The Magic Roundabout
Encyclopedia
The Magic Roundabout was a children's television
programme created in France in 1963 by Serge Danot
. Some 450 five-minute-long episodes were made and were originally broadcast between 1964 and 1971 on ORTF
.
The BBC
produced a version of the series using the original stop motion animation
footage with new English-language scripts, written and performed by Eric Thompson
, that had no relation to the original storylines. This version, broadcast from 18 October 1965 to 25 January 1977, was a great success and attained cult status, being watched by adults for its dry humour as much as by the children for whom it was intended.
The main character was Dougal (Pollux in the original French-language version) who was a drop-eared variety of the Skye Terrier
.
In the French version Pollux was a British character who spoke somewhat broken French with an outrageous English accent, as a result of Ivor Wood's
role as co-creator. His sweet tooth, shown through his fondness for sugar lumps, was based on a French belief that one of the traits of the English is a liking for sweets.
Other characters include Zebedee (Zébulon), a jack-in-the-box
; Brian (Ambroise), a snail
; Ermintrude (Azalée), a cow, and Dylan (named after Bob Dylan
)(Flappy) a rabbit
, who in the French version was Spanish. There are two notable human characters: Florence (Margote), a young girl; and Mr Rusty (le Père Pivoine), the operator of the roundabout. Other less well known human characters, only seen on the roundabout itself during the credits, are Basil, Paul and Rosalie. There is also an adult character, old Mr McHenry who is seen only a couple of times.
The show had a distinctive visual style. The set was a brightly coloured and stylised park containing the eponym
ous roundabout (a fairground carousel
). The programmes were created by stop motion
animation, which meant that Dougal was made without legs to make him easier to animate. Zebedee was created from a giant pea which was available in the animation studio and was re-painted. The look of these characters was the responsibility of British animator Ivor Wood, who was working at Danot's studio at the time (and who subsequently animated The Herbs
, Paddington Bear
and Postman Pat
).
) version was especially distinct from the French version in that the narration was entirely new, created by Eric Thompson
from just the visuals, and not based on the script by Serge Danot. A former BBC employee, interviewed on BBC Radio in 2008, maintained that the original contract with the French owners did not include the scripts which accompanied the original animations (contrary to BBC assumptions). The BBC, instead of making a further payment to acquire the scripts, which would have required translation, decided to commission its own version - without access to the original French, and the English-language version therefore bears no resemblance to it.
The first BBC broadcasts were stripped
across the week and shown at 5.44pm, just before the early evening news each day on BBC1. This was the first time an entertainment programme had been transmitted in this way in the UK. The original series, which was a serial, was made in black-and-white
. It was made in colour from series 2, although the series was still broadcast in monochrome
by the BBC up until the first colour episode was transmitted on 5 October 1970.
Fifty-two additional episodes, not previously broadcast, were shown in the United Kingdom during 1991 on Channel 4
's News Daily. Thompson had died by this time, and the job of narrating them in a pastiche
of Thompson's style went to actor Nigel Planer
.
The British Dougal was grumpy and loosely based on Tony Hancock
, an actor and comedian. Ermintrude was rather matronly and fond of singing. Dylan was a hippy-like, guitar
-playing rabbit, and rather dopey. Florence was portrayed as courteous and level-headed. Brian was unsophisticated but well-meaning. Zebedee was an almost human creature in a yellow jacket with a spring instead of feet. He always appeared and disappeared with a loud "boing"-sound and usually closed the show with the phrase "Time for bed". In the first episode he was delivered to Mr Rusty in a box which he burst from like a jack-in-the-box
, hence the spring.
In the foreword to the recent re-release of the books, Emma Thompson
explains that her father had felt that he was most like Brian of all the characters and that Ermintrude was in some respects based upon his wife, Phyllida Law
.
Other characters included Mr McHenry (an elderly man who rode a tricycle), Uncle Hamish and Angus (in "Dougal's Scottish Holiday"), and a talking Train with a 4-2-2
wheel arrangement and a two-wheel tender. Three other children, Paul, Basil and Rosalie, appeared in the original b/w serial and in the credit sequence of the colour episodes, but very rarely in subsequent episodes.
