The Bayeux Tapestry arrived in the UK in September, on display at the British Museum for the first time in almost a thousand years. Ahead of what became the most in-demand exhibition in the Museum’s history, the British Museum commissioned Hocus Pocus Studio to make three animated short films for its learning programme.
The films are built primarily for secondary school audiences aged 11 to 14, but with enough charm and depth for a much broader audience. Each runs two to three minutes, and they are being released in sequence. The first two are live now: How is the Bayeux Tapestry still here after 1000 years? and What’s the story in the Bayeux Tapestry?
The first animation starts with the Tapestry itself. Figures and scenes are lifted directly from the embroidery and set in motion. Where the Tapestry has gaps, hand-drawn animation fills them, matched closely enough that the join isn’t visible. Art Director Theresa Hilsden describes the challenge as staying as faithful as possible to the original while still finding room for the humour the films needed.
The series doesn’t just retell 1066. The second film uses the Tapestry to make a sharper point: historical sources aren’t neutral. Of the four men who claimed the English throne that year, only Harold and William appear in any depth, while Hardrada and Edgar are almost entirely written out. The films treat that absence as evidence, asking audiences who made the Tapestry, and for whom.
Credits:
Client: The British Museum
Studio: Hocus Pocus Studio
Executive Producer: James Murphy
Animation Director: Justin Lowings
Art Director: Theresa Hilsden
Animation: Sze Hang Lo
Full Project: hocuspocus.studio