Bagpuss - The Complete Bagpuss (DVD)

...like there were loads more Bagpuss episodes on than the 13 which were actually made as they were repeated so often over those years but the repeats didn't matter as the characters were so endearing and magical.

The words which started each episode were always the same:-

'Once upon a time not so long ago there was a little girl and her name was Emily and she had a shop.'

The idea was that it was a shop ...
...needed the magic powers of Bagpuss and his friends. She brought him to life with the magical words:-

'Bagpuss, dear Bagpuss, Old fat furry cat-puss, Wake up and look at this thing that I bring, Wake up, be bright, Be golden and light, Bagpuss, Oh hear what I sing.'

This made not only Bagpuss waken up but his weird and wonderful friends too. They were Gabriel, the strange toad who plays the banjo, Professor Yaffle, the ... more

This has got to be one of my favourite childhood characters and I remember getting up early on Sunday mornings to watch it in the days when there was only around half an hour of children's tv before all the religious programs came on. I am talking about the mid to late 70s when we only had 3 channels - can the young ones reading this even imagine that!!! These were the days of quality kids shows which left us all dying for more rather than being able to turn on and watch whenever we wanted and this made them a bit more special. I don't know about others out there who remember the old ones like this and others produced by Smallfilms like The Clangers, Ivor The Engine and Noggin the Nog but I think they really were special back then and the more variety we have these days the less quality there is to choose from.

Bagpuss, the brightly coloured pink and white cat, was written and produced by Oliver Postgate and it was the daughter of the puppeteers Peter and Joan Firmin that played Emily in the opening sequence of photos. It seemed like there were loads more Bagpuss episodes on than the 13 which were actually made as they were repeated so often over those years but the repeats didn't matter as the characters were so endearing and magical.

The words which started each episode were always the same:-

'Once upon a time not so long ago there was a little girl and her name was Emily and she had a shop.'

The idea was that it was a shop which didn't sell anything but was a lost and found shop where Emily brought everything that had been lost by someone and she had found.

'And brought home to Bagpuss, Emily's cat Bagpuss, the most important, the most beautiful, the most wonderful, saggy old cloth cat in the whole wide world.'

Everything that Emily found seemed to be torn or tattered and needed mending and this was when she needed the magic powers of Bagpuss and his friends. She brought him to life with the magical words:-

'Bagpuss, dear Bagpuss, Old fat furry cat-puss, Wake up and look at this thing that I bring, Wake up, be bright, Be golden and light, Bagpuss, Oh hear what I sing.'

This made not only Bagpuss waken up but his weird and wonderful friends too. They were Gabriel, the strange toad who plays the banjo, Professor Yaffle, the wooden book end woodpecker, Madeleine the rag doll and the helpful mice who lived on the Marvellous Mechanical Mouse Organ and loved mending things.

It was always Professor Yaffle who explored the lost item first being the one who liked to think he was in charge. His full name is Augustus Barclay Yaffle and as he is a bit stuffy the mice try to play tricks on him to take the micky just a little bit and bring him down a peg or two.

Madeleine Remnant is the mother figure and she loves to tell stories to the mice and sing songs with Gabriel. She often explains to the mice how they can help to mend an item. She doesn't ever move but instead watches over the proceedings from an old wicker chair which is her resting place.

Gabriel Croaker loves playing his banjo and sits on a tin on the shelf. He loves to play while Madeleine sings her songs and the mice dance around.

The mice are the ones who do all the work and there are 6 mice in total who love to sing while they work and play the mouse organ. Their names are Charliemouse, Eddiemouse, Janiemouse, Jenniemouse, Lizziemouse and Williemouse and together their teamwork helps make the old tatty item that Emily has brought in look like new again so that it can be placed in the window for the owner to spot. This always did make me wonder if the owner would actually recognise the reconditioned item or if it would just sit there forever.

Bagpuss himself doesn't really do a great deal in the stories but his thoughts are visible in the way of bubbles so everyone knows what needs to be done and Emily is only in the introduction stills which are shown as old sepia style photos. This gives it an even more old and enchanting element to it.

