Exciting times ahead as my favourite modern children's author, Oliver Jeffers, is releasing his latest book on September 1st.
The story is about a boy, Floyd, who gets his kite stuck up a tree and is faced with the challenge of getting it down. Jeffers has yet to put a foot wrong as far as I'm concerned and I can't wait to see what he comes up with here. Hopefully we will also see this released for the iPad so I can review both versions.
For favourites 20-11 click here.
Danger Mouse – When I was born my parents were sent flowers by series co-creator Brian Cosgrove and the card read, “Welcome to a new Danger Mouse fan”. Who knew that not only was he one of the greats of children's television but he was also a clairvoyant. Cosgrove Hall produced some wonderful series (Count Duckula, Wind in the Willows etc.) but the one I will always remember them for is Danger Mouse. It had a great British sense of humour and two of the finest vocal performances of any show I have seen. Both David Jason and Terry Scott brought so much life to these characters, helped immeasurably by great scripts and animation, that the series seemed to some how transcend children's TV and have a cross-over appeal.
Knightmare – What a series! The finest game-show for children ever created. Hugo Myatt as Treguard the dungeon master set the tone perfectly and the VR elements seemed really futuristic at the time. It was amazing that such a sense of peril could be created with so little. Very few of the challenges were really that exciting but the reaction of the team and the strangely unsettling decomposing life force face made it edge-of-the-seat entertainment. As with many shows of the time it also had a cracking opening theme. There are a few modern shows, such as Raven, that have tried to recreate the same vibe (high fantasy, dungeon master type guide) but they just haven't hit upon the magic formula, perhaps because the isolation of a single participant, even though he is being guided, had a strange power.
Heartbreak High – This Australian highschool drama series was like a cooler, slightly edgier and less moralising version of Grange Hill. It ran for three character cycles, covered a whole range of issues and maintained its high standards throughout the entire run (although the final cycle did lack the strong characters that made the earlier seasons so appealing). It is a shame this show hasn't been repeated as there isn't really anything like this on UK television. It was a midway point between children and adult TV and treated its audience with respect. It may have covered some difficult issues but you never got the impression that it was beating the audience over the head with them or standing on a soap box and moralising to them. There seems to be a gap in the market for a solid young teen show. America no longer produces them as Disney have hit on a winning formula and are happy to repeat it whilst the likes of Nickelodeon just try and do more of the same. This is in stark contrast to series like My So-Called Life that at least tried to reflect the life of its audience. In the UK things are no better as the middle ground is completely ignored as they go from kid's shows to something like Skins which is probably skewed too old for a 11-13 year old audience.
Eerie, Indiana – I was a big fan of horror anthology shows when I was growing up. I couldn't get enough of series like Shadows, Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Round the Twist (the latter skewing more to fantasy than horror). My favourite show of this type though was Eerie, Indiana that ran briefly on Channel 4 in the early 1990s. It had a great balance of humour and scares and some of the most memorable plots of their kind. The cast were brilliant too. Most live action kids shows have terrible actors (both the adults and children) but everyone here was surprisingly decent. The shows appeal is probably not that surprising when you discover that Joe Dante (Gremlins) directed a large bulk of the episodes and they felt much more polished and cinematic than typical shows aimed at a young audience. Whilst the series has quite a committed following it is a shame it never really took off when it was originally on as it had bags of potential to run for many seasons.
The Muppet Show – Very occasionally a show will come along that you think was produced just for you, one such show was this hugely popular Henson creation. Growing up Jim Henson could do no wrong in my eyes with hit after hit on both the big and small screen. Whilst Sesame Street may have been the one with the legs (it is amazing to think it is still going strong) the one that will be most fondly remembered is The Muppet Show. Everything about it just worked; it had a whole host of memorable and brilliant characters, a great anarchic sense of humour and every celebrity at the time was clamouring to be a part of it. Whilst I have included it here as a children's show it seemed to have just as big an adult audience. It is good to see than Henson Productions are now revisiting these much-loved franchises (films for The Muppets, Fragglerock and Dark Crystal are all in the works) although it would have been nice to see them moving forward with new ideas too, something Jim Henson was always interested in doing despite the huge success of his more established franchises.
