Toonhound - Broomstick Cottage

     Broomstick Cottage was home to bumbling Mr Bobbin and his magic cat
     called Sponge. Cheeky Sponge was a mischievous moggy, always twirling
     his tail and causing mayhem when it was least expected, behind Mr Bobbin's
     back. Unfortunately, most of his magical japes were directed at Mr Bobbin's
     luckless friends Harry and Garry Dabble. When they helped Mr Bobbin move his
     furniture, Sponge made it disappear and reappear all over the place. When they
     helped Mr Bobbin grow his prize marrow, Sponge made 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 duties on this tight little series - a notion that's now
     been confirmed by Keith Railton himself:

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				Broomstick Cottage (1989) producers: Dabble Films animation: stop-motion animation episodes: 13 x 5mins
	Broomstick Cottage was home to bumbling Mr Bobbin and his magic cat called Sponge. Cheeky Sponge was a mischievous moggy, always twirling his tail and causing mayhem when it was least expected, behind Mr Bobbin's back. Unfortunately, most of his magical japes were directed at Mr Bobbin's luckless friends Harry and Garry Dabble. When they helped Mr Bobbin move his furniture, Sponge made it disappear and reappear all over the place. When they helped Mr Bobbin grow his prize marrow, Sponge made 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 duties on this tight little series - a notion that's now been confirmed by Keith Railton himself:

			"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. Now we know where the names come from. 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, methinks... 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 Not surprisingly, links are nonexistent. Unless someone reading this knows better...? index » previous » next »
	© Dabble Films 1989 / F2000-2005