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Don Austen
Don Austen (born 19 January 1958) is an English puppeteer. He began his career in 1981 at Cannon Hill Park's puppet theatre in his hometown of Birmingham. Austen joined the Jim Henson Jim Henson's Creature Shop, Creature Shop in 1986 for the movie ''Labyrinth (1986 film), Labyrinth''. He was a puppeteer for other blockbuster movies including ''Santa Claus: The Movie'' (1985), ''The Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986), ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988), ''The Bear (1988 film), The Bear'' (''L'ours'') (1988), ''The Witches (1990 film), The Witches'' (1990), and ''Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' (1999). Most notably he performed in ''The Muppet Christmas Carol'' (1992), inside both the Ghost of Christmas Present and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. He also managed briefly to boost numbers in ''Muppet Treasure Island'' (1996) as Pirate Crew and Cannibals. Career Austen's British TV debut was on the irreverent cult ITV (TV network), ITV puppet show ''Spitting Image ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West Midlands metropolitan county, and approximately 4.3 million in the wider metropolitan area. It is the largest UK metropolitan area outside of London. Birmingham is known as the second city of the United Kingdom. Located in the West Midlands region of England, approximately from London, Birmingham is considered to be the social, cultural, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands. Distinctively, Birmingham only has small rivers flowing through it, mainly the River Tame and its tributaries River Rea and River Cole – one of the closest main rivers is the Severn, approximately west of the city centre. Historically a market town in Warwickshire in the medieval period, Birmingham grew during the 18th century during the Midla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spitting Image
''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television over 18 series which aired on the ITV network. The series was nominated and won numerous awards, including ten BAFTA Television Awards, and two Emmy Awards in 1985 and 1986 in the Popular Arts Category. The series features puppet caricatures of contemporary celebrities and public figures, including British Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major and the British royal family. The series was the first to caricature Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (as an elderly gin-drinker with a Beryl Reid voice). One of the most-watched shows of the 1980s, ''Spitting Image'' satirised politics, entertainment, sport and British popular culture of the era. At its peak, the show was watched by 15 million people. The popularity of the show saw colla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leprechaun
A leprechaun ( ga, leipreachán/luchorpán) is a diminutive supernatural being in Irish folklore, classed by some as a type of solitary fairy. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. In later times, they have been depicted as shoe-makers who have a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Leprechaun-like creatures rarely appear in Irish mythology and only became prominent in later folklore. Etymology The Anglo-Irish (Hiberno-English) word ''leprechaun'' is descended from Old Irish ''luchorpán or lupracán'', via various (Middle Irish) forms such as ''luchrapán, lupraccán'', (or var. ''luchrupán''). Modern forms The current spelling is used throughout Ireland, but there are numerous regional variants. John O'Donovan's supplement to O'Reilly's ''Irish-English Dictionary'' defines as "a sprite, a pigmy; a fairy of a diminutive size, who always carries a purse containing a shilling".O'Donovan in O'Reilly (1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Live & Kicking
''Live & Kicking'' is a British children's television series that originally aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1993 to 15 September 2001. It was the replacement for ''Going Live!'', and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, comedy, competitions and the showing of cartoons. Once ''Live & Kicking'' had become established in series two, it reached its height in popularity during series four, when it was presented by Zoe Ball and Jamie Theakston; their final edition won a BAFTA award. After this the programme's ratings dropped with the launch of ''SMTV Live'' on ITV and the show ended in 2001. History ''Live & Kicking'' was conceived as a replacement for ''Going Live!''. It was first broadcast on 2 October 1993 at 9 am on BBC1. The original hosts were Andi Peters, Emma Forbes who had presented a cookery segment in ''Going Live!'', and John Barrowman. For the second series, Barrowman was relegated to hosting the showbiz ''Electric Circus'' segment, leaving P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, primetime drama and entertainment, and live BBC Sport events. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution. It was renamed BBC TV in 1960 and used this name until the launch of the second BBC channel, BBC2, in 1964. The main channel then became known as BBC1. The channel adopted the current spelling of BBC One in 1997. The channel's annual budget for 2012–2013 was £1.14 billion. It is funded by the television licence fee together with the BBC's other domestic television stations and shows uninterrupted programming without commercial advertising. The television channel had the highest reach share of any broadcaster in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolf It!