Avatar: The Legend of Aang – This is the most modern series on my list partly because it is brilliant and partly because it feels very much like the series' I grew up with. What separates Avatar from most of the current shows of its ilk is that it is so well developed. From episode one the world is fully formed. You never get any sense of inconsistencies or them making it up as they go along. The way each tribe exist, the way they have distinct cultures and fighting stances etc. really makes it a rich world. They never resort to throwing in cheap characters to mix things up and the arc managed to sustain three seasons comfortably whereas most run out of steam much quicker.
Whilst it is still a kids show (I always get a bit annoyed when things for kids are somehow supposed to inferior because they don't know any better) the writer's never once speak down to its audience. The gags are rarely forced and spring from characters rather than crazy situations. Production values are unbelievably high but all the money looks like it is up on screen with beautiful animation, stunning action choreography and great art direction. The series thankfully bowed out at the top but because they had created such a rich and untapped world they have managed to develop a spin-off focussing on an earlier Avatar. Normally this would fill me with dread but I trust the creators to maintain the high standards they set with the original.
Mysterious Cities of Gold – Back in the '80s there was a number of animated series with a single epic story arc. It is something we rarely see these days (Avatar and Naruto being the only two that really stand out – I'm sure there are more currently in Japan but I am focussing on those that air in the UK). It is a shame this type of animated drama isn't as popular as it once was as the stories swept you away on fantastical quests and became must-see-TV, much more than something that relied on standalone stories of the week that you could dip in and out of. I would have found a place for Mysterious Cities of Gold in my list for the opening theme tune alone but the fact the story was exceptional certainly helped. The series combined part history lesson and classic adventure story with science fiction and fantasy. It was the grounding in a reality that made the fantastical all the more fantastic and the quest all the more memorable. As with all the shows in my list, Mysterious Cities of Gold has aged very well indeed. There were a number of great French-Japanese co-productions at the time, some have made the list but due to space others have not. One such series was Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea, which had the same tonal quality as MCoG but I have yet to get around to re-watching it to see if it has aged as well.
Batman: The Animated Series – As good as the Nolan Batman films have been the definitive screen depiction of the caped crusader is still the animated series from the early '90s. It got so many things right; it was faithful to the source material whilst still feeling as if it stood alone, it had a striking art direction and, for a kids TV show about a superhero, it was surprisingly dark. The series has aged quite brilliantly and having bought the series for two of my nephews recently I can attest to the fact that a whole new generation like it too. The series managed to juggle the many elements of what has made Batman such an enduring character. Many either focus too much on the Batman side or get Bruce Wayne wrong yet here the writers manage to marry the two sides of his life to create one of the most complete pictures of this conflicted character (well as much as a kids show ever will). The show also has some of the best depictions of the Bats rogues gallery of villains. The Joker, voiced with maniacal relish by Mark Hamill, is a revelation in this series and the Ron Perlman as the tragic Clayface is also noteworthy.
Samurai Jack – Some things are just too good for children. They might be the target audience but you just know they won't fully appreciate it. A good case in point is this wonderful series from Genndy Tartakovsky. If I wasn't being so strict with my list I probably would have found a place for all his TV shows. For my money Genndy is the finest action director working today and maybe one day he will finally make the transition to films (he is supposed to be working on a feature length film of Samurai Jack but things have gone very quiet recently). Samurai Jack is a series full of too many wondrous moments to list here, it is a series full of humour, beautiful animation and art direction and some of the finest action sequences you are likely to see. Anywhere. Because of the concept – master Samurai thrown into the future that is now ruled by his arch nemesis and shape shifting worm-thing, Aku (brilliantly voiced by the now sadly departed Mako) – it affords Genndy to juggle genres and ideas so you can have a wild west train ride one week followed by a wordless battle with a ninja in beautiful stark black and white the next. So many ideas are thrown into the mix that it should end up a bit of a mess but it feels so cohesive and the world is so well realised that it just works so effortlessly. Children will no doubt enjoy the action and the humour but the series is layered with so many references and incidental touches that it is one of those rare shows that offers as much to an adult audience as it does to its target demographic.
