The five minute slot just before the early evening BBC1
news on Monday (at 5:50 pm) ensured that Magic Roundabout
usually got an audience of over eight million.
While parents waited for the evening news, kids got to
see the antics of Florence, Ermintrude, Zebedee, Dougal
and friends.
This seemingly innocent children's animation series
included witty commentary for the adults, allowing two
generations to enjoy it. Flavoured with a laid-back and
surreal view of life, the program reflected a heavy sixties
feel. It soon achieved a cult status.
Filmed using frame-by-frame stop motion photography
in a superbly colourful setting, the program featured
a rather off-the-wall cast: Dougal, a shaggy dog who
lived on a strict diet of sugar; an eccentric bouncing
character called Zebedee, who would announce his arrival
with a boing; a rabbit named Dylan, who could have been
accused of growing something considerably stronger than
carrots in his vegetable patch; Ermintrude the pink cow,
Florence, Brian the snail and their friends in the Garden.
Thus The Magic Roundabout staked its place in television
history.
The most famous sentence of the series was Zebedee's
standard declaration "Time for Bed" sending
millions of children to sleep every evening. Meanwhile
he got to stay up and take drugs with Dylan, the rabbit.
(And is it just coincidence that the Zeb-meister looked
like Frank Zappa?).
Concept and animation was by Frenchman Serge Danot and
the English version was written and told by Eric Thompson
(the late father of actress Emma Thompson). Rather than
translate the series from the original French, Thompson
chose to make up his own stories from the visuals supplied. |
