Davide Simonetti is the son of Sergio Simonetti, an animator at Richard Williams Animation from the 1960s to the 1980s. Both his father and mother worked on the 1971 Oscar-winning short film A Christmas Carol. I interviewed him in March of 2021 on his father’s time at the studio and his own personal experiences hanging out at 13 Soho Square as a child.
So how did your dad get involved with the studio? I believe he was introduced to Richard Williams via a mutual friend. My dad was an illustrator at the time and wanted to get into animation so he learned how to do it.
Was your dad always an artist? Did he have a great passion for it? He did have a passion for art and drawing. He was involved with it as long as I can remember.
What do you think attracted your dad to animation? Difficult question... to be honest I don’t really know for sure but possibly it was because it was something new for him, maybe more interesting than illustrating comic books. Perhaps he saw a potential career in animation. Also, back in the 60s there was a great scene in the London film/animation circle.
As a kid, was it exciting to know your dad was part of the animation industry? Oh yes, definitely! I used to skive off school so I could hang out in the studio.
Were you allowed in whenever, or did your father bring you in regularly? I didn’t usually go in without an invitation but I was well known to Richard Williams and the other animators, paint and trace artists, cameramen etc. Also, my mum briefly worked at the studio so I was brought in regularly.
What was your mother's role at the studio when she worked there? She did a little bit of either drawing or painting on Christmas Carol but her role was, I believe, mainly administrative.
When hanging out in the studio, what would you do? Were you conscious of not wanting to bother the artists or were you free to roam the building? I was free to do what I liked for the most part. I was smart enough to know to not bother people when they were working. Sometimes I had to stay out of the boardroom if there was a meeting going on. Sometimes I was given paper and pens to play with.
Would they let you play around with the equipment? Did you try to animate yourself and have it shot? I did play with the equipment. I particularly liked the 35mm projector in the basement and the camera used to shoot the cels. I didn’t really try to animate anything... I was very young. I also liked playing with the moviola.
If I remember rightly in the documentary the Creative Person: Richard Williams, the room to photograph cels is completely black to avoid light reflections. Was it always very dark in there? I think that’s right. I haven’t seen that documentary but I remember a room with black walls. It was only dark when something was being shot.
With the moviola, would it have sound playback? It did.
Would you make it go back and forth to make the sound distort? I did like that sound.
The 35mm projector, what attracted you to it? It was big, heavy, and bright. Someone showed me how you put film in it. When it wasn’t being used for watching rushes, and when there was spare time, we’d watch movies on it. Either films made by Richard Williams and the crew or Disney films. Or other cartoons.
Which of Richard's films would you watch? We’d watch Charge of the Light Brigade (because of the animated segments), The Pink Panther (because of the title sequence. I lost count how many times I saw Christmas Carol. And of course, Sailor and the Devil.
Sailor and the Devil. You said it terrified you? It did!
What was your father's role on that film? I’m not even sure he had much of a role in it. The film was a project by Errol Le Cain, who worked at the studio and was a family friend.
How did you and your father come to know him? I guess they must have met at the studio. He took a shine to me and gave me a couple of paintings, one of which I still have.
The Painting by Errol LeCain, kindly shared by Davide Simonetti.
What impression did Errol give you? Was he very professional? I was too young to know what ‘professional’ meant. He was a lovely bloke, a talented artist, but a troubled soul.
How was he troubled? He was often very depressed.
That's a shame. Would you hang out with him in the studio? When he was there, yes. But I also saw him at home when he visited.
Errol gave you a vinyl record of the Sailor and the Devil song. Was there an occasion or did you ask for it? I can’t remember exactly. He gave me a record but it was at 78rpm and our record player only played 33rpm or 45rpm. It was the soundtrack to Sailor and the Devil.
In the Creative Person you can see a vinyl record of the song. Do you recall the label on your copy? The label said ‘For Davide’ on it. There must have been several copies. My copy had a white label and the writing was done with a green Magic Marker.
You said you had misplaced it? Yes, lost I’m afraid... remember, these events happened around the late 60s or early 70s. I was born in 1963 so I was just a small kid. It happens.
Getting back to the studio staff, what were your thoughts on Richard Williams? It must have been thrilling to know the boss of a an animation studio. I knew he was the boss, obviously, but it didn’t seem like that. He was friendly and approachable. He’d hang out with the other animators at times. Occasionally he’d play his trumpet. He was a pretty good player.