As each episode starts the same so they end the same too with the immortal words:-

'Bagpuss gave a big yawn, and settled down to sleep, and of course when Bagpuss goes to sleep, all his friends go to sleep too'

This is when all the magical characters turn back to their former selves and as for Bagpuss,

'once he was asleep was just an old, saggy cloth cat, baggy and a bit loose at the seams but Emily loved him'.

I always wanted a Bagpuss toy back then but merchandising was not what it is now and Bagpuss seems to have had a bit of a revival lately through the wonders of dvd and of all the merchandising available now. I'm just hoping they don't try to re-make this as they have done with other classics as I feel this would spoil it. (Has anyone seen the awful version of Muffin the Mule cartoon on CBeebies?) For those of you who haven't seen any of the episodes I'll give a brief description of each of the 13 on this dvd.

Ship in a bottle

When Emily brings in a bottle full of bits of wood the friends are all bemused as to what it could be until Professor Yaffle explains what a ship in a bottle is. Of course the question then is where would a ship like this sail to and after a poem about a mermaid and a nursery rhyme we see this being magically mended before it is placed in the window.

The Owls Of Athens

Emily brings in a dirty old piece of rag and Madeleine has to try to persuade Professor Yaffle not to throw it away but gets the mice to clean it up very carefully. It's soon scaring all the mice away as a picture of an owl is revealed on what is a cushion cover. They come back though when they realise it's not real and when they see the word Athens on it they are told a story of the Owls of Athens by Madeleine whilst we see pictures imagines by Bagpuss. This lovely story tells of how the owls used to be able to sing beautiful songs but they are punished by the moon for being very greedy and lose their voices. After the cushion has been restored the toy toad Gabriel sings a song Called the Bony King Of Nowhere and the cushion is put in the window.

The Frog Princess

This is based around the tale of the Frog Prince but with a twist and is brought about by Emily bringing in pieces of coloured enamel. It is thought that they may have been a picture of something and a cat or a bird are suggested but it's decided that the enamels are really part of a necklace that a princess has worn. Now this princess doesn't like any of the princes in the kingdom so instead of kissing one of them she decides to king a frog. This is where the story changes slightly as instead of the frog changing into a handsome prince she changes into a Frog Princess and lives happily ever after with the frogs. This is a nice slant on the original story and there are songs and fun along the way before the necklace is restored to it's former glory.

The Ballet Shoe

When Emily brings in an old shoe to the shop the mice think they would be able to live in it and when Professor Yaffle disagrees they play a trick on him by going round and round and hopping out of the shoe. It is then thought that it might be a boat and the mice get in and start to sing row row row your boat while Gabriel plays along on his banjo as they try to row with feathers. The mice are then scolded and told to stop singing and get the shoe repaired and they object to this and go on strike for a little while. Eventually though the shoe is mended and they see that it is a ballet shoe. Professor Yaffle doesn't know what a Prima Ballerina is though and the mice decide to show him with the help of the Marvellous Mechanical Prima Ballerina, who dances round the shop for them. Yaffle is thouroughly enthralled by this and dances round with the ballerina until he gets himself tangled up in the laces of the shoe.

This is one of my favourite episodes as it shows Yaffle has a bit of emotion hidden away with a gentler side to him instead of his usual stand-offish behaviour and we see the wonderful impishness of the mice while they play tricks and have fun singing. It's hard to believe that the personalities of stuffed animals could come out in such a lovely way as they do in this episode.

The Hamish

Emily brings a bit of tartan cloth object and no one has the slightest idea what it could be. No one except for Bagpuss, who saves the day by telling them through his thoughts that is a Hamish - a beast that lives in the remote Highlands of Scotland and makes a sound like badly played bagpipes. The actual sound of this was a piece of bagpipe music played backwards so does screech a bit. A story is told of how the Hamish makes friends with Tavish McTavish who can't play bagpipes very well either and so they can make horrible noises together. Professor Yaffle says this is rubbish though and points out that the object looks more like a porcupine without spikes. After a song they realise that it should be used as a pincushion which would of course give it spikes. The finished item is then put in the window and they all sleep happily.

