Lions, tigers and… crocobears, oh my! We've got a special treat for you today in the form of a staff made short from our Manchester based Storyboard Supervisor Mick Harrison! We grabbed Mick for a few minutes to discuss his creation and be enthralled by his vivid imagination. 

How did you come about this story?

Mick: I wrote the tale of my uncle wrestling crocobears for no other reason than it spilled out of my noodle.

How did you come up with the concept of the crocobear creature?

I took into account that there’s none so fearsome as the bear… that is of course, unless you are shaving your legs waiting for your billabong and a salt water croc aspies your thighs.

After that notion, it was a simple matter of combining the two beasts into a fully extra yet singular beast… like the Spice Girls sang ‘When Two Become One’.

How did you create the short?

It was created in Flash by myself with my pal Adam Barton supplying the sound effects which culminate in a splendid burst of the Cagney & Lacey theme song.

Did you storyboard the idea first? Or jump straight into it?

I tried storyboarding it but it resisted to such an extent that I cut it free and allowed it to spill forth rather than order it into any semblance of order.

Is the uncle in the story similar to your own actual uncle?

It’s really about my Uncle Alan who has now snuffed it, but when he wasn’t pushing up the daisies that fella was cool as a cucumber. He’s survived by my Aunty Mavis who is worth a TV series all her own. She eats chips whole… just swallows them down, like a pelican does a herring!

How did you decide on the uncle using a piano leg to defeat the crocobear?

How else would you disarm a crocobear, by crikey???!!  ...it’s not just entertainamal, it’s educationing!

I did try an alternative antique piano leg concept as you can see below.

How long did it take to make?

After a great deal of lazing around, pontificating and putting it on the later-base the piece actually took around two weeks to complete working in my spare time.

Do you have any other fantastical creature ideas?

I’m very lucky to live in a house festooned with all manner of critters, just this morning as I headed for my front door a half scorpion, half barrister all covered in parsley sauce looked up from his bowl of blood and wished me a 'Merry Christmas'… there’s always something. Presently in development are a Teenage Were-Pilot and a seafaring rascal named Captain Beard who is 98% beard and the rest sowester.

And there you have it! Thanks Mick - we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for those!