Part of the show's attraction was that it appealed to adults, who enjoyed the world-weary Hancock-style comments made by Dougal, as well as to children. The audience measured eight million at its peak. There are speculations about possible interpretations of the show. One is that the characters represented French politicians of the time, and that Dougal represented De Gaulle
. In fact, when Serge Danot was interviewed by Joan Bakewell on Late Night Line-Up
in 1968 his associate (perhaps Jean Biard) said that in France it was thought at first that the UK version of Pollux had been re-named De Gaulle, mishearing the name Dougal
(as seen in the Channel 4 documentary The Return Of The Magic Roundabout (broadcast 08:50 on December 25th 1991 and 18:00 on January 5th 1992), and in the BBC4 documentary The Magic Roundabout Story (2003)).
In 1998, Thompson's stories were published as a series of four paperbacks, The Adventures Of Dougal, The Adventures Of Brian, The Adventures Of Dylan and The Adventures Of Ermintrude with foreword
s by Emma Thompson
(Eric's daughter). The paperbacks were a major success for Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
.
For years, the series had re-runs on Cartoon Network
, and was later moved to its sister channel, Boomerang
.
state television network. In this version Pollux-Dougal was renamed Bobo and the show stuck with the idea of giving each character his own voice. Bobo was still referred to as English but did not have an accent. The Italian theme for the series became something of a minor hit in children's music.
In Germany and in Austria it was translated to "Das Zauberkarussell", in Austria there was in 1974/75 a special version in "Betthupferl" (the same as the German "Mr Sandman") called "Cookie and his friends", as Cookie and his friend Apollonius always went through a hole in a tree to join the garden. The name of the magician "Zebedee" in German is "Zebulon
".
In America, The series was called The Magic Carousel and it aired in the 1980s on Pinwheel (which is now known as Nickelodeon or Nick). In this version, Dylan was called Flappy, like in the French Version.
In 2006/2007, a new TV version of The Magic Roundabout was created, 52 x 11 minute episodes, by French animation house Action Synthese with scripts and voices produced in the UK. Directed by Graham Ralph of Silver Fox Films and produced by Theresa Plummer Andrews. Using the CGI designed versions of the original characters from the movie
(2005) also produced by Action Synthese, the only new character taken from the film being Soldier Sam. The new series also created a few original characters of its own. The series was first broadcast in the UK from Monday 22 October 2007 at 8.00 am on satellite channel Nick Jr.
. The cat, named Buxton, was working for the Blue Voice who wanted to take over the garden. The Blue Voice was voiced by Fenella Fielding
and was the only time that Eric Thompson called in another person to voice a character. The Blue Cat heard of Dougal's plan and made him face his ultimate weakness by locking him in a room full of sugar.
) was released. It was made using modern computer animation
, and adopted the French approach of each character having its own voice rather than using a narrator. The voices included Tom Baker
, Joanna Lumley
, Ian McKellen
, Kylie Minogue
, Robbie Williams
, Michael Angelis
and Lee Evans
. The 2-Disc Special Edition of the UK DVD of the film features five of the original Magic Roundabout episodes on the second disc. They are all presented in the original black and white with the option of viewing them in the English language or in the original French language.
In 2006, the film was released in the USA as Doogal. This version featured a narration from Judi Dench
, rewritten dialogue and a new storyline made to accommodate pop culture references and flatulence
jokes (neither of which were present in the original release). The majority of original British voices were replaced by celebrities more familiar to the American public, such as Whoopi Goldberg
and Chevy Chase
. Only two original voices remained: those of Kylie Minogue
and Ian McKellen
. Americans panned the film. It currently has a 8% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes
, a score of 23 out of 100 ("generally unfavorable") on Metacritic
, and an F rating from Entertainment Weekly
magazine. It was also a financial failure, grossing a total of 7.2 million dollars in the United States, which is considered low by CGI animated film standards. It has become the second-lowest grossing CGI film (second only to Delgo
).
recorded a short, risqué comic monologue
, parodying The Magic Roundabout (originally featured on his first live LP Jasper Carrot Rabbits on and on...), which was released on a 7 inch single as the B-side of his comic song "Funky Moped" by DJM records. The record was a hit, but Carrott always claimed people were buying it for the B-side and not for the song, which he soon came to hate. The show's theme music also featured on two minor UK hit singles in 1991, "Summer's Magic" by Mark Summers and "Magic Style" by The Badman.
