1989 and then worked as a freelance animator and director for various companies including TVC, Speedy Films, David Anderson Films and Pizazz Pictures.

Preservation

The Academy Film Archive has preserved several of Mark Baker's films, including ''Jolly Roger'', ''The Hill Farm'', and ''The Village''. In 2021, ''The Hill Farm'', ''Jolly Roger'', and ''The Village'' were restored, with all three short films available to watch on Baker's official YouTube channel.

References

External links

Official website
*
The Hill Farm
' on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

*
Jolly Roger
' on

*
The Village
' on

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Mark 1959 births Alumni of the National Film and Television School Alumni of the University for the Creative Arts British animated film directors English animators Film people from London Living people

Information

Background

Preservation

See also

References

External links