"Bagpuss" (1974) TV series

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Creators:

Peter Firmin
Oliver Postgate

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

13 October 1976 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Animation | Family

Plot:

A melancholic children's animation from the 'Smallfilms' team of Postgate and Firmin. Bagpuss and his...

Plot Keywords:

Toy | Shop | Music | Mouse | Toad

Cast

Emily Firmin	...	Little Girl (13 episodes, 1976-1977)
John Faulkner	...	Gabriel the Toad (12 episodes, 1976-1977)
Sandra Kerr	...	Madeleine the Rag Doll (12 episodes, 1976-1977)
Oliver Postgate	...	Bagpuss / ... (12 episodes, 1976-1977)

Runtime:

15 min (13 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

The company behind Bagpuss, Smallfilms, also produced children's favourites "The Clangers" (1969), "Ivor the Engine" (1958) and "Noggin the Nog" (1959).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a little girl and her name was Emily, and she had a shop.
[picture of Emily's shop appears]
Narrator: There it is. It was rather an unusual shop because it didn't sell anything. You see, everything in that shop window was a thing that somebody had once lost, and Emily had found, and brought home to Bagpuss.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Have I Got News for You: (#34.6)" (2007)

the pink-striped cat and the mouse organ

'Bagpuss' was one of the many Postgate-Firmin collaborations which enlivened children's television in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. Alongside earlier work such as 'The Pogles', 'The Clangers' and 'Ivor the Engine', 'Bagpuss' adds a sense of surrealism which was wonderfully inventive and just as enjoyable for grown-ups.

Children may well enjoy Postgate's narration and voices, and the delightful story lines, but adults will get just as much from admiring the intricacies of the design and the animation.

Bagpuss is a large cloth cat with pink stripes who comes to life when little Emily closes down her shop for the night. Accompanied by the little mice inventors and workers 'we will scrub it, we will rub it', and the pompous Professor Yaffel, he has all kinds of adventures. At only a dozen episodes, Bagpuss never outstayed its welcome and has worn its age well.