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   Breast mates  (26.01.04)

    Here in blighty, artist Beryl Cook is something of a national treasure.
    For years she has been producing fab flab-filled paintings of big women
    abroad in and around her home town of Plymouth. They're often bawdy,
    always beautifully observed, and - well - just alive and larger than life,
    and those pictures can't help but raise a smile to your face when you see
    them reproduced on birthday cards, etc.

      

    Well, lovers of her work (and there are many!) should stand by for the
    arrival of Tiger Aspect's 'Bosom Pals', the first of two 25minute specials
    in which Beryl Cook's bouncing, buxom gals gets loose and loud in
    full-on animated form. The specials were the idea of producer Claudia
    Lloyd, who previously brought us the animated 'Mr Bean' series. She
    got a hearty approval for Beryl and immediately enlisted the talents of
    Dawn French to put together a writing team and weave together storylines
    and scripts. Direction chores went to Ginger Gibbons of Grand Slamm,
    working alongside Hungary's Varga Animation (Varga also worked on
    'Mr Bean'). A colourful cast of characters includes Stella (Dawn French),
    Joan (Alison Steadman), Billy (Timothy Spall), Marie (Jessica Stevenson),
    and Fudge (Sophie Thompson), and in the first film 'Joan's Birthday',
    poor Joan is found struggling to come to terms with the fact that she's
    just turned 46 years old...

    The resulting hand-drawn films certainly seem to have captured much
    of that  joie-de-vivre present in the Cook paintings. Set your videos for
    tonight, BBC1 at 11.05pm and next Monday 2nd February. It's interesting
    to note that this is a very rare excursion in to late-night animation for
    the BBC, and an even bigger eye-opener in that it's screening on BBC1
    and not tucked away after 'Newsnight' on BBC2 like other animated
    works we could mention. Let's hope more toons get a similar
    promotion in the future, eh?

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   More for 'ewe'  (26.01.04)

    Wa-hey! - The rest of those 2004 British Animation Award shortlists have
    now been posted on the BAA web site. As promised, here are the lists for
    Best Pre-School Series and the Writers Award:

     Best Pre-School Series

       The Koala Brothers: A Letter For George / Spellbound Ent. / Famous Flying Films

       The Koala Brothers: Sea Captain Ned / Spellbound Ent. / Famous Flying Films

       Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto!: Egg / Collingwood O'Hare
     
       Boo: Tropical Island / Tell-Tale

       Boo: Antarctica / Tell-Tale

       Andy Pandy: Get Your Skates On / Cosgrove Hall Films

       Engie Benjie: Lift-off Day / Cosgrove Hall Films

     Little Robots: Seeing Double / Cosgrove Hall / CBBC

     Little Joe And The Sea / Novel Ent.

     Hilltop Hospital: Lazy Eye / Siriol Prods.

     Rubbadubbers: Sheriff Terence / HIT Ent.

     Rubbadubbers: Sploshybird / HIT Ent.

       Wide Eye: Toad In A Teapot / Abbey Home Ent.

       Wide Eye: Message In A Bottle / Abbey Home Ent.

       Bonny, Banana & Mo: Sunflower / Cut-Out Animation Co.

       Snailsbury Tales: Drought / Maverick Ent.

       Paz: Things Change / King Rollo Films

       Meg And Mog: Owl's Voice / Absolutely Prods.
  

    Now that's quite a role call, and one that looks impossibly close to call. 'Yoko!
    Jakamoko! Toto!' is a fave, of course, but 'The Koala Brothers' is refreshingly
    antipodean, 'Little Robots' is fun, and it's terrific to see Cut-Out Animation and
    King Rollo Films on the shortlist. How on earth  do you separate these...?


     Writer's Award

     Little Wolf's Book Of Badness / Lupus Films

     Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto!: The Special Thing / Collingwood O'Hare
     
       Little Things / Tandem Films

     Eating For Two / Sherbet

       Dad's Dead / Slinky Pictures

       The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers: Tightrope Of Triumph / Pesky


    Now this one's trickier still, principally because so many folks won't have seen
    the three short films included on the list but 'Yoko!' and those Adrenalini
    Brothers deserve big plaudits because of the way they tell their stories
    almost solely through character action and inter-action. Both of those shows
    have also picked up Sound Award nods, which makes complete sense,
    of course, given the lack of dialogue. But it's a real surprise to see 'Yoko!'
    missing from the Best Music category, given the fabulous latin rhythms
    on offer throughoutr the series.