Manoel on the Island of Wonders - This programme was unknown to me until last year, originally a three part mini-series for children that aired in France and Portugal in 1984, it has since been largely forgotten which is frankly criminal. The '70s and '80s were a golden age for children's television, especially the mini-series, with some very unusual content being commissioned. Even in that climate of risk taking it is amazing to think any broadcaster would give a green light to director Raul Ruiz to make what he wanted. Despite this being for children, and I believe children would enjoy this immensely, you get no sense that Ruiz has had to compromise anything in bringing his vision to the screen.
Sadly the series is hard to get hold of and the only version that appears to exist is a television recording that is ropey at best, but I did recently discover that the whole thing is up on Youtube – here.
The series is split into three chapters, each one is self contained yet also deeply connected to the next. Each story follows Manoel, a young boy on the island of Madeira, and the strange things that occur to him there. I am going to talk about the plot(s) in some detail because if I don't I'm going to struggle to explain or do the series justice. Whilst it may seem like I am spoiling it for those that might want to watch it themselves I promise the experience will not be dulled by prior knowledge:
Part One - Manoel wakes in the night to discover that a burglar has stolen the family jewels. This one event triggers a time loop where present and future meet (although it is being narrated in the future so in fact it is where distant past and past meet). The next morning Manoel leaves for school but a voice keeps calling him. He decides to skip class and investigate who the mystery voice belongs to. This fateful decision will shape and haunt the next six years of his life because as he follows the voice through the towns forbidden garden he comes face to face with his future self. The older boy explains why he is there as well as the events of the previous night with the robbery. The event of meeting ones future self would normally be a big deal but here, in their first meeting, it is played very matter-of-factly. After their talk the younger Manoel meets a fisherman in a nearby cave who tells him great stories and demands that Manoel skip school again tomorrow so they can go fishing together (which he duly does). However when he skips school for a second time it causes problems at home. Rather than his parents punishing him they give up on him altogether which, coupled with the loss of the jewels, makes his mother sick with worry and die. Six years pass and the boy grows up, his life now in ruins he goes to challenge the fisherman that destroyed his family. Yet his stories entrance him once again and off they go to catch more fish. The fish they catch this time is no ordinary fish for it's belly is full of the jewels lost six years earlier. With them back in the boys possession he heads back home to discover that time has reset itself and he is now witnessing the fateful night of the robbery. Time loops back a further two times, each time the two Manoel's try and do things differently. The next time they don't skip school with the fisherman, instead they excel at their studies, yet this puts a financial burden on his parents, his father turns to gambling to pay the school fees and he dies. The third time they go to school but are indifferent to the whole process which results in both parents surviving but Manoel dying. Whilst the moral message is highly dubious and deeply depressing the cyclical story is brilliantly realised.
The whole episode is narrated like a story book. It has a beautiful dreamy quality that harks back to classic literature like Alice in Wonderland and Tom's Midnight Garden. Whilst it has a complicated time line, especially for something aimed at children, it is always easy to follow and it has a strong child's logic. The episode is full of wonderful little details left largely unexplained. For example, in the cave with the fisherman lives a boy who is half man and half dog. Who he is and why is like that is left unexplained and Manoel doesn't seem all that interested in his presence. It is the sort of detail that an adult craves an answer for yet a child just accepts. The fact this is the most straight forward story of the three illustrates just how odd the series is as a whole.
Part Two - The second instalment is where things become a little stranger, time is less clearly defined, and darker elements creep into the story. Part two opens where episode one finishes - the teacher takes his pupils out into the middle of a forest for a shared dream exercise. The idea being that if a group dreams the same thing it becomes a reality. The children are tasked with dreaming about a much needed hospital for the island but Manoel cannot force sleep and drifts off later than the other children. This results in him entering a nightmare forest where each tree represents the dreams of his peers. In this dream he meets a pirate who can command the birds and beats the trees with a stick so they give him wine. He tricks poor Manoel and they swap bodies. Yet when they wake the pirate is real (whether he has been manifested by Manoel or was sharing the dream is not clear, nor particularly important). The pirate becomes the son of Manoel's parents whilst Manoel is forced to sleep rough. Traditionally most of the episode would then be made up of the boy trying to get his body back yet the body swap angle only makes up half of the episode. There are some great scenes in this section as pirate-Manoel causes mischief as if he was Damien from The Omen as well as a rather disturbing and vaguely sexual encounter with his new mother. He still has command over the birds, and in a scene reminiscent of Hitchcock's The Birds, uses them to attack adult-Manoel. Despite appearing as if this story occurs after episode one we discover who is responsible for the robbery at the start of part one which shows exactly how fluid time is on this island.
