A ‘little thief’ turned career criminal recounts a life on the wrong side of the law

The celebrated UK studio Aardman Animations is best known for lighthearted claymation comedies including the Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep franchises. However, this 1989 short from their series ‘Lip Synch’ tackles considerably heavier material, rendering the story of a young Englishman who’s spent much of his life on the wrong side of the law. Speaking with candour and clarity, the narrator – a real offender, interviewed in prison – recalls how his exciting childhood as ‘a little thief’ who stole on behalf of his parents evolved into a decidedly unromantic adulthood spent in and out of penal institutions for various misdeeds. The animation team fashions subtle emotions on the man’s face as he tells his life story, making for a captivating, disquieting look at what it means to be a chronic criminal, and how difficult it can be to break the pattern.