    Come February, all of these shortlists will be whittled down to a final
    shortlist of nominations and then, well, I think we can safely say that the
    March awards ceremony will make for an intriguing evening!
     
                                                   More:  British Animation Awards (BAA)  

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   Not so desperate?  (24.01.04)

    What a difference a month makes. Just a few short weeks ago, the
    grapevines were getting in an awful knot regarding 'The Dandy'. DC Thomson's
    golden comic title was said to be on the verge of folding, or merging with
    'The Beano' - or worse still - both of these top titles were about to disappear
    from their weekly haunts in newsagents up and down the UK.

    And now, here we are in late January and 'The Dandy' seems to be seizing
    its destiny by the scruff of the neck. We have Desperate Dan and Bananaman
    looming large and proud on the covers, a welcome new gang in the form of
    'The Banana Bunch', and new Dandy binders for collectors to purchase. What's
    more, alongside the comic's shakedown are at least two high profile DC Thomson 
    promotions: Laughing Cow are promoting a series of Beano/Dandy stand-up 
    characters available in their packs of Cheez Dippers and Cheez Double Dippers.
    Plus there are Kid's Meal figures to collect from Burger King.

    So all's well, then? - Well, not yet. The Dandy still needs some work put in
    to it. For a start, strips are still coming and going seemingly on a whim. Folks
    want regular weekly strips, running regularly on the same page so they can track
    down their favourites each issue. And how about a more involved editorial page,
    encouraging readers to write in and  contribute thoughts and ideas to the comic?
    The standoffish nature of the title contrasts so hugely with the comics world's
    top scoring 'Striker' comic, which has embraced its readership wholeheartedly,
    involving them in every weekly step the title makes. DC Thomson would do
    well to take a look at what Pete Nash and his team are doing at Striker 3D.

    But - hey - the future's certainly looking 'dandier' right now. Let's hope this
    is the start of a wholehearted revival for DC Thomson's enduring creation...

                                                                                 More:  The Dandy

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   Nominations for 'ewe'  (21.01.04)

    This year is a BAA year, you know. What's a BAA when it's at home?
    Well, it's a British Animation Award, presented as part of a bi-annual awards
    night when all the UK's animation bods gather in the West End and have a
    merry old time. What makes the BAA's particularly special is that each award
    is utterly unique. It's a work art featuring a sheep (a BAA, geddit?) as drawn by
    a leading animator or artist in the field. The BAA artwork is often utterly fabulous,
    always fascinating and very, very desirable - as a tour of the official BAA site
    will reveal. The first of this year's shortlists have just been posted there,
    and here's a quick look at the series/specials singled out so far:

     Best Animated Special

     Robbie The Reindeer: Legend Of The Lost Tribe / BBC Bristol

     Bob The Builder: Knights Of Can-a-Lot / HIT Ent.

     Angelina Ballerina: The Show Must Go On / HIT Ent.

     Wilde Stories: The Selfish Giant / Lupus Films

     Wilde Stories: The Nightingale And The Rose / Lupus Films

     Little Wolf's Book Of Badness / Lupus Films


    Robbie, Bob and Angelina's nominations are no real surprise, but Lupus
    Films must be delighted with their three nominations. Mind you, 'Little Wolf',
    in particular, is a splendid little film...


      Best Children's Series

       The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers: Slopes Of Peril / Pesky

       The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers: Tightrope Of Triumph / Pesky
     
       The Little Red Tractor: Ladder / Little Ent. Company

       Snailsbury Tails: Drought / Maverick Ent.

       Pongwiffy: Holiday Of Doom / Telemagination

      Something Else: Crisis Kevin / Telemagination

      Metalheads: Dangling Dan's Day Off / Telemagination

      Metalheads: Ye Kitchen Maids / Telemagination

       Grizzly Tales For Gruesome kids: Revenge Of The Bogeyman / Carlton

       Animal School / Elephant Productions

       The Spooky Sisters: Every Fog Has Its Day / Disney Channel UK

       Brush Head / Disney Channel UK

       Watch My Chops: 200 Feet Under / CBBC


    Great to see the Adrenalinis there, and those Metalheads, and the great variation
    in nominated series. But no 'Bounty Hamster'? - Now that's a surprise...


