''Bagpuss'' is a British animated children's television series which was made by
Peter Firmin
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
and
Oliver Postgate through their company
Smallfilms. The series of thirteen episodes was first broadcast from 12 February
to 7 May 1974. The title character was "a saggy, old cloth cat, baggy, and a bit loose at the seams".
Although only thirteen episodes were produced and broadcast, the programme remains fondly remembered,
and was frequently repeated in the UK until 1986.
[ ] In early 1999, ''Bagpuss'' topped a BBC poll for the UK's favourite children's television programme.
Characters
Bagpuss himself is a stuffed, cloth cat.
The six mice carved on the side of the "mouse organ" (a small mechanical
pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks' ...
that played rolls of music) wake up and scurry around, singing in high-pitched voices. The names of the six mice are: Charlie Mouse, Jenny Mouse, Janey Mouse, Lizzy Mouse, Eddie Mouse and Willy Mouse, although only three of the mice are ever referred to by their name; the remaining three are named only in the books which accompany the series.
A
rag doll made of scraps, called Madeleine, who sits in a wicker chair.
Gabriel the toad, who, unlike most Smallfilms characters, could move by a special device beneath his can without the use of stop motion animation.
The wooden woodpecker bookend became the drily academic Professor
Yaffle (based on the philosopher
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, a ...
, whom Postgate had once met).
Voices and music
Sandra Kerr and John Faulkner provided the voices of Madeleine and Gabriel respectively and put together and performed all the
folk song
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...
s. All the other characters' voices, including that of the narrator, were performed by writer
Postgate.
Format
The scene is set at the turn of the 20th century, with Emily Firmin (Peter Firmin's daughter) playing the part of the
Victorian child Emily. The first antique village vignette is a cropped image of
Horrabridge taken in 1898, though nothing is known of the other photo of the children with the pram. The shop window was at the Firmin family home in
Blean
Blean is a village and civil parish in the Canterbury district of Kent, England. The civil parish is large and is mostly woodland, much of which is ancient woodland. The developed village within the parish is scattered along the road between C ...
.
Each programme begins in the same way: through a series of
sepia photographs, the viewer is told of a little girl named Emily (played by Emily Firmin, the daughter of illustrator Peter Firmin), who owned a shop. Emily finds lost and broken things and displays them in the window, so their owners could come to collect them; the shop doesn't sell anything.
She would leave the object in front of her favourite stuffed toy, the large, saggy, pink and white striped cat named Bagpuss. Emily then recites a verse:
After Emily had left, Bagpuss woke up. The programme shifts from sepia to colour
stop motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
film and various toys in the shop come to life.
After being introduced by the narrator, the toys discuss what the new object is; one of them tells a story related to the object (sometimes shown in an animated thought bubble over Bagpuss's head), often with a song, accompanied by Gabriel on the
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
(which often sounded a lot more like a guitar) and then the mice, singing in high-pitched squeaky harmony to the tune of ''
Sumer Is Icumen In'' as they work, mending the broken object. There is much banter between the characters, with the pompous Yaffle constantly finding fault with the playful mice: his complaint, 'Those mice are never serious!' becomes his main catchphrase. However, peace is always restored by the end of the episode, usually thanks to the timely intervention of Bagpuss, Gabriel or Madeleine. The newly mended object is then placed in the shop window, so that whosoever had lost it would see it as they went past and could come in to collect it. Then Bagpuss starts yawning again and as he falls asleep the narrator would speak as the colour faded to sepia and they all freeze in time again, or as the narrator states, 'they go to sleep too'.
Broadcasting
The series was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom, at 1:45 pm, on BBC2. The BBC sold the series to the Dutch broadcaster
Nederlandse Christelijke Radio-Vereniging and the series was transmitted in the Netherlands from October 1976. The series was also transmitted in Italy from February 1977.
Episodes
The titles of the episodes each refer in some way to the object Emily found.
Production
The programmes were made using
stop-frame animation
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
. Bagpuss is an actual cloth cat, but was not intended to be such an electric pink. In Firmin's words: "It should have been a ginger marmalade cat but the company in
Folkestone
Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...
dyeing the material made a mistake and it turned out pink and cream. It was the best thing that ever happened".
[
]
Madeleine the rag doll was made by Firmin's wife, Joan, with an extra long dress to hold their children's nightdresses, but Postgate asked Joan to make a new version as one of the characters.
Gabriel the Toad was the only character in the series who could move freely without the use of stop-frame animation. Scenes featuring him playing the banjo and singing would have taken quite a bit of time if filmed with the stop-frame method, so Peter Firmin created a mechanism that helped him control Gabriel through a hole in his can. The character was based on a real toad that lived in the basement area of the flat that Peter and Joan rented in Twickenham beside the River Thames. Gabriel (named after Walter Gabriel in
''The Archers'', a long-running British radio soap opera) was originally made for Firmin's live ITV programme ''The Musical Box''. Postgate chose him to be one of the characters in ''Bagpuss'' and he was made into a new, slightly larger version.
Professor Yaffle was created as the book-end who had access to "facts". The BBC did not like the original character, a man in top hat made from black Irish
bog oak, called "Professor Bogwood". They thought he was too frightening and asked for a non-human instead.
Most of the stories and songs used in the series are based on folk songs and
fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...
s from around the world.
