Peter Firmin
| Peter Firmin | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Peter Arthur Firmin 11 December 1928 Harwich, Essex |
| Occupation | Artist, puppet maker (illustrator) |
| Spouse(s) | Joan |
| Children | 6 daughters |
Peter Arthur Firmin (born 11 December 1928) is an English artist and puppet maker. He was the founder of Smallfilms, along with Oliver Postgate. Between them they created a number of popular children's TV programmes, The Saga of Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, Clangers, Bagpuss and Pogles' Wood.
Born in Harwich, Essex, in 1928, Peter Firmin trained at the Colchester School of Art in Colchester. After National Service in the Navy, he attended Central School of Art and Design in London from 1949-1952. He worked in a stained glass studio, as an illustrator and as a lecturer.
It was while he was teaching at the Central School of Art that Oliver Postgate came looking for, as Firmin puts it: "…someone to illustrate a television story – someone who was hard up and would do a lot of drawing for very little money". They immediately 'clicked' and subsequently formed Smallfilms.
Peter Firmin is best known as half of the Smallfilms production company, active 1958 to the late 1980s. Most of Smallfilms' animation was produced in a farmyard barn on Firmin's land in Blean near Canterbury in Kent. Firmin made the sets, puppets and backdrops for the programmes, often also contributing to making sound and visual effects during filming.
Alongside the work with Oliver Postgate, Peter made other puppets and children's programmes. In 1959, with his wife Joan, Peter devised a programme of nursery rhymes for Associated-Rediffusion using live cardboard animation and puppets, called The Musical Box. It was presented by Rolf Harris and then Wally Whyton. Puppets included Billy Whistle and Muskit.
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