/3 min. / Animation
/2004 / UK


Lester Magoogan, an artist with Down syndrome, created these playful drawings and stories which his father, Wesley, animated.

Lester is a prolific artist who sometimes produces up to two hundred line drawings a week. This contribution to the festival is a series of short animations under the banner 1st Animations.

His black and white line drawings are peopled with endearing monster types with huge mouths and large, blunt teeth. The pieces come in short, sharp bursts, and from a slightly unexpected angle. Watching them is like being blown by a refreshing wind, and all at once hit over the head with a rubber chicken.
Each animation is eye-catching, distinctive and entertaining. In Mr Spit and Boiling Mad, two men stand divided by a brick wall. One spits on the other's head and chuckles about it. Where's my Bone? has the disembodied head of a dog flying around the screen from different angles, while a funky soundtrack asks that very question. Argue begins with two grumpy rubberised faces shouting at one another. The empty white background soon fills with other arguing couples, their voices get louder and louder, until there's a cacophony of noise.

The animations are surprising and surreal. Watching them one at a time is like allowing your brain a quick break from usual mundane activity. They succeed because Lester has a unique perspective on the world and a magnificent sense of humour. His approach is minimalist: simple drawings on a white background with a thumping soundtrack that catches the ear as much as his animations catch the eye. The effect is to magnify the real world a hundred times. The joy is that they are not forced or pretentious, but entirely spontaneous. It's almost impossible to watch the characters without an enormous grin on your face.

Lester Magoogan - artist

Lester has a very gifted talent for drawing.
He was at the ‘Tate Modern’ twice in 2004.
The BBC has filmed him 3 times about his work.
Lester enjoys successful exhibitions in London and around the UK.
He is 22 and currently in full-time 'supported education side' at Hastings College.
Lester made his animated film in order to, "see my pictures come to life, plus adding my different voices and music".

Wesley Magoogan - animator

The following video, made by Lester Magoogan, is also being screened at the 2005 Sprout Film Festival:

The Office that Overslept