''The Flying Dogtor'' is an early Australian animated

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

series made by

Crawford Productions Crawford Productions is an Australian media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, also known as Crawfor ...

between 1962 and 1964. It was shown on the Australian Television Network, which later became the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

. Its central character is a

Great Dane The Great Dane is a large sized dog breed originating from Germany. The Great Dane descends from hunting dogs from the Middle Ages used to hunt wild boar and deer, and as guardians of German nobility. It is one of the largest breeds in the worl ...

who conducts a medical practice by aeroplane in

outback Australia The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a ...

, similar to the

Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...

. The series was devised and written by the leading

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

architect Robin Boyd.

Characters

* The Great Dogtor Dane - the Flying Dogtor * Granny Goanna * Liz Lizard * The bush children ** Colin Kanga ** Polly Possum ** Katie Koala * Crafty Carson Carpetbag - the sneaky snake from Steamy Swamp * Elvis Eagle - the bodgie bird * Old Man Redback

Production

The show was produced by

Hector Crawford Hector William Crawford CBE AO (14 August 191311 March 1991) was an Australian entrepreneur, conductor and media mogul, best known for his radio and television production firms. He and his sister Dorothy Crawford founded Crawford Productions ...

. Cartoons were drawn by Joy Murray and Janice Male who studied together at Melbourne Technical College (now RMIT University). The cameraman was Ian Crawford. All characters' voices were read by Roly Barlee who was well known in Melbourne radio. Script and character advice was provided by Dr E.A. Murray, a lecturer in psychology, and Jean Lawson, a school counsellor. The theme music was written and performed by Horrie Dargie and his quintet. Additional music came from a small 78 rpm record library, together with characters' voices, narration and some basic sound effects were added together to produce a master sound mix. The animation technique was basically a moving plane running across the frame from left to right. The plane was about 5 inches high made of thick high quality art paper. It was pulled through by an electric motor in a machine that was also designed and built by Robin Boyd.

Episode list

# The Great Doctor Dane # Crafty's Secret Hideout # Fire! # Fireworks

References

* Helleur, I. "A canine Kildare is star of TV series", PIX, 8 August 1964. * The National Collection. National Film and Sound Archive. 17 April 2007

External links

''The Flying Dogtor'' at the National Film and Sound Archive
Seven Network original programming Australian children's animated television series Aviation television series 1962 Australian television series debuts 1964 Australian television series endings Animated television series about dogs Black-and-white Australian television shows {{animation-tv-prog-stub