The Oscars: Mackinnon and Saunders sees Netflix Pinocchio to success

Mackinnon and Saunders worked with Guillermo del Toro on Netflix's Pinocchio, which was awarded Best Animated Feature Film at the ceremony last weekend.

Established in 1992 by Ian Mackinnon and Peter Saunders, the animation studio also worked with directors such as Tim Burton and Wes Anderson over the course of more than 30 years in business.

It celebrated its achievements with an exhibition at Sale Waterside which ended earlier this month and which included models from Netflix's Pinocchio, as well as from other films and TV shows.

At the launch of the exhibition, Mr Saunders told The Messenger: "Ian Mackinnon and I set up the company in 1992 because we lost our jobs [at Chorlton animation studio Cosgrove Hall]. We needed to pay the rent and to put food on the table.

"We didn't look more than a few weeks ahead, let alone a few years ahead."

He added: "We have confounded ourselves, because we had little expectation. We had a lot of hope, but if somebody said to us back in 1992 we were going to work with Tim Burton, Wes Anderson, Guillermo Del Toro, we would have laughed.

"You don't think of Hollywood A-list directors beating a path to Cheshire somehow. We are very lucky and very privileged."

Although the models were the stars, there were also photos to show the team at Mackinnon and Saunders at work.

The size of this team is scaled up and down according to demand, although it sometimes reaches up to 100 people.

At the time, Mr Saunders said: "This exhibition is to celebrate the people who work with us, this wonderful team of artists. Without them we'd amount to nothing."

Netflix's Pinocchio also won Best Animated Film at the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes. 

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.