Broomstick Cottage is home to bumbling Mr Bobbin and his magic cat
     called Sponge. Cheeky Sponge is a mischievous moggy, always twirling
     his tail and causing mayhem when it's least expected, behind Mr Bobbin's
     back. Fortunately, most of those magical japes are directed elsewhere,
     towards Mr Bobbin's luckless friends Harry and Garry Dabble. When they
     help Mr Bobbin move his furniture, Sponge makes it disappear and reappear
     all over the place. When they help Mr Bobbin grow his prize marrow, Sponge
     makes their van fly around with them inside...     

     These near-forgotten shorts are a treat. Sponge "blobs" in and out of thin air like
     Fenella in Chorlton and the Wheelies. There's some fine comic timing, with the
     Dabbles frequently left speechless by Sponge's magic, just moving their heads
     agog, in unison. Keith Railton provided smart brummie accents for the 
     Dabbles too.

            

     With only three production credits on show it appears that Jackson, Mellor,
     and Reyner performed all the production duties on this tight little series - a
     notion that's confirmed by Keith Railton: 

     "You're quite right about Broomstick cottage. There were
      only three people involved in the production - it was their
      hobby!

      Barry Jackson was the writer and wrote and performed the
      music. He also designed and created the characters and the
      sets. Mike Mellor was the engineer who articulated the models
      and made them come to life. Barney Reyner was the expert
      with the camera, and he lit and filmed all the episodes.

      My claim to fame was that I did the all the voiceovers on all
      thirteen episodes. We recorded the soundtrack in the space of
      two days. Six of the episodes had already been filmed and the
      other seven were in script form. What a great time I had making
      those wonderful creations come to life.
     
      As far as I know they were never shown on TV in the UK, but
      they were shown abroad.They were however sold on video often,
      as part of cartoon compilations..."     

     Ah-ha! - So the team were only "dabbling" in animation (groan). Interesting to
     hear that these weren't actually broadcast in the UK. They were and are still
     great fun. A series for Trivia Hounds to track down and enjoy...

  

     Broomstick Cottage episodes

     The Cat                       On the Roof
     Sponge Sorts It Out       The Monstrous Marrow
     The Lawnmower            The Streetlamp
     The Blockage                Daily Help
     In the Loft

  

     a Dabble Film by Barry Jackson, Michael Mellor, 
      Barnard Reyner

     storyteller:  Keith Railton

  

     On the web


     No links right now...

 
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