''Ivor the Invisible'' is an

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

made for British television's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in 2001. It was written by the popular British

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

Raymond Briggs Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story ...

. Unlike Briggs' other films, which were adapted from his books, ''Ivor the Invisible'' was his first project to be conceived directly for the screen.

Plot

One morning, a schoolboy named John awakes to find an invisible

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

sitting at the foot of his bed. John names him Ivor and soon the giant is playing tricks around the house: squirting John's father with a

garden hose A garden hose, hosepipe, or simply hose is a flexible tube used to convey water. There are a number of common attachments available for the end of the hose, such as sprayers and sprinklers (which are used to concentrate water at one point or ...

, disturbing the laundry hanging on the

clothesline A clothes line or washing line is any type of rope, cord, or twine that has been stretched between two points (e.g. two sticks), outside or indoors, above the level of the ground. Clothing that has recently been washed is hung along the line t ...

, and stealing food. Ivor can create music, and later at the

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...

he gives John an invisible

seesaw A seesaw (also known as a teeter-totter or teeterboard) is a long, narrow board supported by a single pivot point, most commonly located at the midpoint between both ends; as one end goes up, the other goes down. These are most commonly found a ...

ride in the park, before playing about with ducks. However, what Ivor really wants is to learn to write. He wants John to read him stories, and he wants to go to school with him. Ivor creates a great deal of mischief at John's school, writing rude words on the

chalkboard A blackboard (also known as a chalkboard) is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulphate or calcium carbonate, known, when used for this purpose, as chalk. Blackboards were originally made of ...

. On the way home, Ivor incites the wrath of an angry mob after tampering with the

Belisha beacon A Belisha beacon is an amber-coloured globe lamp atop a tall black and white striped pole, marking pedestrian crossings of roads in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and in other countries historically influenced by Britain such as Hong Kong, Malta ...

s and

pelican crossing A pelican crossing, or archaically pelicon crossing (PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled), is a type of pedestrian crossing with traffic signals for both pedestrians and vehicular traffic, activated by call buttons for pedestrians, with the walk signal ...

s. John knows Ivor cannot stay with them anymore and he bids him a sad goodbye as Ivor flies off into the sky.

References

External links

* * 2001 television films 2001 films British animated short films British television films DHX Media films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films {{UK-tv-film-stub