Simply Magic
TOMORROW marks 55 years since beloved kids’ TV show The Magic Roundabout first hit our screens.
The stop- motion animation series followed the adventures of characters including sugar- loving terrier Dougal, Jack- in- the- box Zebedee and cow Ermintrude.
The original show ran until 1977 and has been rebooted since, including for a 2005 film. To celebrate the anniversary, presents 15 things you may not know about the programme.
The Magic Roundabout used the footage of the French stop- motion animation show Le Manège Enchanté, but with different scripts and characters. Le Manège Enchanté was created by Serge Danot with the help of Ivor Wood, who went on to give us children’s shows Postman Pat and Charlie Chalk, and Ivor’s French wife Josiane. Actress Emma Thompson’s actor dad Eric wrote and performed the English scripts for the original Magic Roundabout. Eric also based Dougal’s voice on the comic Tony Hancock. It regularly attracted more than eight million viewers. The Magic Roundabout was originally broadcast on the BBC before the 6pm news. When this was brought forward to an earlier time, the Beeb received complaints from adult fans.
A lot of viewers have questioned whether there are intentional drugs references in The Magic Roundabout. Some people have claimed Dougal’s sugar- cube habit is him taking LSD, while the rabbit Dylan – named after Bob Dylan – has been accused of being on cannabis.
In 1991 Channel 4 showed new episodes, as well as previouslyunreleased ones, on their show News Daily. By this point Eric Thompson had died so they were voiced by Nigel Planer, who played hippy student Neil in The Young Ones and used a similar style to Eric.
Giant versions of Dougal and Zebedee are featured in the famous Goodies episode The Goodies Rule – O. K.? which aired on TV in 1975.
SHOW REBOOT: The 2005 film had a huge cast but flopped Singer Robbie Williams –
who voiced Dougal in the There’s another outlandish called The Magic 2005 movie – claims he was claim among some conspiracy Roundabout in which he parodied scared of the show as a kid and theorists that the roundabout the show. A B- side to his “used to hide behind the sofa” represents wife- swapping, and song Funky Moped, it reached whenever it came on. some people have also suggested No. 5 in the UK chart but was Despite the film’s star- studded that the human character of banned by the BBC. cast, which also included Florence is Dougal’s girlfriend. The show’s theme Kylie Minogue and Joanna In 1975, comedian Jasper music was featured on two Lumley, it was a commercial flop. Carrott released minor UK hit singles in 1991, A 2007 reboot, shown on the risqué monologue Summer’s Magic by Mark channel Nick Jr, used the CGI Summers, and Magic Style by The animations from the movie. Badman. Unlike the original series, every The character of Zebedee episode started with Zebedee giving was created using an large a brief summary to the audience pea that was painted red after it about the episode’s events. was found in the animation
studio.