From Fantasia to Brazil: Roots That Shaped My Vision
When people ask me why I chose to start Peerless Visual Effects Ltd, there is only really one true answer-it’s in my blood.
Film has always been woven into my life, not in a glamorous red-carpet way, but in the deeply practical, problem-solving sense of craft and story-telling. My grandfather was a sound engineer for Disney on Fantasia. And my grandmother-well, she was a trailblazer. One of the very first female animators in the industry, she created silhouettes to train gunners on aircraft during WWII. In those days, film wasn’t just about entertainment-it was about survival, ingenuity, and invention.
That sense of necessity-driven creativity passed down to my father, Kent Houston. In the 1970s, his own path into film began when his sister (Aunty Sandy to me), and a pioneer in VFX herself, encouraged him to take a runner job at Bob Godfrey’s animation studio. That step became the foundation of his VFX journey.
At Bob Godfrey’s, Kent learned Soho’s post-production ropes and found himself experimenting with animation photography on the rostrum camera at night. It was there he met Terry Gilliam, who would use Godfrey’s setup for Monty Python animations; that late-night collaboration sparked a creative partnership that shaped both their careers.
Together, they built tools the industry didn’t yet have. One of their first pieces of equipment was a Mark Roberts controlled animation stand-the first of its kind in Britain to use that system. When the needs of the work outpaced what was available, they didn’t wait for someone else to invent it-they built it themselves.
And that spirit led to some of the most extraordinary problem-solving in visual effects. One story in particular has always stuck with me.
On Gilliam’s Brazil, the production was faced with what most of the industry at the time considered a technical impossibility: blue screen shots that broke every single rule. Armor with blue stripes. Translucent wings. Blonde hair blowing against a blue background. Anyone would have told you it couldn’t be done.
And yet, they cracked it. Through a painstaking, world-first double matte technique, the shots not only worked-they saved the film.
Those are the tales I grew up with. They’re part of my own history, shaping how I see challenges today. What I take from them isn’t nostalgia, but a philosophy: that creativity and technical ingenuity are at their best when they serve the story, when they dare to attempt what others say is impossible, and when they’re done with integrity.
Having lived through three generations of filmmaking, and witnessing seismic shifts in how stories are told, I’ve learned to see change not as a threat but as an inevitability. From Fantasia’s groundbreaking sound, to optical printers and digital compositing, to today’s exploration of AI, every wave of innovation has been met with resistance at first. And yet, those who adapt, thrive.
It’s why I approach AI and new technologies with faith and curiosity rather than fear. They’re not replacing artistry; they’re part of the same continuum of evolution that’s always defined cinema.
These roots of mine run deep, but the branches are growing in new directions. And this is just the beginning.
With pride in the past and full faith in the future,
Anna Marie Houston
Founder & Director
Peerless Visual Effects Ltd