About Cranky Bear

Roger Whiter's passion for automata followed him through his degree in Illustration at Maidstone College of Art and through a career in stop-frame animation puppet-making, (with credits including Mars Attacks, Chicken Run, Curse of the Were Rabbit and The Koala Brothers), and then through twenty years working in the DT departments of Bristol Schools.

Cranky Bear is that passion coming to life!

Roger has literally thousands of ideas for hand-cranked mechanical toys, but he's also open to other designing and making projects, including props and sets for theatre, film and TV.

As the son of a London framebuilder, Roger is also equipped to repair and adapt steel bicycle frames, alongside Billy's Bike Exchange. Find out more about brazing services here.