, for example. The popularity of the TV show coincided with the introduction of such schemes and soon became associated with any complex traffic roundabout
. The complex in Hertfordshire at Hemel Hempstead
, with its large central roundabout surrounded by six smaller ones, has attracted this nickname, although it is officially named the Plough Roundabout.
In central Cardiff
a statue of Paris-born artist Pierre Vivant (1952-), Cardiff's "Magic Roundabout", was erected in 1992, having been commissioned by Cardiff Bay Arts Trust (now known as Safle, since merging with Cywaith Cymru in 2007). It continues to serve as a useful local landmark during a period of considerable change in the area surrounding Cardiff's old docklands. The "Magic Roundabout" nickname is used with a certain amount of affection by still-amused locals.
In 2006 - Go North East Bus Company branded one of their buses "The Magic Roundabout" it was shown with all the characters on the bus. It was later withdrawn.
French soundtrack recordings were also issued in France in the 60's on three EP's and again on an LP 'Pollux' in 1983 along with an original single 'C'est moi Pollux'.
's 8 Squadron
's Avro Shackleton
airborne early warning
aircraft were named after characters from The Magic Roundabout and The Herbs
:
- ABC2
Czech Republic
- Minimax
France
- ORTF Germany
- KI.KA
, ZDF
Italy
- RAI
Portugal
- RTP2 Qatar
- Baraem
Cambodia 
Hong Kong 
Indonesia 
Laos 
Malaysia 
Philippines
Southeast Asia
- Nickelodeon Southeast Asia Spain
- Clan TVE
UK - BBC
, Channel 4
, Nick Jr. USA - Pinwheel
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...
programme created in France in 1963 by Serge Danot
Serge Danot
Serge Danot was a French animator and former advertising executive.Danot was born in Nantes, France. He is best known for creating the animated series, Le Manège enchanté in 1965, which became known in its English-language version, written and narrated by actor Eric Thompson for the BBC , asThe...
. Some 450 five-minute-long episodes were made and were originally broadcast between 1964 and 1971 on ORTF
Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française
The Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française was the national agency charged, between 1964 and 1974, with providing public radio and television in France.-Post World War II:...
.
The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
produced a version of the series using the original stop motion animation
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
footage with new English-language scripts, written and performed by Eric Thompson
Eric Thompson
Eric Norman Thompson was an English actor, producer and television presenter.Thompson was born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of George Henry and Anne Thompson, and grew up Rudgwick, Sussex, attending Collyer's School, Horsham...
, that had no relation to the original storylines. This version, broadcast from 18 October 1965 to 25 January 1977, was a great success and attained cult status, being watched by adults for its dry humour as much as by the children for whom it was intended.
Characters
Although the characters were common to both versions, they were given different names depending on the language.The main character was Dougal (Pollux in the original French-language version) who was a drop-eared variety of the Skye Terrier
Skye Terrier
The Skye Terrier is a breed of dog that is a long, low, hardy terrier.-Coat:The Skye is double coated, with a short, soft undercoat and a hard, straight topcoat. The ideal coat length is 5 inches , with no extra credit for a longer coat. The shorter hair of the head veils the forehead and...
.
In the French version Pollux was a British character who spoke somewhat broken French with an outrageous English accent, as a result of Ivor Wood's
Ivor Wood
Ivor Wood was a prolific Anglo-French stop motion director, producer, animator and writer known for his work on children's television series....
role as co-creator. His sweet tooth, shown through his fondness for sugar lumps, was based on a French belief that one of the traits of the English is a liking for sweets.
Other characters include Zebedee (Zébulon), a jack-in-the-box
Jack-in-the-box
A jack-in-the-box is a children's toy that outwardly consists of a box with a crank. When the crank is turned, it plays a melody, often "Pop Goes the Weasel". At the end of the tune there is a "surprise", the lid pops open and a figure, usually a clown or jester, pops out of the box...
; Brian (Ambroise), a snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
; Ermintrude (Azalée), a cow, and Dylan (named after Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
)(Flappy) a rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
, who in the French version was Spanish. There are two notable human characters: Florence (Margote), a young girl; and Mr Rusty (le Père Pivoine), the operator of the roundabout. Other less well known human characters, only seen on the roundabout itself during the credits, are Basil, Paul and Rosalie. There is also an adult character, old Mr McHenry who is seen only a couple of times.
