U.K. animator Mark Hall dies

Mark Hall, who produced much-loved British children's animations including "Danger Mouse" and "Jamie and the Miracle Torch," died late Thursday evening or early Friday morning in Manchester following a short illness. He was 75.Hall labored carefully together with his college friend John Cosgrove. The 2 met at Manchester's Regional College of Art within the nineteen fifties and labored as graphic artists for that television funnel Granada TV within the sixties. They created their very own animation company, Cosgrove Hall Prods., in 1976 and continued to produce a number of magical, frequently surreal cartoons.Their finest known creation was "Danger Mouse" -- whose lead character, a cartoon secret agent mouse, first made an appearance on tv within the eighties together with his partner hamster Penfold. The show attracted 19 million audiences at its peak.Additionally they produced "Jamie and the Miracle Torch" cartoons in regards to a boy whose torch takes him to fantasy lands after bed time. Additionally they created an animated version of Kenneth Grahame's book "Wind within the Willows," about riverside creatures including Rat, Mole and Toad of Toad Hall.Hall and Cosgrove upon the market in 2000 but had lately cool their animation company underneath the title Cosgrove Hall Fitzpatrick Entertainment coupled with planned to create new animation.Hall's boy Simon continues his father's work. He's also made it by his wife, Margaret Routledge, whom he married in 1961, along with a daughter, Rachel. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com