National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales preserves and celebrates the sound and moving image heritage of Wales, making it accessible to a wide range of users for enjoyment and learning. Its film collection reflects every aspect of the nation’s social, cultural and working life across the 20th century, giving a fascinating insight into Welsh filmmaking, both amateur and professional.
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Legend of the Red Dragon
A captivating, upside-down version of George and the Dragon and the history of Wales. Steely George is no match for a fiery Welsh ‘mam’.
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Overview
“Once upon a time”, starts this story, as all good stories do, “.. before the National Coal Board was ever heard of, Wales was an island”. Ian Malcolm of Cardiff’s cine club then plays imaginatively and humorously with the George and the Dragon tale, and the history of Wales, with his own, endearing animated characters (drawn and cut out). In this legend, George, the armoured knight, is no match for a dragon of a Welsh ‘mam’ and Wales gets her own, possibly unexpected, way.
This animation won, aptly enough, a Dragon Trophy at the 3rd Welsh Amateur International Film Festival which took place in Penarth in 1971. See ‘Animal Alphabet’, ‘A Change in the Weather’, ‘ABZ on Sport?’ and ‘A Child’s Guide to Catching an Elephant Kit’ for further examples of Ian Malcolm’s work.
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