The Beswick Characters of David Hand's Animaland

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The Beswick Characters of David Hand’s Animaland were all modelled by Arthur Gredington and were based on David Hand’s Animaland characters. There were eight figures in the collection and were produced by Beswick from 1949 to 1955. The figures were: Dinkum Platypus, Zimmy the Lion, Felia, Ginger Nutt & Hazel Nutt (Squirrels), Oscar Ostrich, Dusty Mole and Loopy Hare. In this updated feature we include a price guide / value guide of realised prices at auction.

Eight Beswick David Hand Animaland figures including Zimmy Lion Loopy Hare Dusty Mole Oscar Ostrich Felia Hazel Nutt Dinkum Platypus and Ginger Nutt. This fine set sold for £320 at Thomas Watson, February 2019.

David Hand was a cartoon film animator who originally worked for the Disney organization where he was involved in several major productions including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Bambi. He moved to England in 1944 where he set up an animation studio – GB-Animation (short for Gaumont-British).

David Hand’s Animaland

He produced a series of 9 short films in the Animaland series on which the Beswick characters were based. The films are: The Lion (Felis Leo) (1948), The House-Cat (Felis Vulgaris) (1948), The Cuckoo (1948), The Ostrich (1949), The Australian Platypus (1949), It’s a Lovely Day (1949), Ginger Nutt’s Christmas Circus (1949), Ginger Nutt’s Bee-Bother (1949), Ginger Nutt’s Forest Dragon (1949).

The Animaland characters with their Beswick model number

1148 Dinkum Platypus
1150 Zimmy the Lion
1151 Felia
1152 Ginger Nutt.
1153 Hazel Nutt
1154 Oscar Ostrich
1155 Dusty Mole
1156 Loopy Hare