Career
Jack Stokes (born John Albert Stokes) began his training at Southend College of Artist After serving in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, he was fortunate to be taken on as a trainee animator at the Gaumont British Animation studio which had recently opened at Moor Hall, Berkshire. Such opportunities were almost unknown in Britain in the post-war years.
By the early 1960s he had established his own studio, Stokes Cartoons, producing work for cinema and television
In 1965 TVC produced an animated series for United States television entitled simply The Beatles which, although it was very successful in the United States was never shown on British television Following on from this, Stokes was commissioned to create animations for the title sequences of the Beatles" 1967 film, Magical Mystery Tour.
Then in 1968, along with Bob Balser, he created his most well-known animations, from the work of illustrator Heinz Edelmann, for the film Yellow Submarine, directed by Dunning. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s he worked on a number of films and television series, including episodes of Roobarb and adaptations of Beatrix Potter"s The Tailor of Gloucester and Charles Kingsley"s The Water Babies.
He retired in his 80s, and died on 20 March 2013, aged 92.