The Wise Man

There are lots of pieces of broken ivory brought in by Emily and the friends piece them together to make a Chinaman who sits nodding thoughtfully. It is up to the wise Professor Yaffle to tell the story of the wise man of Ling-Po. He lives on an island and talks to the turtles all day but when the local people cross the bridge to the island to catch the turtles to make their favourite turtle soup he crosses the bridge and breaks it as he goes. He then appears to walk back over the water with the amazement of not only the local people but the mice who are listening to the story. They can't quite work out how this could happen and doubt Yaffle's word until he explains how the turtles make stepping stones for their friend. This is a great story and shows how powerful the true bond of a friendship can be.

The Elephant

This episode is filled with stories of how the battered old straw elephant that Emily brings comes to lose his ears and some of these are quite cruel and painful. There are lots of songs as well and finally they stumble on the truth so that the ears can be restored and the elephant placed in the window to be found again.

The Mouse Mill

When Emily leaves a box full of windows and a front door the mice make up the Marvellous Mechanical Mouse Mill and Gabriel and Madeleine sing a song accompanied by the Mouse Organ. Charliemouse describes how biscuits can be made by the mill by using the strange combination of butterbeans and breadcrumbs but Professor Yaffle isn't convinced so the mice put on a demonstration until their trick is found out. As the chocolate biscuits come out the front Williemouse runs round the back with them and it is discovered that the same biscuits are being re-used over and over.

This is another of my favourites as the playful mice put on this fantastic show of the working mill to catch out all their friends. It's probably because it is such a simple and clever idea that it works so well and the look of surprise on Yaffle's face to start with is brilliant.

The Giant

A magical story about Mrs Smithers-Rowbottom is told to help mend the broken pieces of a figurine of a giant. She uses her magical umbrella to mend things and as the story is told this small figurine is magically repaired. The mice are a bit confused that this is supposed to be a giant when it looks so small and it's up to Madeleine to teach them about how figurines are made to look smaller as it wouldn't be practical for it to be real size. This is done through a special song.

Old Man's Beard

When Emily brings in a clump of cotton plant and it is found that it's known as Old Man's Beard Bagpuss explains his story of how a king with a silver beard would cut it off to make lovely carpets. Although other old men tried to cut their beards off and use them to weave they find that they are never as good as the king's beard. They then learn about weaving through a song from Madeleine and Charliemouse pretends to be a shuttle and weaves in and out to show Bagpuss how it is done.

The Fiddle

This is a story of an old bucket with holes in it. Thinking it isn't really useful for anything the friends are surprised to see smoke coming through the holes and the mice thinking it is on fire go off as fast as they can to get some water to put out the fire. Before they can though there is a sound of music coming from under the bucket and when Gabriel recognises it as leprechaun music he tells the others a story about a leprechaun and then Madeleine sings a song. When the bucket is finally tipped over by the curious mice there is only a small fiddle sitting there and everyone is amazed when Charliemouse starts to play it beautifully. He amazes them even more though when he explains that he isn't actually playing it himself but it is the leprechaun's magic making his play.

Flying

This is another episode where the mice are able to play a trick on Professor Yaffle when they pretend to fly in a basket that is found with with a twig broom inside it. It is really being lifted by a piece of string but it fools everyone for a while. Earlier we see Madeleine and Gabriel sing the song about the old woman who uses a broomstick to sweep cobwebs from the sky and Janiemouse tells hows her auntie and uncle tried to fly up to break some gold off the sun. Professor Yaffle explains all about flying machines and reads the story of Pratt's Reverser. After all the fun the friends move the basket to the window and they go to sleep.

Uncle Feedle

This is the last episode and sees Bagpuss use a piece of rag as a thinking cap while he tells the story of Uncle Feedle. The rag though is really the outer material of a house and it is finally stuffed with cotton wool by the mice after Gabriel has sung a song with the mice about living on top of a Number 2 bus. Madeleine repairs it while they are singing and it is put in the window with all the other things that they have mended.

In summary I am so pleased to have a reminder of this old animation and my son loves it as much as I did which only goes to show that the old shows really last the test of time and state of the art animation and special effects are not always necessary to fuel a child's imagination. I hope if you have only seen the toys and such in shops and haven't experienced this lovely show that my review has encouraged you to have a look at it and at around £6 for this I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

 

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