Yet Manoel gets his body back with twenty minutes to spare, which is plenty of time for him to be shipped off to live with his aunt on the other side of the island. Here things get odd(er). The house is full of ghosts, not that this bothers Manoel, and he is forced to play mean games with the servant's nasty children. There is also a bizarre radio interlude about a young chess champion born from the body of a dead woman who is going to marry a boy who has had a brain transplant. As is the case with the whole series this story then plays into a major part of the third episode. This shift in the second episode is when logic takes a back seat.
Part Three - Traditionally, strange children's stories will have a clear delineation between the real world and the fantasy. In The Wizard of Oz Dorothy is whisked away and in Wonderland Alice travels down the rabbit hole. There is a comfort to be had in that a real and safe world is out there to return to. What makes this series different is there is no clear dividing line which makes the strangeness far more unsettling, none more so than in episode three. This is where the story takes a turn for the nightmarish as children are magicked away by a Pied Piper-like captain (who may well be the pirate from episode two in disguise). There are uneasy costumed parties inside a night time elephant and a freakish shadow puppet display in arguably the standout sequence of the entire series. It is hard to describe this section of the series as I have no real idea what is going on but it is safe to say there is more invention in its fifty minute runtime than most directors would achieve over an entire career. It is also an incredibly brave thing to end on as the safety net of reality is never quite returned to and the fate of Manoel, and particularly his disappearing cousins, is left tantalisingly unanswered.
Despite having that cheap air of early '80s children television the film looks surprisingly beautiful, and scary, at times. The naive childlike music can both be sweet and innocent or deeply sinister depending on the actions on screen. The performances aren't strong but they never have a detremental impact on the overall experience. If you didn't guess from my long meandering post, I absolutely love it!
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What would your top twenty look like? Are there any big omissions from my list? Are there any baffling submissions in my selection? Discuss.
What better way to start a new blog than with a list post. Everybody loves lists, whether you agree with the content or not.
I have tried to remove the influence of nostalgia from my selection as much as humanly possible. It is hard to do that with such an emotive subject but every programme that appears in this list (with a couple of exceptions) has been re-watched recently to see if they still hold up today (which is why childhood favourites such as Transformers are sadly absent).
Enough waffle, time to get on with the list:
Belle and Sebastian - The series is about the mountain-based adventures of a young boy named Sebastian and his Pyrenean Mountain Dog Belle who live in a small village in the Pyrenees. Sebastian has no friends because he is teased by the other children for not having a mother. But one day, he meets a gentle white Pyrenees dog who has been falsely accused of terrible crimes. He names her Belle and they become the best of friends. To save her from an unjust fate, Sebastian leaves his adoptive family and begins traveling with Belle and his little dog Poochie. The synopsis doesn't sound all that interesting on paper, especially when you compare it to shows around at the time, but it had the gentle charm of a Hayao Miyazaki story that drew you into the adventures of Belle and Sebastian. The series didn't last all that long and I don't think it was ever repeated (the DVD is supposedly coming soon) so my memory of the show is rather hazy, especially compared to the rest of my list, but it had such a beguiling atmosphere and wonderful animation that I think its place here is deserved. If somebody has seen it more recently I'd love to know if it has aged well (it is the sort of series I expect has aged better than most).
Pingu – As with Pocoyo this series always seemed to have more for adults than the pre-school children it supposedly targeted. The stop-frame animation was simple but full of such charm, exquisite characterisation and energy. My love for the show purely stems from the Swiss originals rather than the slightly anaemic HiT Entertainment version. Pingu is a loveable character because of his faults. It is interesting to see how far they push things because compared to most pre-school shows he could be classed as a bad influence whereas many series are suffocated in sugar coated goodness. To call it anarchic is perhaps pushing it but the show certainly had a rebellious streak that made it stand out from the crowd.