The show had a distinctive visual style. The set was a brightly coloured and stylised park containing the eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous roundabout (a fairground carousel
Carousel
A carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...
). The programmes were created by stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animation, which meant that Dougal was made without legs to make him easier to animate. Zebedee was created from a giant pea which was available in the animation studio and was re-painted. The look of these characters was the responsibility of British animator Ivor Wood, who was working at Danot's studio at the time (and who subsequently animated The Herbs
The Herbs
The Herbs is a television series for young children made for the BBC by Graham Clutterbuck's FilmFair company. It was written by Michael Bond , directed by Ivor Wood using 3D stop motion model animation and first transmitted from 12 February 1968 in the BBC1 Watch with Mother timeslot...
, Paddington Bear
Paddington Bear
Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He appeared on 13 October 1958 and was subsequently featured in several books, most recently in 2008, written by Michael Bond and first illustrated by Peggy Fortnum....
and Postman Pat
Postman Pat
Postman Pat is a British stop-motion animated children's television series first produced by Woodland Animations. It is aimed at pre-school children, and concerns the adventures of Pat Clifton, a postman in the fictional village of Greendale .Postman Pat's first 13-episode season was screened on...
).
English-language version
The British (BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
) version was especially distinct from the French version in that the narration was entirely new, created by Eric Thompson
Eric Thompson
Eric Norman Thompson was an English actor, producer and television presenter.Thompson was born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of George Henry and Anne Thompson, and grew up Rudgwick, Sussex, attending Collyer's School, Horsham...
from just the visuals, and not based on the script by Serge Danot. A former BBC employee, interviewed on BBC Radio in 2008, maintained that the original contract with the French owners did not include the scripts which accompanied the original animations (contrary to BBC assumptions). The BBC, instead of making a further payment to acquire the scripts, which would have required translation, decided to commission its own version - without access to the original French, and the English-language version therefore bears no resemblance to it.
The first BBC broadcasts were stripped
Stripping (television)
In broadcast programming, stripping is the practice of running a television series at the same time daily , so that it appears as a strip straight across the weekly schedule...
across the week and shown at 5.44pm, just before the early evening news each day on BBC1. This was the first time an entertainment programme had been transmitted in this way in the UK. The original series, which was a serial, was made in black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
. It was made in colour from series 2, although the series was still broadcast in monochrome
Monochrome
Monochrome describes paintings, drawings, design, or photographs in one color or shades of one color. A monochromatic object or image has colors in shades of limited colors or hues. Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale or black-and-white...
by the BBC up until the first colour episode was transmitted on 5 October 1970.
Fifty-two additional episodes, not previously broadcast, were shown in the United Kingdom during 1991 on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's News Daily. Thompson had died by this time, and the job of narrating them in a pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of Thompson's style went to actor Nigel Planer
Nigel Planer
Nigel George Planer is an English actor, comedian, novelist and playwright.Planer is perhaps best known for his role as Neil Pye in the cult BBC comedy The Young Ones. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked and Hairspray...
.
The British Dougal was grumpy and loosely based on Tony Hancock
Tony Hancock
Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was an English actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Hancock was born in Southam Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, England, but from the age of three was brought up in Bournemouth, where his father, John Hancock, who ran the Railway Hotel in...
, an actor and comedian. Ermintrude was rather matronly and fond of singing. Dylan was a hippy-like, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
-playing rabbit, and rather dopey. Florence was portrayed as courteous and level-headed. Brian was unsophisticated but well-meaning. Zebedee was an almost human creature in a yellow jacket with a spring instead of feet. He always appeared and disappeared with a loud "boing"-sound and usually closed the show with the phrase "Time for bed". In the first episode he was delivered to Mr Rusty in a box which he burst from like a jack-in-the-box
Jack-in-the-box
A jack-in-the-box is a children's toy that outwardly consists of a box with a crank. When the crank is turned, it plays a melody, often "Pop Goes the Weasel". At the end of the tune there is a "surprise", the lid pops open and a figure, usually a clown or jester, pops out of the box...
, hence the spring.
