We lost Oliver Postgate last week, writer, artist, animator, pioneer and dream-maker.
Along with Peter Firmin he gave us some of the best-loved children's programmes of the 60's and 70's; Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine and The Clangers. All from a disused cow shed.
They broke new ground with their animation techniques, partly born from a need to work cheap and fast, and the results, however 'low-fi' compared to CGI wizardry, were - and still are - magical.
Growing up, my earliest memories are of watching Pogles Wood and Noggin, both different worlds, both instantly captivating. Simply told and beautifully constructed, they swept you up, soothed a troubled brow and flexed a hungry imagination. And to this day, when i hear his narration, that very distinctive voice, i get a shiver of joy.
See, and learn a lot more at; http://www.smallfilms.co.uk/
Thankyou, Oliver Postgate, my childhood would've been a duller one without you.
2 comments:
The best children's television by far. If only they'd make shows like that now.
ian - when i were a lad, sitting watching old b&w movies with my dad, he'd often say, 'they don't make em like that anymore'.
and now i say it - think it - all the time. we did really have a 'golden age' once, especially kids tv, and most of today's stuff IS really shoddy, cheap and dreary in comparison.
apparently, they're planning to bring back BAGPUSS, stressing they will be faithful to the originals.
i doubt it can be done right without oliver and peter, but i'd love to be proven wrong.
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