Protect and Survive

An instructional short aimed at school-aged children of the early 1950s that combines animation and live-action footage with voice-over narration to explain what to do to increase their chances of surviving the blast from an atomic bomb.

Public information film regarding female safety and how to safeguard against rape

Sponsored as part of the Electricity Council's 'Understanding Electricity' campaign, Play Safe is a series of three hard-hitting fillers designed to highlight to children the potentially fatal consequences of playing near overhead electric lines and substations. The carefree attitude of the youngsters as they fly their kites and radio-controlled planes in the open air is undermined by composer Harry Robinson's electronic soundtrack, which pulsates with menace throughout.

Produced by the Highway Safety Foundation in 1964, this shocking film deals with a subject quite taboo for its time. The short serves as a dramatized warning, ending with graphic case studies.

Julien Temple's wartime documentary parody "Punk Can Take It" (1979) - a theatrically released promo for the UK Subs, complete with narration by BBC voice-over veteran John Snagge - paints a glorious picture of England in a punk rock "identity crisis". Punk morale was higher than ever before. Punks were fused together not by fear, but by a surging spirit of revenge, immortality, and the courage never to submit or yield. This proved that punk won't go away and that punks themselves are becoming younger and nastier everyday. They have no time for the precarious thrills of nostalgia nor for its trivial rules.

Thud and Blunder learn what not to do while in a coal mine.

Explains what war gas is, how it is used by the enemy, and how simple household items, such as bicarbonate of soda and bleaching solution, may be used to prevent casualties. (archive.org)

3 cartoons were made in 1918 by O'Galop, the designer of Bibendum Michelin, to warn the post-war population of the ravaging effects of alcohol and tuberculosis. This public health campaign seems far removed from our present-day concerns. Over time it has acquired a different dimension.

Lewis Carroll's 'Alice' stories are used to explain certain sections of the Labelling of Food Regulations 1970.

Animated public information film from the Health and Cleanliness Council.

Sonny Bono appears onscreen to tell kids that marijuana is a "bummer" that turns you into a "weedhead" and will make you "trip out" (the fact that, based upon his performance, Sonny appears to have ingested unknown substances before the cameras started rolling tends to limit the film's crediblity somewhat).

A short film warning the unaware housewife of the dangers of “dry cleaning” with gasoline at home.