In the foreword to the recent re-release of the books, Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
explains that her father had felt that he was most like Brian of all the characters and that Ermintrude was in some respects based upon his wife, Phyllida Law
Phyllida Law
-Personal life:Law was born in Glasgow, the daughter of William and Megsie Law, who divorced after World War II. She was married to Eric Thompson from 1957 until his death in 1982. Their two children Emma and Sophie Thompson are both actresses...
.
Other characters included Mr McHenry (an elderly man who rode a tricycle), Uncle Hamish and Angus (in "Dougal's Scottish Holiday"), and a talking Train with a 4-2-2
4-2-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-2-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, two powered driving wheels on one axle, and two trailing wheels on one axle....
wheel arrangement and a two-wheel tender. Three other children, Paul, Basil and Rosalie, appeared in the original b/w serial and in the credit sequence of the colour episodes, but very rarely in subsequent episodes.
Part of the show's attraction was that it appealed to adults, who enjoyed the world-weary Hancock-style comments made by Dougal, as well as to children. The audience measured eight million at its peak. There are speculations about possible interpretations of the show. One is that the characters represented French politicians of the time, and that Dougal represented De Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
. In fact, when Serge Danot was interviewed by Joan Bakewell on Late Night Line-Up
Late Night Line-Up
Late Night Line-Up was a pioneering British television discussion programme broadcast on BBC2 between 1964 and 1972. Late Night Line-Up returned for a special one-off edition on BBC Parliament in 2008.-Background:...
in 1968 his associate (perhaps Jean Biard) said that in France it was thought at first that the UK version of Pollux had been re-named De Gaulle, mishearing the name Dougal
Dougal
Dougal or Doogal may refer to:*Dougal * DJ Dougal, a happy hardcore artist* Dougal, a dog in the English version of the television series The Magic Roundabout...
(as seen in the Channel 4 documentary The Return Of The Magic Roundabout (broadcast 08:50 on December 25th 1991 and 18:00 on January 5th 1992), and in the BBC4 documentary The Magic Roundabout Story (2003)).
In 1998, Thompson's stories were published as a series of four paperbacks, The Adventures Of Dougal, The Adventures Of Brian, The Adventures Of Dylan and The Adventures Of Ermintrude with foreword
Foreword
A foreword is a piece of writing sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the writer of the foreword and the book's primary author or the story the book tells...
s by Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
(Eric's daughter). The paperbacks were a major success for Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Bloomsbury Publishing plc is an independent, London-based publishing house known for literary novels. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. The company's growth over the past decade is primarily attributable to the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. Bloomsbury was named Publisher of...
.
For years, the series had re-runs on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
, and was later moved to its sister channel, Boomerang
Boomerang (TV channel)
Boomerang is a 24-hour American cable television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner. Boomerang specializes in reruns of animated programming from Time Warner's extensive archives, including pre-1986 MGM, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
.
Other versions
In Italy, part of the series was broadcast in the late 1970s by the RAIRAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
state television network. In this version Pollux-Dougal was renamed Bobo and the show stuck with the idea of giving each character his own voice. Bobo was still referred to as English but did not have an accent. The Italian theme for the series became something of a minor hit in children's music.
In Germany and in Austria it was translated to "Das Zauberkarussell", in Austria there was in 1974/75 a special version in "Betthupferl" (the same as the German "Mr Sandman") called "Cookie and his friends", as Cookie and his friend Apollonius always went through a hole in a tree to join the garden. The name of the magician "Zebedee" in German is "Zebulon
Zebulon
Zebulun, was the sixth son of Jacob and Leah in the Hebrew Bible.Zebulon, Zebulun or Zébulon may also refer to:*Tribe of Zebulun, ancient Israelite tribeGiven names...
".
In America, The series was called The Magic Carousel and it aired in the 1980s on Pinwheel (which is now known as Nickelodeon or Nick). In this version, Dylan was called Flappy, like in the French Version.
In 2006/2007, a new TV version of The Magic Roundabout was created, 52 x 11 minute episodes, by French animation house Action Synthese with scripts and voices produced in the UK. Directed by Graham Ralph of Silver Fox Films and produced by Theresa Plummer Andrews. Using the CGI designed versions of the original characters from the movie
The Magic Roundabout (film)
The Magic Roundabout, , is a 2005 British computer-animated film based on the television series of the same name...
