It is not surprising that Brian Sibley has written and broadcast so extensively about cinema - and, in particular, the animated film.

Ever since an unforgettable day in his childhood when he was taken to a newsreel theatre and saw his first Mickey Mouse cartoon, he has been obsessed by the magic of the movies - despite the fact that he was so scared by a giant pursuing Mickey that he screamed the cinema down and had to be forcibly removed.

Brian Sibley'svoice became familiar to radio listeners through programmes such as Radio 4's former film programme, Talking Pictures, the movie quiz, Screen Test, and various magazine programmes, including The Afternoon Shift and Kaleidoscope, whose film edition he presented for five years.

He also hosted BBC Television's First Light and, for a number of years, was resident presenter of the World Service arts programme Meridian Live.

Among his occasional radio series have been Disney's Women and David Puttnam's Century of Cinema, for Radio 2, and It's Magic! for the World Service.

Brian's writing credits for radio include the highly-praised dramatisations of JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, CS Lewis's The Chronicles Of Narnia, two series of Tales of the Bizarre by Ray Bradbury, and Mervyn Peake's Titus Groan and Gormenghast, which won him a prestigious Sony Award.

Among Brian's writings on the history and art of film are The Lord of the Rings: The Official Movie Guide, Chicken Run: Hatching the Movie, The Disney Studio Story, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Making of the Classic Film and Mickey Mouse: His Life And Times.

He has also edited two volumes containing the complete storyboards for the Wallace And Gromit films, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave, and collaborated with Peter Lord of Aardman Animations on the best-selling Cracking Animation, about the history and technique of 3-D animation.

His other books include Three Cheers for Pooh, Shadowlands, The Wisdom of C S Lewis, and a biography of Rev W Awdry, The Thomas The Tank Engine Man.

Brian has worked as a writer on a number of film and animation projects, including the early development of Nick Park's The Wrong Trousers, a sequel to Mary Poppins for Disney (to date unmade) and the film Jonah for the award-winning Testament series produced by S4C and the BBC.

Brian wrote the screenplay for an acclaimed version of Herman Helville's Moby Dick animated on glass in Moscow.

Brian is a member of the Magic Circle. He lives with his partner - magician David Weeks - in a South London house crammed with books, videos and memorabilia on both magic and movies.

Brian's website can be found at www.briansibley.com Disclaimer: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external links.

Norman Painting

RADIO 4