How was your father's relationship with him? I’d say it was very good, however they saw each other less and less after my dad left Richard Williams Animation and went to Dragon... then started his own company. I think Richard went back to Canada for a while.
His studio was there until 1993. He had multiple locations if I remember correctly. I really wouldn’t know.
On the top floor of the studio was a room where all the artwork from their various projects was kept. Do you remember going in there at all? I must have gone in there but I can’t remember precisely. The place was like a rabbit warren. Lots of rooms on lots of floors with a really cool staircase.
Unsure if you know this but in 1967 there was a fire in that room. Most of the artwork was destroyed. I vaguely remember something about it. I don't know much else about it.
Are there any anecdotes from the studio you remember? Being cheeky with the staff? I can’t remember anything specific at the moment but maybe something will come to me later.
You mentioned a boardroom where they had meetings. Did you ever go in there? Lots of times. It was adjacent to Dick’s office on the ground floor. A big room with wood-paneled walls and a green carpet and it had an ornate chess set.
Richard was known for his trumpeting. Did you ever have a go on it? No, I never touched it but I heard him play.
How often would you say he played it? He kept it in his office and would sometimes play it. I couldn’t say how often... it was a busy studio.
Did you ever interact with another employee named Roy Naisbitt? Yes, he was a friend of my dad’s.
I have met him. He's still around as far as I know.(Roy passed away the following May.) That’s nice to know. I think I went to his house when I was very little.
Your dad, what was his role in the studio? He was an animator. How often did he work in the studio animating? Was there always a deadline to be met? All commercial films have deadlines. My dad was at the studio every day.
From what years was he there before he left? I’m not very good at dates I’m afraid. Perhaps 1967 to early 80s... not too sure.
Off and on or all throughout? Throughout.
Richard Williams is known for his unfinished film the Thief and the Cobbler. Did your father work on it? It might have been before he joined. If it was a personal project, he probably had little to do with it.
It started out as Nasrudin, you may know it by that name. He did a little work on Nasrudin, I remember that.
I heard on an interview that it was animated directly on cels with 'audio-visual' pencils. Apparently, they were loaded with lead. Ah, the 60s. Hahahahaha.
The cels used to be made of nitrocellulose you know. Pre 1950s, probably. I remember those cels.
Nasrudin in particular or the nitrate ones? Both. The cels were everywhere and Nasrudin I remember quite well. The pictures and stories mostly.
Were you warned of how dangerous they were? No, I had no idea at the time. I think later they were acetate.
Nitrate is the same chemical composition as gunpowder. 1951 they had switched to safety. That's probably why the studio went up in flames. Very likely.
A late friend of mine said that a lot of studio stuff got thrown out on the regular and sold, some of it from the Soho studio. Did you father keep a lot of his studio work? His house was full of obsolete stuff. Every now and again he would be persuaded to have a clear out.
Such a shame! Times change... technology changes. My dad always tried to keep up but certain things he didn’t want to throw out and there is only so much space.
Did he ever keep anything from Richard's studio? I don’t know. If he did, his widow probably chucked it out. Some of it might have gone to Dragon or Simonetti Productions.
You said he founded his own company sometime after he left. What did the company do? Same thing... commercial animation. Only this time he was a director as well.
Would you hang around there as well? I did indeed.
Is his studio still around? No. He eventually worked from home.
Was it a small studio and was it similar to Richard's? I think all animation studios have a similar atmosphere but Richard Williams had its own distinct flavour. Dragon was similar... Simonetti Productions was smaller but the similarities were there.
How would you describe the distinct flavour of the Soho Studio? Hard to describe. My recollections are influenced by nostalgia.
Richard's studio won many awards for its animation. Did your father or his studio win anything? Oh yes, several. Awards for commercials, Golden Lions, etc.
Are those still around in the family? I believe so. They wouldn’t be discarded.
Have you followed him in his footsteps? Not really. I can’t draw but I’m a reasonably good photographer and I like making time-lapse animations.
I would love to make those. Don't have the proper equipment. You don’t need much these days. My main passions are photography and astronomy so I sometimes make time-lapses of planets revolving or comets moving.
I would like to wrap this up with one last question. Do you know how the Sailor and the Devil ended? Or the rest of the song? There is some controversy over that. Some say there is supposed to be more than you see on YouTube. As far as I can remember it ends with the sailor getting safely home and warning his kids to be good
Do the final lyrics come to mind? I’d have to watch it again.
If they come to mind do let me know! Thank you for your time, you have been wonderful to talk to. Thanks. I will.