(2005) also produced by Action Synthese, the only new character taken from the film being Soldier Sam. The new series also created a few original characters of its own. The series was first broadcast in the UK from Monday 22 October 2007 at 8.00 am on satellite channel Nick Jr.
Theme tunes
The French, and the British versions had different theme tunes.- The French tune was quite an upbeat pop tune played on a Hammond organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
with child-adult vocals. - The British version, by Alain Legrand, removed the vocals and increased the tempo of the tune while making it sound as if it were played on a fairground organFairground organA fairground organ is a pipe organ designed for use in a commercial public fairground setting to provide loud music to accompany fairground rides and attractions...
.
Dougal and the Blue Cat
Danot made a longer film, Pollux et le chat bleu, in 1970 which was also adapted by Thompson and shown in Britain as Dougal and the Blue CatDougal and the Blue Cat
Dougal and the Blue Cat, called Pollux et le Chat Bleu in France, is a 1972 film based on The Magic Roundabout.-Plot:One morning in the magic garden, Dougal the dog is yelling at his cuckoo clock for dropping its pendulum on his bed. He suddenly realises that something strange happened last night,...
. The cat, named Buxton, was working for the Blue Voice who wanted to take over the garden. The Blue Voice was voiced by Fenella Fielding
Fenella Fielding
Fenella Fielding — "England's first lady of the double entendre" — is an English actress, popular in the 1950s and 1960s. She is known for her seductive image and distinctively husky voice.-Family:...
and was the only time that Eric Thompson called in another person to voice a character. The Blue Cat heard of Dougal's plan and made him face his ultimate weakness by locking him in a room full of sugar.
2005 film
In 2005, a film adaptation (also called The Magic RoundaboutThe Magic Roundabout (film)
The Magic Roundabout, , is a 2005 British computer-animated film based on the television series of the same name...
) was released. It was made using modern computer animation
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
, and adopted the French approach of each character having its own voice rather than using a narrator. The voices included Tom Baker
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
, Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS is a British actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author, best known for her roles in British television series Absolutely Fabulous portraying Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Sensitive...
, Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
, Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
, Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
, Michael Angelis
Michael Angelis
Michael Angelis is an English actor and voice actor.Michael Angelis was one of the stars of the famous 1982 BBC drama serial Boys from the Black Stuff and another Alan Bleasedale drama G.B.H.. He also starred in comedies such as Luv and The Liver Birds, in which he appeared between series 5 and 9...
and Lee Evans
Lee Evans (comedian)
Lee Evans is an English comedian, writer, actor and musician.-Personal life:Lee Evans was born in Avonmouth, Bristol, England to an Irish mother and a Welsh father, Dave Evans, a nightclub performer. He left Bristol at the age of 13 and then went to The Billericay School in Billericay, Essex...
. The 2-Disc Special Edition of the UK DVD of the film features five of the original Magic Roundabout episodes on the second disc. They are all presented in the original black and white with the option of viewing them in the English language or in the original French language.
In 2006, the film was released in the USA as Doogal. This version featured a narration from Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
, rewritten dialogue and a new storyline made to accommodate pop culture references and flatulence
Flatulence
Flatulence is the expulsion through the rectum of a mixture of gases that are byproducts of the digestion process of mammals and other animals. The medical term for the mixture of gases is flatus, informally known as a fart, or simply gas...
jokes (neither of which were present in the original release). The majority of original British voices were replaced by celebrities more familiar to the American public, such as Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
and Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
. Only two original voices remained: those of Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
and Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
. Americans panned the film. It currently has a 8% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, a score of 23 out of 100 ("generally unfavorable") on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, and an F rating from Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
magazine. It was also a financial failure, grossing a total of 7.2 million dollars in the United States, which is considered low by CGI animated film standards. It has become the second-lowest grossing CGI film (second only to Delgo
Delgo (film)
Delgo is a 2008 computer-animated fantasy film. The film was produced by Fathom Studios, a division of Macquarium Intelligent Communications, which began development of the project in 1999....
).