''Wolf It'' is a British television series produced by Scottish Television and broadcast on CITV for 4 series between 1993 and 1996. The show is a spin off from the Saturday morning television series '' What's Up Doc?'' and features Bro and Bro, two English wolves who featured regularly in the aforementioned show. The programme was filmed in and around the Maidstone television studios, where it was also set, with Bro & Bro having set up home in a film vault. The wolves called each other "Bro". Their real names were never heard, as there was always some noise which would mask whatever was being said by any person who was saying their names at the time. The show replaced ''Rolf's Cartoon Club'', and like the previous show, also showed cartoons, all from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series, which ITV owned the rights to at the time, 2 shorts were shown each episode. Bro and Bro were voiced by Don Austen and John Eccleston. Despite Eccleston's shoes being filled on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Eccleston
John Eccleston is an English puppeteer, writer and presenter known for his work as lead puppeteer of Rygel on '' Farscape'', Groove on ''The Hoobs'', and his many roles on British children's television alongside Don Austen. He was also behind the character Gilbert the Alien (voiced by Phil Cornwell) on ''Get Fresh''. He also performed Worth the Dog in the Woolworths adverts (again opposite Don Austen as Wooly The Sheep), Mervin J Minky on MTV's ''Fur TV'' and Rattus Rattus on the CBBC ''Horrible Histories'' series. Career John Eccleston began his career in 1981 with his then girlfriend, Suesan Craig, both from Cheshire. John and Suesan began phoning many local TV stations and John was given the opportunity to appear for his first TV appearance on "Billy Butler's Fun Factory" ITV. John and Suesan would entertain the children of their street from John's bedroom window with Suesan's siblings, Jane and Gerry, inviting the children to watch the performance. His first puppet "SAM ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
What's Up Doc? (British TV Series)
''What's Up Doc?'' is a British children's entertainment show aired on ITV on Saturday mornings from 5 September 1992 to 29 April 1995. It was hosted by Andy Crane, Yvette Fielding, and Pat Sharp. For the later part of the series, Jenny Powell replaced Fielding for the final part of the series. The first two series were produced at The Maidstone Studios before moving to the studios of Scottish Television in Glasgow for the final series. Format The series included a variety of characters like Simon Perry, Colin, Wooly, Billy Box, Baljit, Pasty the Worm, Mister Spanky, Naughty Torty, Gaston, Sam Sam, Bro, and Bro, the Wolves. ''What's Up Doc?'' was designed to promote and feature products created by Warner Bros. in the UK which included video games, movies, tours of their studios, and of course, their vast library of Looney Tunes animated shorts from which the "What's up Doc?" catchphrase was derived, and new animated series; ''Animaniacs'', '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wild Bunch
''The Wild Bunch'' is a 1969 American epic Revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The plot concerns an aging outlaw gang on the Mexico–United States border trying to adapt to the changing modern world of 1913. The film was controversial because of its graphic violence and its portrayal of crude men attempting to survive by any available means. The screenplay was co-written by Peckinpah, Walon Green, and Roy N. Sickner. ''The Wild Bunch'' was filmed in Technicolor and Panavision, in Mexico, notably at the Hacienda Ciénaga del Carmen, deep in the desert between Torreón and Saltillo, Coahuila, and on the Rio Nazas. ''The Wild Bunch'' is noted for intricate, multi-angle, quick-cut editing using normal and slow motion images, a revolutionary cinema technique in 1969. The writing of Green, Peckinpah, and Sickner was nominated for a best screenplay Oscar, and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
