From a small acorn
“In 1989, at the age of twenty-two, I was travelling to Amsterdam when news broke that the Berlin Wall had been breached. On impulse, my friend and I changed our plans and took a train into West Berlin. We witnessed a city in flux, as fear-driven control gave way to uncertainty, release, and rapid change. The experience left a lasting impression of how quickly societies can shift when authority loosens its grip.” Andy Paterson-Jones, Vincent’s creator.
As a student of history and literature, I appreciated fable writers like George Orwell. Later, working as a copywriter and designer on children’s animation projects , I began to recognise recurring patterns in story and character. Over time, the mechanics behind effective children’s storytelling became clearer to me, how moral ideas can be carried through action, humour, and imagery rather than instruction.
As my career progressed, Vincent Squirrel went into creative hibernation. I focused on building a life, developing my design and filmmaking practice, and becoming a father. Watching children grow up surrounded by constant digital stimulus, and sensing darker pressures gathering in politics and society, Vincent resurfaced. He is a positive response to the world our children are inheriting. The time has arrived to tell his story.
“Bravery isn’t the absence of fear. It’s the resolve to keep going.”
ERYNDOR, THE MIGHTY STAG