Originally I had The Clangers in the number 19 spot and I would just like to take a moment to mention the work of Postgate and Firmin as they really should have been on my list. Smallfilms were such an integral part of my childhood, as they probably were for anyone growing up in the '70s and '80s, and their shows always seemed like a constant presence in my life at the time. Today they would never even get commissioned as they wouldn't be able to meet the increased episode demands that all networks crave. For two people to create so many beloved characters is a remarkable achievement and the workload for Oliver Postgate (who wrote, animated and voiced everything they produced) must have been immense. But you can see the love up on screen in every episode. You get the impression that Oliver Postgate would have still been making these films for his children and then grandchildren even if a TV station showed no interest in airing them. Everything they did had a strong British sensibility, a great warmth and comforting humour. Their hit rate is pretty much unparalleled in UK children's television with only the likes of Anne Wood coming close. They were true pioneers, enriching the lives of a whole generation (or possibly three) and their kind are sorely missed. Thank you, Oliver and Peter.
Gargoyles – It appears that many of the shows from the early '90s have aged far better than those produced in the '80s. Of course you'd expect more recent dramas to have dated less but I think the big reason for this is that many of the shows produced during this period were actually interested in telling compelling stories rather than just shifting merchandise. A case in point is this excellent Disney show. I'm not sure if it ever aired on terrestrial television but I remember watching it on the Disney channel. It was at a time when I thought I was too old for kids cartoons but my parents had just got Sky for the first time and during my regular surfs through the endless list of channels I stumbled upon the show and was hooked. The series revolved around a group of Gargoyles, stone by day living creatures by night, who were doomed to stay as stone until a curse is lifted. They are not freed from their stone prison for centuries, not until they are placed atop a skyscraper in modern day New York. It took inspiration from Shakespeare, classic literature and even contemporary procedural dramas to create a far richer series than it first appeared (on the surface it seemed like a TMNT rip-off). The characters were interesting, stories were developed over a number of episodes and the animation was incredibly polished. It is surprising to see that Disney have not bothered repeating the show seeing as it wipes the floor with their current crop of programming and would be an ideal fit for their action branded XD channel.
Dungeons and Dragons – I'm not sure why I liked this as much as I did. I've never really been into this sort of fantasy stuff before (wizards, elves etc.) and I've never even contemplated playing a proper game of D&D. Yet this animated series was always a favourite when I was growing up (unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to see it since those days so it may well have aged badly). The thing that I found most appealing was the different abilities each character had. Every action show had characters that were good at particular skills but here they expressed it in very broad terms. That should probably be a negative but as a kid I liked the simplicity and the flaming arrow was amazingly cool to a six year old. I can't deny that some of the characters bordered on the irritating, and even as a kid I wanted the unicorn to die a horrific death, but their quests were always exciting and it quite literally transported you to a new world for twenty fun filled minutes.
Rocko's Modern Life – Following the success of John Kricfalusi's Ren & Stimpy most American children's networks seemed to be clamouring for something similar: anarchic tone, extreme art direction and everything turned up to 11. I never really got into Ren & Stimpy as I found the series too in your face to be enjoyable for any length of time. Most of the knock-offs weren't much better apart from one: Rocko's Modern Life. It had the same elements as Ren & Stimpy but seemed much more palatable. The jokes worked on levels both children and adults could enjoy and the animation had a great squash and stretch energy. Interestingly it is Rocko's art direction that seems to have influenced a lot of the current animated shows whereas the extreme nature of Ren & Stimpy has subsided. RML had one of the best roster of characters in any show of its kind, every single one of them was memorable and, most importantly, funny. The show ran for 52 episodes which was probably the right time to bow out as the final season, which had no involvement from series creator Joe Murray, was appearing to wear a little thin. However, at the shows height it was one of the best things on TV, period.
Pocoyo – Produced in Spain in 2005, Pocoyo is a bright and simple CGI pre-school show about a boy and his three friends; a duck, elephant and dog. The English version is narrated brilliantly by Stephen Fry who is a perfect fit for the material. Most CGI pre-school shows look ugly, even the half decent ones normally have poor art direction compared to their traditionally animated rivals. Yet the simplicity of Pocoyo – white background, primary colours and simple shapes – is quite beautiful at times and affords so much expression that it reminds me a little of Pingu. The cast of characters are brilliant, the stories are unsurprisingly simple but there is always a pay-off or a moment in every episode that borders on greatness. Despite having run for more than one hundred episodes the show has never felt stale or repetitive which is a real achievement.
