Mark Baker (born 8 April 1959 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

) is an English

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple 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 gam ...

and producer whose works include the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

-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 by Astley Baker Davies. The show follows Peppa, an anthropomorphic female piglet, and her family, as well as her peers portrayed as other animals. The show first aired on 31 Ma ...

'' (2004–present) and ''

Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom ''Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom'' is a British preschool animated television series. The show was created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker, and produced by Astley Baker Davies and Entertainment One (the companies responsible for ''Peppa Pig' ...

'' (2009-2013).

Information

A contemporary of

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

at the

National Film and Television School The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2021 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repor ...

, Mark Baker now works for

Astley Baker Davies Astley Baker Davies is an English independent animation studio based in London, England, owned by founder-directors Neville Astley, Mark Baker, and Phil Davies. It is the production company behind television series ''The Big Knights'', ''Peppa ...

. 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 Grand Prix at the Annecy Animation Festival, the praise of the Russian animator

Yuri Norstein Yuri Borisovich Norstein, People's Artist of Russia, PAR (russian: link=no, Ю́рий Бори́сович Норште́йн; born 15 September 1941) is a Soviet and Russian animator best known for his animated shorts ''Hedgehog in the Fog'' an ...

, and others. Baker completed ''The Village'' for

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 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 was a Japanese puppet designer and maker, Independent film, independent film director, screenwriter and animator and president (corporate title), president of the Japan Animation Association from 1989, succeeding founder Osamu Tezuka, until his ...

's collaborative project ''

Winter Days is a 2003 Japanese anime film directed by Kihachirō Kawamoto. It is based on one of the ''renku'' ( collaborative linked poems) in the 1684 collection of the same name by the 17th-century Japanese poet Bashō. The creation of the film followe ...

''. His most popular animation that he is recently known for ''

''.

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 Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College (SIAD) was an art college in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 2005. It was formed from the merger of West Surrey College of Art and Design (1969–1995) and Epsom School of Art and Design (1893� ...

(now

University for the Creative Arts The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in the south of England. It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Inst ...

) 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

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 The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

has preserved several of Mark Baker's films, including ''Jolly Roger'', ''The Hill Farm'', and ''The Village''.

References

External links

Astley Baker Davies
website, including information about ''The Hill Farm'', ''Jolly Roger'' and other animations. *
''The Village'' on YouTube''The Hill Farm'' excerpt on Vimeo''The Hill Farm'' in its entirety on YouTube''Jolly Roger'' on YouTube
an
excerpt on Vimeo''The Village'' excerpt on Vimeo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Mark 1959 births Baker, Mark Baker, Mark Baker, Mark