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Bill
and Ben (2001 - 2002)
producers:
Cosgrove
Hall Films for BBC Worldwide
and
Ben Productions
animation: stop-motion animation
episodes:
52 x 10mins
"Oh! - Ah! - Flobbadob-a Sherlock Holmes!"
"Eh! - Oh! - Flobbadob-a Sam Spade!"
- Bill & Ben turn detective!
Cosgrove Hall brings those "Watch With Mother" favourites, The Flowerpot
Men back to our tv screens in this all-new stop-motion stories. The original puppet
characters of Bill, Ben and Weed have been skilfully redesigned and modernised
and the garden world expanded. We're now introduced to a new gang of jolly
garden dwellers, including Slowcoach the grumpy tortoise, Pry the magpie,
Whoops the worm, Whimsy spider, Scamper squirrel, Tad the frog, Boo the
hedgehog and two more talking plants in the shape of terse Scot Thistle
and aloof Rose, who dwells "over the fence" in the next door garden with
her two "buds" ...
"Bill and Ben" is a terrific series. Mackinnon & Saunders' models are splendid
and they're just as splendidly well animated and voiced by "Cold Feet" star
John Thomson, animation regular Jimmy Hibbert and Eve Karpf. Bill and Ben
chatter away in their familiar "flobbadob" gobbledygook, only now there are
add-ons so we have exchanges like the one at the top of this page, accompanied
by quick shots of the potty duo in different costumes and postures. There's
lots of witty wordplay hidden in their chatter and in their little actions, which
suggests the filmmakers were having great fun during the production...
The Flowerpot Men were originally created by Hilda Brabban for the BBC's
Watch With Mother children's tv broadcasts, back in the 1950's. Hilda actually
wrote the Flowerpot stories for her younger brothers, William and Benjamin - Bill
and Ben. Apparently, "flobbadob" was what the word the boys would utter when
one of them broke wind in the bath!
• For those confused twixt the two, Bill sports a spotty orange bow-tie,
whilst Ben wears a natty green version...
• A tie-in pop record was released in 2002, but Flobbadance didn't reach
the dizzy chart heights of Bob The Builder or The Tweenies...
• After "Bill and Ben" came Cosgrove Hall's version of Andy Pandy...
Tortoise and the Pots
Sticky Problems
Litterhog
A Night to Remember
The Great Worm Hunt
Weed sees the World
Here comes the Sun
Treasure Garden
A Piece Of Sky
Two Angry Men
Whoops takes a Trip
Whimsy the Brave
The Shiny Man
Go Fly a Kite
The Perfect Nut
Weed's Birthday
Slowcoach gets Cross
The Big Thaw
Bubble Trouble
The Flowerpot Band
Ballon Tricks
A Cellar full of Noise
Meeting Lulu
A Picture for Slowcoach
The Singing Cobwebs
In Search of a Lettuce
Ben has a Visitor
Pwhoooarr!
Two New Flowerpot Men
Game for aLaugh
Around and Around
The Hottest Day
Tears Before Bedtime
The Jumping Jar
Big Time Band
Slowcoach's Brother
All Quiet on the Flowerpot
Home Sweet Home
Tin Can telephone
The Rainbow
Down in the Cellar...
Water Water Everywhere
A Garden Gnome's Best Friend
Every Cloud has a Silly Lining
In
the news
The
Hound: October 2002
Death
of Bill & Ben's creator Hilda Brabban...
The
Hound: June 2002
Bill
& Ben records...
Bill
and Ben on DVD
Playtime
(introducing Tikkabilla)
Two episodes are included on this BBC compilation, together
with Andy Pandy, Yoho Ahoy and those
Little Robots...
director:
Tim
Collings
exec prod: Theresa
Plummer-Andrews, Neil Benedict
music: Paul
Taylor
series Des
& art director: Bridget
Appleby
set illustrators: Mark
Stacey, Max Doig
storyboards: Vince
James
dop: John
Duffy
camera ast: Paul
Shacklady, Christophe Leignel
senior anim: Matt
Palmer
animators: Duncan
Kinnaird, Rob Skrzynski,
Allison
Evans, Auston Charlesworth
puppets: Mackinnon
& Saunders
set managers: Jeff
Spain, Rick Kent, Richard Sykes
prop makers: Russell
Hicks, Lucy Burscough
voices: John
Thomson (Bill / Narrator)
Jimmy
Hibbert (Ben)
Eve
Karpf
On
the web
Cosgrove
Hall Films
http://www.chf.co.uk
The official site. Very bright,
with 'bites' of info on the entire
Cosgrove Hall CV, plus regular
bulletins of company news
and more besides....
Sterling
Times
http://www.sterlingtimes.org/flobadob_the_sequel.htm
'Sterling Times' were the first
to post a page specifically dedicated to
the potty duo. As you can see, it's
typically 'chunky' in design and
features some handy press
pics and clips - Flobbadob, indeed!
Cosgrove
Hall Ate My Brain
http://www.nyanko.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/chamb/...
Nyanko's energetic, attractive
fan site is a great guide, not only
for "Bill and Ben", but
for all things Cosgrove Hall related...
Mackinnon
& Saunders
http://www.mackinnonandsaunders.com/
And here are those puppet-makers
extraordinaire...
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