Le manège enchanté

I am old enough to remember coming home from kindergarten to be sat down in front of Dougal, Florence et-al, whilst my mother made lunch. I never quite understood why Zebedee was such a killjoy, "Time for bed" is not something any young child, excited by life wants to hear!. I also never got that Dylan was a hippie (and as we later surmised in college,permanently stoned!), I thought he was cool! I can still sing (or at least hum) the theme tune, and have gratefully introduced it years ago to my own two children as something that had enough inherent wit and charm (all kudos to Eric Thompson)to entertain both children and adults. Nothing terribly momentous usually happened to the characters. But there was a story with a beginning,a middle and an end, however strange! It portrayed an innocence sadly lacking in a lot of today's children's programming. Life was just fun. No agenda. No political correctness. Things just happened. Because they do. And Dougal's sugar addiction never sent him to Rehab! The animation was simple and charming, as were Eric Thompson's portrayal of the characters. Even when I, in later life, discovered that there was a French original, I was never inclined to watch it in French to find out what they were actually saying (despite speaking passable French and having enough French friends to find out what I couldn't understand). The Magic Roundabout stands for me with such charming child classics as Bagpuss, Trumpton Town,(see who remembers that British classic!)and Mr. Ben. All the colours of my childhood. Not shaded with cynicism. Enjoy!