''Ludwig'' is a surreal 1977 British-made children's cartoon

cutout animation Cutout animation is a form of stop-motion animation using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or photographs. The props would be cut out and used as puppets for stop motion. The world's ea ...

about a magical egg-shaped

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

who lived in a

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. 25 five-minute episodes were made. The programme was produced by father and son team, Mirek and Peter Lang. Peter went on to animate ''

Pigeon Street ''Pigeon Street'' is a cutout animated children's television series, written by Michael Cole, originally shown on the BBC in 1981 as part of its 'See-Saw' strand for preschoolers. There were two series with eight and five episodes respective ...

''. The Langs wrote the stories with Jane Tann and

Susan Kodicek Hannah Kodicek (born Zuzana Oprsalova; 25 September 1947 - 11 April 2011, formally known as Susan Kodicek) was a Czechoslovakian actress active during the period 1977-90. Her most prominent role was as Irina in ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy''. She we ...

. The scripts were edited by Michael Cole. Peter did the artwork. The music was arranged and played by Paul Reade.

Jon Glover Jonathan Philip Glover (born 26 December 1952) is an English actor. He has appeared in various television programmes including '' Play School'', '' Survivors'', the Management consultant in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', ''Casualty' ...

provided the voice of the birdwatcher. The Langs shared the animation. The character's name came from

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

, whose music is played in the background. The series consisted of 25 five-minute episodes, in each of which something would happen to the animals of the forest and Ludwig would come to the rescue. His "body" facets would open up and out would pop arms, legs, gadgets or even a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

rotor blade when he needed to get somewhere fast. He was constantly watched by a human

birdwatcher Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

(voiced by

) who had a

deerstalker A deerstalker is a type of cap that is typically worn in rural areas, often for hunting, especially deer stalking. Because of the cap's popular association with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, it has become stereotypical headgear for ...

and large

binoculars Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held ...

. This character was both the viewer's point of view and narrator, as no other character talked. Many of the musical phrases are the excerpts from Beethoven’s famous Septet. At the end of every episode Ludwig played the final movement of Beethoven's first symphony through the credits. The title music and opening theme of Ludwig is just 16 seconds long, and features first, a theme from the fifth symphony, followed by a small section of Beethoven's symphony No.1. It ends with the programme's narrator

saying 'Ah, Ludwig' in an interested, well spoken manner. In the US, ''Ludwig'' was one of the cartoons featured in ''

Captain Kangaroo ''Captain Kangaroo'' is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program ...

''. In 2011

Charlie Brooker Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...

showed a short spoof of ''Ludwig'', called ''Orlov'', in the first part of his series ''

How TV Ruined Your Life ''How TV Ruined Your Life'' is a six-episode BBC Two television series written and presented by Charlie Brooker. Charlie Brooker, whose earlier TV-related programmes include ''How to Watch Television'', ''Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe'' and ''You ...

''.

List of episodes

# Arrival – Ludwig's here to stay # Hiccups # Hooteriludwig.co.uk # Glue # Kites # Tennis # Sculptor # Skating # Umbrellas # Swing # Bubbles # Clock # Ball # Coin # Yo-Yo # Investigation - Research # Christmas # Home Sweet Home – Architect # Balloons # High Jump # Magician # Artist # Party # Nuts # TV - Western.

References

External links

Little Gems - ''Ludwig''Facebook fan page
* 'iLudwig Website download all 25 cartoons at - http://www.iLudwig.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Ludwig (Cartoon) BBC children's television shows British children's animated television shows 1970s British children's television series 1970s British animated television series