Animation started : September 2nd 2004
Explanation : Unlike a lot of my animations, this has had a lot of "other" influences. That is to say, the idea comes partly from a conversations a friend and I had. The friend, is Bill [my co-writer on "The Hamster Times", and in one of our many conversations, we were discussing the reversal of music and the messages hidden within. At one point, we came to "Stairway to Heaven" and the rumoured "my sweet devil" messages within it, where one of us [I'll take credit here, even if it wasn't me :-) ] wondered if any of the cover versions of Stairway also contained such outrageous backwards lyrics; to which the most "unlikely" was that of the great Rolf Harris. Which in turn lead to what we have here. At this time the animation is rough but about 2/3rds of the way through.

I actually like Rolf Harris [as I'm sure, does Bill] and I've tried to not be nasty - or have Rolf doing things that are not nice - because I don't think that's the way he is. I grew up watching his TV Specials in the 70's/early 80's and then him introducing, and drawing the various characters on his "Cartoon time" show later in the 80's. At the moment [October 2004] Rolf is presenting an art show where he attempts to re-create some of the works by the great masters. Having just seen him do Turner, my respect of the man's abilities continues.

I hope that he'll only be amused by this animation and not offended by it.

Development time : Original estimate: 30 hours, current time spent: approx 40 hours

Progress: Version 1.01 - April 2005

Added some tweaks. Have a list of things I need to do to "officially" complete this.

Progress: Version 0.51 - 16/12/04

Well, just about complete! Just need to provide "nicer" subtitles and we're all systems go!

About 80 hours worth of work. Wow.

Progress: Version 0.50 - 15/12/04

Animation is complete! Woohoo! All that needs to be done now is

1) Preloading animation sequence

2) General animation tweaking/ corrections [largely lip-syncing]

3) Subtitles need to be improved.

But there we go!

Progress: Version 0.49c - 14/12/04

Goodness me - what a lot of things have happened. We have an introductory talk by myself [I need to properly sync up my lips to the talking, but, you get the general idea. We have a MURDER!!!! in the proper animation and all sorts of things. Only about 10-15 seconds left to animate [200 frames]

Woohoo! It's almost completed!

Progress: Version 0.45 - 7/12/04

All the way up to "We still have our oars sweety" and "Hey! Gouged in!"

Progress: Version 0.43 - 3/12/04

Another update - up to the 3 minute mark now...

Progress: Version 0.41 - 19/11/04

About 2 minutes and 45 seconds through - only 44 seconds left, I think. Now we have Rolf and Vishneff demonstraiting their ball control!!! And Rolf complaining about a wooden red neck... How perculiar.

I'm not at all sure about there being grass on his back as well as his bassoon. I might change that.

Progress: Version 0.39 - 24/11/04

A fair bit of progress, up to 2 minutes 30 seconds. Additions in this one include ";" key jumps to "but Wolves y'know". We go from "all on the house" to Rolf asking us... well.. you know what Rolf asks, don't you? Finally onto Ney being skimmed again... flashback central.

Progress: Version 0.38 - 23/11/04

Now on 2 minutes and 22 seconds. Phew. It's getting there isn't it? We complete the "horse, sheep and snowy-snap" sequence, including subtitles; heading back to the inn. In the next updates we should have Rolf performing his signature "catchphrase" - although it's quite quick, you might miss it! From that point on, we'll have a flashback to poor old Ney, Vishneff and some very strange Rolf chatter... Might get it all finished and wrapped up before Christmas!

Progress: Version 0.37 - 22/11/04

Up to 2 minutes and 18 seconds - just over 40 seconds of animation left to complete it [ and those 40 seconds are well worth waiting for... based, of course, on my interpetation of Rolf's reversed Lyrics. This updated sequence includes a "scene in an inn", an old Cockney knees up [although I need to replace the grand piano with an upright] and a couple of farm animals thrown in for luck.

I have noticed an animation glitch on the "score" sequence that I'll need to go back and fix [watch for the cactus] and I think I need to re-size the bodies in the knees up... and there aer more subtitles to add. Note that all the subtitling in this "work in progress" is not "the complete subtitles" - they will be moved towards the bottom in accordance with normal subtitling procedures.

Progress: Version 0.36 - 19/11/04

Heading towards the home straight... wait a second! There's more Rolf... [the sample of "stairway to heaven" I was using started half way into the 1st verse. A couple of searches later and the missing bits have been glued on again - making the total animation length of just under 3 mins, 30 - which equals about 5000 frames of animation. At this point, the animation is around 3215 frames into it. Just under 1800 to go [and then we need the pre-loader, improved subtitles etc.] There's a lot of good stuff in the "missing minute".

This version is now using the "re-joined" samples, and extends from Rolf being slapped, through "grass on his Bassoon" and heading into the Inn... although, that's where it ends for this week. More to come.

Progress: Version 0.34 - 16/11/04

I really like this sequence. We have the "Score" sequence and Rolf ranting drunkenly to a lady. It brings a bit of a smile to my face - I only wish that the time constraints would allow for a more expanded sequence to be in place. Still, it would probably over do it [ there is a minor animation glitch on the score sequence - bonus points if you spot it before I fix it. :-)

Progress: Version 0.33 - 12/11/04

Ma's good enhanced with a dancing Ma, and leading into "But wolves, y'know" - in the next update we'll have some football, and maybe a slightly inebriated Rolf. Note - current animation length = 2 minutes and 3 seconds or thereabouts.

Progress : Version 0.32 - 08/11/04

Someone saw Elvis coming out of his closet. Oh, and Ma's good. Much more to come. Also, now the "L" key takes you to the "pour for fours".

Progress : Version 0.30 - 2/11/04

Oh my! poor Rolf! [don't worry - he's just a little hot under the collar!]... also updated the subtitles a little.

Progress : Version 0.29 - 28/10/04

Back on the animation track. We continue from the mash being in the big sink, to Rolf pouring fours and smelling some mash. Not entirely sure why... but in the next update we have Rolf telling his friends that they deserve more sizzling Rolf with their beers - whatever that could mean!

Progress : Version 0.28 - 27/10/04

A few minor changes have been made to sync up Rolf's lips when talking during the "heavy on the airwaves"/ "hose my knee Loseph" sequences. Need to get back to animating.

Progress : Version 0.27 - 15/10/04

Animation has progressed to around the 1 minute 50 second mark. This is about two thirds of the way through. Most recent changes are: improvements to the Rolf walking animation, replacing the buildings in the "nip nip" scene to use the nicer looking towers from "mish-mash the birds" scene, and the inclusion of an extra ear [for the sausage dog]. Also, the letters "j" and "k" can be used to jump towards the end of the animation to save time.

Progress : Version 0.00 - 31/08/04

Rolf's version of Stairway to heaven has been acquired, reversed, and scripted. Some of it sounds incredibly funny - while other bits are quite garbled.