Musical spinoffs
In 1975 Jasper CarrottJasper Carrott
Jasper Carrott OBE is a British comedian, actor, television presenter and personality.-Early life:...
recorded a short, risqué comic monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
, parodying The Magic Roundabout (originally featured on his first live LP Jasper Carrot Rabbits on and on...), which was released on a 7 inch single as the B-side of his comic song "Funky Moped" by DJM records. The record was a hit, but Carrott always claimed people were buying it for the B-side and not for the song, which he soon came to hate. The show's theme music also featured on two minor UK hit singles in 1991, "Summer's Magic" by Mark Summers and "Magic Style" by The Badman.
Road traffic spinoff
The name "Magic Roundabout" has been applied in the United Kingdom to large road traffic circulation systems with unconventional layout - at SwindonMagic Roundabout (Swindon)
The Magic Roundabout in Swindon, England was constructed in 1972 and consists of five mini-roundabouts arranged in a circle. It is located near the County Ground, home of Swindon Town F.C. Its name comes from the popular children's television series The Magic Roundabout...
, for example. The popularity of the TV show coincided with the introduction of such schemes and soon became associated with any complex traffic roundabout
Roundabout
A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...
. The complex in Hertfordshire at Hemel Hempstead
Magic Roundabout (Hemel Hempstead)
The Magic Roundabout in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England is the familiar name given to a complex road junction also known as the Moor End or Plough roundabout. The familiar name comes from the children's television programme of the same name and is also used for a similar junction in Swindon...
, with its large central roundabout surrounded by six smaller ones, has attracted this nickname, although it is officially named the Plough Roundabout.
In central Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
a statue of Paris-born artist Pierre Vivant (1952-), Cardiff's "Magic Roundabout", was erected in 1992, having been commissioned by Cardiff Bay Arts Trust (now known as Safle, since merging with Cywaith Cymru in 2007). It continues to serve as a useful local landmark during a period of considerable change in the area surrounding Cardiff's old docklands. The "Magic Roundabout" nickname is used with a certain amount of affection by still-amused locals.
In 2006 - Go North East Bus Company branded one of their buses "The Magic Roundabout" it was shown with all the characters on the bus. It was later withdrawn.
Records
In 1971 BBC Records released The Magic Roundabout (RBT 8) an LP containing 10 stories taken from the soundtracks of the TV series as told by Eric Thompson. Scripts by Eric Thompson, Original Music composed by Alain Legrand, Luc Aulivier, Serge Danot and Jacques Charriere, Musical arrangement and orchestral direction by Alain Legrand. The stories were:'Dougal's Experiment/A Starry Night/The Moody Concerto/Dougal's Adventure/The Stiff Necked Heliotropes' on side one and 'The Birds School/The Piano Carrier/Banana Skin/The Musical Box/The Announcer' on side two. This album has been re-released twice by the BBC on CD, in 2005 (BBC Audio:Children's) to coincide with the 'new' film and again in 2010 (Vintage Beeb) with a bonus interview with Eric Thompson and featuring the original LP artwork.French soundtrack recordings were also issued in France in the 60's on three EP's and again on an LP 'Pollux' in 1983 along with an original single 'C'est moi Pollux'.
UK VHS releases
| VHS Title | Release Date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| The Magic Roundabout (BBCV 4278) | 1989 | Film Director, The Orchestra, Walking Sticks, Bicycle Race, The Cannon, Rustlers, Gold, Parking Meters, The Camera, The Caravan, The Experiment, The Magic Carpet, Oil, Vote for Dougal |
| The Magic Roundabout 2 (BBCV 4499) | 1991 | Bubbles, Piano Moving, Let's Play At Cats, Watch the Birdie, Sculptor, The Orchestra, Pack of Cards, Toffee River, Oil Wells, Banana Skin, Spaghetti Party, Rain, Baking A Pie |
| The Magic Roundabout 3 (BBCV 4734) | 1992 | Alarm Clock, Brian and the Train Race, The Chimney Sweep, Road Signs, Dylan Plays the Bagpipes, Dougal’s Glasses, Hide and Seek, The Lost Boing, Windy, The Scarecrow, Musical Box, The Oyster, Dylan the Hairdresser |
| The Magic Roundabout 4 (BBCV 4829) | 1992 | TV Announcer, Magic Pot, The Picnic, Ermentrude’s Folly, The Exhibition, Holidays, Relay Race, Soul of the Violin, The Tombola, Pancakes, Flying Saucer, The Sleepwalker, A Starry Night |
| The Very Best Of The Magic Roundabout (BBCV 4955) | 1993 | The Orchestra, Dougal's Glasses, TV Announcer, Rustlers, The Lost Boing, Baking A Pie, Ermintrude's Folly, The Magic Carpet, The Chimney Sweep, Sculptor, Hide and Seek, Pancakes, Watch the Birdie, The Experiment, A Starry Night, Road Signs, Film Director |
Magic Roundabout and the RAF
The Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
's 8 Squadron
No. VIII Squadron RAF
No. 8 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing E-3D Sentry from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire....
