![<--- Geoff Dunbar, the illustrator/animator]( "<--- Geoff Dunbar, the illustrator/animator")
<--- Geoff Dunbar, the illustrator/animator
October 4, 2005 -- The Times
Getting high with Paul McCartney
Take an ex-Beatle, an illustrator, a children's writer and what do you have? A book about a squirrel, of course. Philip Ardagh tells the tale.
I first met Paul McCartney at Abbey Road in March 2004, where he was recording his latest album. I arrived with Suzy Jenvey, my Faber editor, and we drifted down to the canteen to find Geoff Dunbar, the illustrator-animator, casually sketching a squirrel. Suzy introduced us. There had been plenty happening on this project, in its various guises, before I came on to the scene.
Rewind. It is the late 1990s and Paul has written a jaunty little number called Tropic Island Hum. Fast forward a little, and he and wife Linda have written and produced a short animated film based on it, with the same name. Directed by Geoff, it concerns Wirral the Squirrel ("I'm William the squirrel, but my friends call me Wirral.") and an island animal sanctuary.
Time passes and, sadly, so does Linda. Now we are in 2004, Paul has married Heather, Beatrice has been born and Paul and Geoff have been planning to turn Tropic Island Hum into something bigger. Faber published Paul's book of poems and lyrics, Blackbird Singing, so he turns to them for advice. Now Suzy Jenvey is on board as an advisor/editor. Where to go from here?
Suzy suggests that I get involved, and Paul agrees, asking her to show me what they have done so far. I come up with suggestions for a new character, fleshing out some of the old ones, and playing around with the plot. Suzy passes these on.
Then we meet. It's relaxed and informal. Paul and I hit if off. We all get excited at the prospect of working together. Ideas fly. Geoff is scribbling away. We agree there and then on equal billing - no ghostwriting, or names tucked away in tiny type - and on joint copyright. I'm on board.
We amble down to the studio, passing a framed photo of the cover of Rubber Soul. Paul explains how the distorted image came about. He introduces us to the musicians and engineer, and plays back a track. We arrange our next meeting.
On one level this is all quite surreal. This is Paul McCartney. I've grown up listening to the Beatles and watching their films.
On another level, this makes perfect sense. Because I feel I've known him all my life, working together seems the next logical step.
One of my books, Awful End, is in pre-production with Warner Bros as a "major motion picture", so why not team up with a rock legend while I'm at it? (When I go on book tours to the US, Paul wishes me luck. I imagine that our American tours differ somewhat in scale.)
We soon fall into a regular pattern: weekly get-togethers, when possible, at Paul's London office, with its musical-note patterned carpets. Geoff arrives with his sketches - though, having lived with these characters almost as long as Paul, he more than simply illustrates the book - all three of us are tossing ideas around. So, how did it work? Well, someone had to hold the pen, and that was me.
This being his baby, however, Paul always had the final say. After all, High in the Clouds, will be remembered as his book.
We enjoyed ourselves. The only thing we took time to agree on was the name of Wirral's white-furred mother. She has a pivotal role, and it was important to get it right. (In a note, Paul wrote: "We can work it out," leading Suzy to wonder whether the whole matter could be discussed using Beatles' lyrics.) We finally settled on Sugartail. That weekend, I was walking in the woods with my wife and son when an albino squirrel darted in front of us. I managed to take a photo and gave it to Paul, with a big arrow pointing to the real Sugartail. We took it to be a good omen.
Then, a little over a year after we first got together, it was done and now Paul is on tour in the US promoting his new album. We hope to get together again for a few High in the Clouds events - dare I say gigs? - in December, commitments permitting. It's a collaboration I'll remember fondly, marred only when, in March, Suzy had a brain haemorrhage. But, like the book, this has a happy ending. She's well on the road to recovery.
