Plasmo

Plasmo (stylised as PLASMO) is an Australian children's science fiction claymation TV series that consisted of a half-hour short film ("Happy Hatchday to Plasmo") made in 1989 followed by thirteen 5-minute episodes made in 1996 which aired on the ABC in 1997, and 24 other countries. The series was certified a G rating.

Plasmo Mega Studios, the show's production company, was founded in 1993 "with the express purpose of producing the stop motion animation series". The company closed down 11 years later in 2004.

Plasmo models were featured in the 1998 Canberra Design and Construction Exhibition Concepts, at the National Film and Sound Archive.

According to Anthony Lawrence, he "devised, wrote, directed, co-produced and co-animated" the series.

Lawrence has uploaded all 13 episodes in a playlist on his YouTube channel, as well as excerpts of his 20 minutes documentary in a separate playlist.

Development

The character of Plasmo was originally developed by Anthony Lawrence in 1981 for a short film entitled "Plasmo versus the Space Bullies". The short was shot on a Super 8 mm film. It became "popular with [his fellow] College students". The second Plasmo film was a sequel titled "Plasmo and the Space Party". It was made in 1983. As Lawrence was unhappy with the quality and format of the Super 8, when he began work on the next Plasmo film, which was called "Happy Hatchday to Plasmo" and released in 1986, he used a newly acquired "second hand 16mm Bolex" instead.