Legacy
In 1987, the
University of Kent at Canterbury
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
awarded
honorary degrees to Postgate and Firmin. In his speech, Postgate stated that the degree was really intended for Bagpuss, who was subsequently displayed in academic dress.
In 1999, ''Bagpuss'' came first in a BBC poll selecting the nation's favourite children's programme made and broadcast by that corporation.
It also came fourth in the
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
poll, ''The 100 Greatest Kids' TV Shows'', broadcast in 2001.
In 2002 and 2005, a stage show of ''Bagpuss'' songs toured the UK
folk festivals and theatres with original singers
Sandra Kerr and John Faulkner, along with Kerr's daughter
Nancy Kerr
Nancy Kerr (born 1975) is an English folk musician and songwriter, specialising in the fiddle and singing. She is a Principal Lecturer in Folk Music at Leeds Conservatoire and Newcastle University. She was the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards "Folk ...
and her husband, James Fagan.
In June 2002, the charity
Hospices of Hope opened the Bagpuss Children's Wing in its hospice in
Brașov,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. The wing was funded entirely by
Postgate from
royalties
A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
received from the
BBC. In April 2012, Marc Jenner from
Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...
in Kent ran in the
Virgin London Marathon dressed in a Bagpuss costume to raise money for the charity, supported by Emily Firmin (seen in the programme's opening titles) and
Postgate's family.
Thom Yorke
Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...
of the band
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass ...
has claimed to be a fan of the series, watching it with his son. It was an influence for 2003 album ''
Hail to the Thief
''Hail to the Thief'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was released on 9 June 2003 through Parlophone internationally and a day later through Capitol Records in the United States. It was the last album released ...
''. Gabriel's song in Episode 2 was the acknowledged inspiration for the album track (and first single) "
There There
"There There" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead. It was released as the lead single from their sixth album, ''Hail to the Thief'' (2003), on 26 May 2003. It reached number four on the UK Singles Chart, number one in Canada and Portug ...
" (originally titled "The Bony King of Nowhere").
Bagpuss appeared on one of the twelve postage stamps issued by
Royal Mail
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, logo = Royal Mail.svg
, logo_size = 250px
, type = Public limited company
, traded_as =
, foundation =
, founder = Henry VIII
, location = London, England, UK
, key_people = * Keith Williams ...
in January 2014 to celebrate classic children's programmes.
Bagpuss was displayed with
Rupert Bear
Rupert Bear is a British children's comic strip character and franchise created by artist Mary Tourtel and first appearing in the ''Daily Express'' newspaper on 8 November 1920. Rupert's initial purpose was to win sales from the rival ''D ...
in the Rupert Bear Museum in Canterbury, part of the
Canterbury Heritage Museum
The Canterbury Heritage Museum (formerly the Museum of Canterbury) was a museum in Stour Street, Canterbury, South East England, telling the history of the city. It was housed in the 12th-century Poor Priests' Hospital next to the River Stour. ...
. After its closure at the end of 2017, he and Rupert Bear moved to the
Beaney House of Art and Knowledge in
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...
.
In 2014, Emily Firmin and Dan Postgate, surviving children of the series creators, created the account to share archive footage not widely available, such as several short stories narrated by Oliver Postgate.
The first episode of the BBC show ''
Man Like Mobeen
''Man Like Mobeen'' is a British comedy-drama television series set in Small Heath, Birmingham. It is produced by Cave Bear and Tiger Aspect Productions for digital channel BBC Three and is written by Guz Khan and Andy Milligan (screenwriter), ...
'' was called Bagpuss.
In the fourth season of ''
The Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...
'', Bagpuss made a cameo appearance on the episodes "Fairytale" and "Favourites", in which the fictionalized version of
Princess Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
(played by
Emma Corrin
Emma-Louise Corrin (born 13 December 1995) is an English actor. They portrayed Diana, Princess of Wales in the fourth season of the Netflix historical drama '' The Crown'' (2020), for which they won a Golden Globe, a Critics' Choice Award ...
) watched the show in two aforomentioned episodes.
Home media
VHS
DVDs
The full series was released on DVD, in April 2005 and in 2007. It was later re-released in April 2015.
BBC iPlayer
The entire series was released onto the BBC
iPlayer
BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...
for the first time in May 2021 for 30 days.
Music
A CD of the original songs was released in 1999. The CD was re-released as well as a vinyl LP, again of the original songs from the series, in 2018.
Books
Several books have been released over the years to accompany the series.
* ''The Bagpuss Annual'' (1974)
* ''The Second Bagpuss Annual'' (1975)
* ''Mr Rumbletum's Gumboot'' (1975)
* ''The Song of the Pongo'' (1975)
* ''Silly Old Uncle Feedle'' (1975)
* ''Bagpuss in the Sun'' (1975)
* ''Bagpuss on a Rainy Day'' (1975)
* ''The New Bagpuss Annual 2001'' (2000)
* ''Little Book Of Bagpuss'' (2005)
* ''The Big Book of Bagpuss'' (2007)
* ''Happy Birthday Bagpuss!'' (2014)
References
External links
*
*
The Smallfilms Treasury's Bagpuss siteBagpuss & Co
{{Watch with Mother
1970s British animated television series
1970s British children's television series
1974 British television series debuts
1974 British television series endings
BBC children's television shows
British children's animated comedy television series
Animated television series about cats
Television series by Smallfilms
Television series set in shops
Sentient toys in fiction
British stop-motion animated television series
Television shows adapted into novels
English-language television shows