The Fleetway Interviews

     

      Crikey, now there's a headline and-a-half. But then, July must have felt
      like a month and-a-half for poor Geoffrey Hayes - you know - THE
      Geoffrey from evergreen pre-school favourite Rainbow. Unless you were
      living down a hole last month, or indeed a contestant on Big Brother,
      you can't fail to have heard about the debacle concerning the stealing
      and subsequent return of the original George Zippy and Bungle costumes
      If you were down that hole, or on that show, here's what's happened:

      Mr Hayes recently spent £3,500 on the the original Bungle costume which
      he bought from Christie's specifically to use as part of his new stage show
      Over The Rainbow, in which he takes an insightful look at his days
      on the kids series. The show's producer Richard Temple owns the original
      George and Zippy costumes and all three were sitting in a trunk in the
      back of a car at a Berkshire service station on the way home from a filming
      session in Bristol when an opportunist thief saw fit to nab the trunk!

      Poor old Geoffrey and Richard were incredibly distressed, of course,
      and both envisaged never seeing the colourful trio again. But then,
      incredibly, a couple of days later the priceless threesome were posted
      back to Mr Temple's office in High St. Kensington. They were in a box
      with a note which read, simply, 'sorry'. So who was the thief, and where
      did the trio go on their travels? - No one knows. But what we do know
      is that Geoffrey and Richard were ecstatic at the return, and Over The
      Rainbow was launched August 2nd at the Edinburgh Fringe as planned,
      with all three puppet co-stars present and correct...

      Which is all jolly decent and splendid, but there is an interesting footnote
      or two, to all this. Firstly, wasn't the timing convenient? - I mean, the trio
      go missing a week before the show launches, and then return safe and well,
      in time for the premiere. And also, weren't the circumstances convenient?
      Apparently, Thames Valley Police have said the theft was never officially
      reported to them. According to Mr Temple's spokesperson, that was because
      the costumes were never properly insured, negating the need for a Crime
      Reference Number. Well, cynical old me is probably putting two-and-two
      together and making five. I mean, Geoffrey certainly appeared to be genuinely
      distressed in all the publicity surrounding the case, so perhaps such
      Conspiracy Theories are unfounded...

      What is indisputably, splendiferously great however is that Mr Geoffrey
      Hayes is finally getting something back for all the effort he put into the series
      over the years - George, Zippy, and Bungle must have weighed around his
      neck like a millstone at times. It's also pleasing to see the three original
      characters safe in the hands of people who truly deserve to have them, and
      are putting them to good use once more, rather than having them stuck behind
      glass in some ridiculous Hard Rock-style restaurant...
      
      Toonhound, of course, has shamefully overlooked Rainbow in its indexes,
      although Grandma Bricks Of Swallow Street gets a page. And whilst you
      wait with baited breathe for yours truly to correct his error, True Blue-
      Mauve-Indigo-Violet Rainbow aficionados should make their way here:
      http://www.rainbow.web.com/ 

    ____________________________________________________________________

      

     Meanwhile over at Aardman Animation, the good news rumbles ever on.
     You probably recall last month the studio announced their new film project
     Flushed Away from the pen of comedy stalwarts Clement LeFrenais. Reports
     suggested that this new tale had bumped the long-delayed Tortoise Vs Hare
     script in to touch indefinitely. Well now, it seems that Aardman are keen to
     clarify the situation and have announced that the Tortoise script is still very
     much a going concern - which is just terrific news.

     Tortoise Vs Hare was/is a take on the eons old Aesop Fable about the race
     between the two critters. It was to be directed by Rex The Runt creator Richard
     Goleszowski from a script by Rob Sprackling and John Smith (Mike Bassett:
     England Manager). The project conjures forth countless splendidly fun scenarios
     to play with, just perfect for the Big Screen so it's jolly exciting to see this one
     still out there for the future.

     Stay tooned to all things Aardman-esque at their official site:
     http://www.aardman.com
      
     ___________________________________________________________________

         

      Elsewhere this month chart-star, licensing phenomenon and all-round
      happy labourer Bob The Builder is back in the news. Bob's returning to
      the BBC soon with his sixth season of shows and this time he's bringing
      some new friends along with him. JJ and Molly are a father-daughter team
      of Builder's Merchants, and Skip and Trix are new vehicular buddies.
      Apparently Molly is a particularly keen environmentalist. Ah, but more
      importantly, will she be a rival in love to Bob's unrequited amour Wendy?
      The press releases don't say, but they do tell us that these are the first
      new characters to join the show since it began...

      It's great to see this HIT series going from strength to strength. Indeed,
      things are going so well there's also been an announcement of a second
      Bob The Builder special for launch on homevideo next year. Last year's
      special A Christmas To Remember was a terrific success and featured guest
      voices and characters in the form of Noddy Holder, Elton John, Chris Evans,
      Alison Steadman and Stephen Tompkinson. This new special continues the
      trend and introduces us to Bob's parents, Robert and Dot, to be voiced by
      Richard Briers and June Whitfield. Brenda Blethyn - Gawd bless 'er - is also
      onboard, providing the voice of Doctor Florence Montfitchett. Apparently she's
      a Heritage Expert, and the storyline features medieval castles and jousting.
      Add to that the fact that Bob's Dad is also a bit of a builder, and we can expect
      much conflict between the father-son duo and no doubt Lofty or Dizzy will end
      up having a tilt or two in the process....

      So far HIT's animation studio HOT have produced 104 episodes of the
      top-rated series, and they've plans to make a total of 10 series in all.
      10 series? - That's amazing, especially when one thinks of how far a
      single series can travel. I mean, Bagpuss, Mr Benn, Moschops and
      so many more are still thriving on the back of just 13 episodes...

      Get building with Bob at his official site:
      http://www.bobthebuilder.com

     ____________________________________________________________________

     

     ...Now remember last month when I promised 'no more apologies'?
     Well it seems I have to return to old habits this month, not because I've
     promised things I can't deliver, but rather because I haven't been able to
     deliver as much as I'd hoped. Confused yet? - Let me explain. My lovely
     but-painfully-slow PC has finally hit crunch point. It just keeps crashing,
     allowing conflicts twixt AOL, IE6, Windows, Zonealarm etc. It's made
     updating the site nigh-on impossible without a lot of patience and
     something soft for me to bang my head off repeatedly. But things are
     going to change very soon with the arrival of a new, all-singing, all-dancing
     machine. At least, that's the plan. Once I've sussed out the new set-up
     the updates should return to normal - that means three-to-four times a
     week instead of the current level of two-to-three at most. Of course,
     this is all irrelevant to you anyway, because you've never actually thought
     to check that kind of detail, right? - Oh well, at least you know I'm trying
     here, even if you're not actually aware of the fact...

       Till next time!
     
               thehound@toonhound.com