''Arthur! And the Square Knights of the Round Table'' is a 1966–1968 Australian

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

based on the legend of

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

Camelot Camelot is a legendary castle and Royal court, court associated with King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described ...

. The series was produced by Air Programs International and written by

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

playwright

Alex Buzo Alexander John Buzo (23 July 194416 August 2006) was an Australian playwright and author who wrote 88 works. His literary works recorded Australian culture through wit, humour and extensive use of colloquial Australian English. Biography Ear ...

and British-born entertainer

Rod Hull Rodney Stephen Hull (13 August 1935 – 17 March 1999) was a British comedian and popular entertainer on television in the 1970s and 1980s. He rarely appeared without Emu, a mute and highly aggressive arm-length puppet modelled on the Australian ...

, with Lyle Martin, Michael Robinson, and John Palmer. The characters included

Guinevere Guinevere ( ; ; , ), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First mentioned in literature in the early 12th cen ...

Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), alternatively written as Launcelot and other variants, is a popular character in the Matter of Britain, Arthurian legend's chivalric romance tradition. He is typically depicted as King Arthu ...

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

, the

Jester A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town ma ...

, the

Black Knight The black knight is a literary stock character who masks his identity and that of his liege by not displaying heraldry. Black knights are usually portrayed as villainous figures who use this anonymity for misdeeds. They are often contrasted with ...

, and Morgana le Fay. The actors who voiced the character parts in the series included:

John Meillon John Meillon ( ; 1 May 1934 – 11 August 1989) was an Australian character actor known for dramatic as well as comedy roles. He portrayed Walter Reilly in the films '' Crocodile Dundee'' and '' Crocodile Dundee II''. He also voiced advertiseme ...

(as "Arthur"), Lola Brooks (as "Guinevere" and "Morgana le Fay"),

John Ewart John Reford Ewart (26 February 1928 – 8 March 1994) was an Australian actor of radio, stage, television and film. Ewart was a double nominee (and one/time winner) of the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Early life Ewart was ...

Kevin Golsby Kevin Golsby (born 1935) is an Australian actor and voice-over artist, known for his iconic rich voice and seventies moustache. His extensive body of work includes appearances in film, television, theatre and voice-over roles. Golsby was born ...

, and Matthew O'Sullivan. By 1969, the series had been sold for broadcast in the United Kingdom and North America. In Australia, where it was made and produced, it was sold also to the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is a ...

, for broadcast on the ABC-TV network. Typically it was broadcast on Saturday mornings and initially also, on Monday evenings. As the Australian television industry did not go to colour broadcast until March 1975, viewers saw the series in black and white for the first six years of its Australian transmission. ABC-TV continued repeated the series for most of the 1970s; its last appearance as children's programming was March 1985. The series was broadcast in Italy in the early 1970s. French television purchased it for broadcast in 1980-81, supplying a French soundtrack, without the original music. It was broadcast on the French television channel, TF1. In 1993, the series was also broadcast on German cable television.

Original episodes

Home releases

Revelation Films Revelation Films is a British film and television production and distribution company delivering visual entertainment via cinema, television and digital platforms. Tony Carne founded Revelation Films in 1992 as a video and television productio ...

released a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

titled "Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table" in 2003."Arthur And The Square Knights of The Round Table", Revelation, PAR 61178, 2003 This Region "0" DVD has a 200-minute running time and contains the first 8 episodes, thus containing 24 cartoons of the 36. Prior to this, Castle Vision had released two VHS video cassettes in 1992. Each of these tapes has 2 episodes, which accordingly have three cartoon stories per episode, making it a total of six stories per 45-minute tape. The Castle Vision tapes were released in the UK, under licence from the rights holders in Australia. Both tapes are in the European PAL format.

References

External links

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''Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table''
at Keyframe - the Animation Resource
''Arthur! and the Square Knights of the Round Table
at the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur! And The Square Knights Of The Round Table 1966 Australian television series debuts 1968 Australian television series endings 1960s animated television series Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Television series based on Arthurian legend Australian children's animated comedy television series Australian children's animated fantasy television series Television series by Endemol Shine Australia Television series about kings