The Storyteller – It was only right for Jim Henson to be the only person to get two series on my list. Whilst this is probably not as popular as Fragglerock or the other series they helped bring to life it was always one that left a big impression on me. I've always been interested in folk lore and fairy tales, the more macabre the better, and this brought together stories from all over the world. It was only years later that I discovered they were all written by Anthony Minghella and despite all his success I still think they are the best thing he has produced. John Hurt played the titular Storyteller and his voice worked beautifully with the stories. Each episode looked expensive and was dark and unsettling. The cast of actors was very impressive too with the likes of Sean Bean and Miranda Richardson appearing (not that I knew who they were at the time). The second season wasn't quite as successful but it was still excellent viewing. This time story telling duties fell to Michael Gambon but the same faithful puppet dog remained. Season two also saw a change in the stories with Greek mythology providing the inspiration. The production values remained and I can only assume it didn't quite have the same appeal because the stories were much more familiar this time around. I bought the series on DVD a couple of years ago and was pleased to see they are as fresh as the day they were originally transmitted and was doubly pleased that my nieces and nephews enjoyed the series too.
Samurai Pizza Cats – This was pretty much the only decent thing on ITV's Saturday morning show, Motormouth. It never seems to be as fondly remembered as other shows on at the time which is a shame as it always felt very different to the cookie-cutter action series that populated the scheduling. I guess the closest show would be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and not just because of the pizza connection. But it had a stronger comedic, bordering on parody, element that ran through the series. What was impressive that the comedy and action was balanced pretty well and whilst the stories were never particularly memorable they were always entertaining. The programme had a great theme tune (why do so few shows now get this element right when practically every show from the '80s always nailed it?) and I still love the character designs.
Ulysses 31 – This show is responsible for me getting into Greek mythology. Ulysses 31 is hardly the most faithful of adaptation of Homer's classic tale but it does take the best bits and combine them brilliantly with a vibrant space setting to create a fantastic adventure series. It had the epic quest that I so loved to watch as a child and an interesting sci-fi setting that was pretty much unlike anything else on at the time. The animation was polished and the music was fantastic (in fact it was the first time I really noticed the use of music in drama beyond just singing along to a catchy theme tune). Fox repeated the entire series a few years ago (along with M.A.S.K which has aged poorly) and it may even be better than I remembered. Some of the characters were a little irritating but the stories and atmosphere were fantastic.
The Moomins – Tove Jannson's classic stories have been adapted for the small screen many times but the one I am discussing here is the fuzzy felt version from the late '70s and early '80s. None of the adaptations have quite created the mood of the illustrated stories but this is the one that has come the closest and, if truth be told, I actually prefer it to the original source. The stories have always been magical and the combination of the strange and beautiful felt animation seemed to be a perfect fit. No series has ever looked quite like it and when you put it side-by-side with the '90s anime version you realise how bland the more recent adaptation looks. But it wasn't just the art direction that was stronger, everything from the characterisation to the stories themselves were stronger and more faithful. There is a dark edge to much of Jannson's story-telling and this comes across in this version but has been ironed out to create a diluted approximation. I'm just disappointed I never took the opportunity to pick up the series on DVD whilst it was still reasonably priced.
Programmes 10-1 will be posted tomorrow. In the meantime please suggest your own favourite programmes.
to Through the Arched Window, a blog about children's television, picture books and new media from a writer's perspective. I should probably qualify that and say from an aspiring writer's perspective, I don't profess to be an expert in the field but I am passionate about children's media and I hope this blog will be of use to both writers and non-writers alike.
The aims of Through the Arched Window are to provide reviews of the latest children's TV series, any picture books I happen to purchase (and I'm always on the look out for recommendations) as well as exploring the burgeoning market in online drama and mobile/tablet applications for kids. Along the way I hope to secure a few interviews with writers, illustrators, producers and agents in the field as well as providing the latest industry news and upcoming writing competitions.
Above all, thanks for visiting!