's Avro Shackleton
Avro Shackleton
The Avro Shackleton was a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft for use by the Royal Air Force. It was developed by Avro from the Avro Lincoln bomber with a new fuselage...
airborne early warning
Airborne Early Warning
An airborne early warning and control system is an airborne radar system designed to detect aircraft at long ranges and control and command the battle space in an air engagement by directing fighter and attack plane strikes...
aircraft were named after characters from The Magic Roundabout and The Herbs
The Herbs
The Herbs is a television series for young children made for the BBC by Graham Clutterbuck's FilmFair company. It was written by Michael Bond , directed by Ivor Wood using 3D stop motion model animation and first transmitted from 12 February 1968 in the BBC1 Watch with Mother timeslot...
:
- WL741: PC Knapweed
- WL745: Sage
- WL754: Paul
- WL756: Mr Rusty
- WL757: Brian
- WL790: Mr McHenry (later renamed Zebedee) (Now in Pima Air and Space Museum, Arizona, USA)
- WL793: Ermintrude
- WL795: Rosalie
- WR960: Dougal (Now in the Museum of Science and Industry in ManchesterMuseum of Science and Industry in ManchesterThe Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, England, is a large museum devoted to the development of science, technology, and industry with emphasis on the city's achievements in these fields...
in the UK) - WR963: Parsley (later Ermintrude II)
- WR965: Dill (later Rosalie II) (sometimes referred to as Dylan)
- http://www.clydeshipping.co.uk/aircraft/readmessages.asp?message=795
- http://8squadron.co.uk/history_1972-1991.php
Broadcasting
AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
- ABC2
ABC2
ABC2 is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 7 March 2005, it is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television division, and is available nationally to digital television viewers in Australia...
Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
- Minimax
Minimax (TV channel)
Minimax is a Central-European cartoon channel which has been broadcast in Hungary since 1999; Romania since 2001; Czech Republic and Slovakia since 2003 and Serbia since 2007. Earlier, since 1999 - 2004 it has been broadcast in Poland. In Hungary, as of April, 2007, it shares the channel slot with...
France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
- ORTF Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
- KI.KA
KI.KA
KI.KA is a public non-commercial free television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is a joint venture of national public television channels ARD, and ARD's constituent broadcasting institutions – BR, HR, MDR, NDR, Radio Bremen, RBB, Saarländischer Rundfunk, SWR, WDR and ZDF, and is targeted at...
, ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
- RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
- RTP2 Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
- Baraem
Baraem
Baraem is the first pre-school Arabic television channel for children between the age of 3 and 6 years old offering a range of programs specifically tailored for them....
Cambodia Hong Kong Indonesia Laos Malaysia Philippines Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
- Nickelodeon Southeast Asia Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
- Clan TVE
Clan TVE
Clan TVE is a children's TV channel from the Spanish public service broadcaster TVE. Until 1 January 2007 it had time-shared with TVE 50 Años which has since closed. The service now broadcasts 24 hours a day. The channel is available free on digital terrestrial television and on Digital+...
UK - BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, Nick Jr. USA - Pinwheel
Pinwheel (TV series)
-External links:*...
In popular culture
- Giant versions of Dougal and Zebedee, both the size of a small house, are featured in The GoodiesThe Goodies (TV series)The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
episode "The Goodies Rule – O.K.?" Dougal also makes a brief appearance in another Goodies episode, "It Might as Well Be StringIt Might as Well Be StringIt Might as Well Be String is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies — a BAFTA-nominated series for Best Light Entertainment Programme.As always, the episode was written by members of The Goodies.-Plot:...
".