     Best Comedy

     Robbie The Reindeer: Legend Of The Lost Tribe / BBC Bristol

     Little Wolf's Book Of Badness / Lupus Films
     
       The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers: Ocean Of Terror / Pesky

       The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers: High Dive Of Doom / Pesky

       The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers: Tightrope Of Triumph / Pesky

       The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers: Slopes Of Peril / Pesky

       Presentators: Sound Effects / Aardman
   
       Creature Comforts: Cats Or Dogs / Aardman

       Polar Bears / Passion Pictures

       Out Of Joint / Sourth West Screen

       Sixty Second Love Story / Cosgrove Hall

       Rosebud / Cosgrove Hall

       Little Things / Tandem Films Ent.

       How To Cope With Death / Tandem Films Ent.

       New Balls please / Sherbet

       Taps / Matthew Gravelle

       The State We're In: Westminster TT / Fictitiuos Egg


     Phew-ee! - That's a lengthy 'short' list. Pesky have to shouting 'Yahzaa!'
     from the rooftops for their four Adrenalini nominations. Cosgrove Hall must
     also be chuffed with their noms for two short films. If there's a surprise it's
     that, again, 'Bounty Hamster' is missing and 'Creature Comforts' has only
     picked up one nod - this in spite of being a very popular ratings winner
     for ITV.

     Dues soon are the nominations for Best Pre-School Series and the Writers
     Award, which should make for even more interesting reading. (Will 'Engie Benjie'
     and 'Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto!' be in there anywhere? Or 'Meg And Mog'?).
     Come February, these lists will have been thinned out, so that we have a
     final selection of titles for each category. And then we can all sit back and
     wait for the awards ceremony on Friday 19th March...

                                                    More:  British Animation Awards (BAA)

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   Andy's randy!  (20.01.04)

    Cosgrove Hall's 'Andy Pandy' series is a quality production, with charming
    characters and stories and a very hummable theme tune. But actor Tom Conti
    has been talking about his work on the show today, and revealing a saucy
    secret-or-two. Apparently, the production is riddled with double entendres
    and suggestive remarks!

    

    Yes, Mr Conti has kick-started a subversive theory or two about the show.
    He claims there was much excitement in the studio when Teddy blew up a big
    balloon, or blew on a big wooden horn (tee-hee). Oh, and then there was the
    time when Teddy made a cake with a big banana sticking out of it, and
    well, you get the picture...

    And so, Andy, Looby and Teddy join 'Captain Pugwash' and 'The Magic
    Roundabout' on that seemingly never-ending list of 'subversive' TV series.
    Mind you, there are surely others. Take those flobbadobbing brothers
    Bill and Ben. The production team must have had a flobbing field day,
    dropping flobbing words and flobbing phrases in to that one...    
    
                                                                               More:  The Sun  

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   Bob gone  (02.01.04)

    What a sad, sad start to the year with news of the death of the great
    comedian Bob Monkhouse. To most folks he was the stand-up pundit with
    patter and puns to tickle your laughing gear. But many toon fans will
    also know Bob from his stints working in comics and animation.

     

    He was just a teenager when he started writing for the likes of
    'The Beano' and 'The Dandy'. He also drew for 'Hotspur' and 'Wizard'
    In the 1940s, Bob spent time working as a gag artist for David
    Hand's Gaumont-British Animation studio at Moor Park, where he wrote
    scripts for the likes of Ginger Nutt and Corny The Crow. He also tooned
    for that Golden Age comic classic 'Radio Fun', and indeed, the BBC
    have recently been re-broadcasting his excellent Radio 4 series detailing
    the history of the title, which ran from 1938 to 1961.

    In 2001, Monkhouse was a hoot when he voiced Mr Hell for 'Aaagh!
    It's The Mr Hell Show', Peafur Production's wickedly funny animated
    sketch show, complete with ad-libs a-plenty tagged on to the end
    credits.

    Bob's death was, sadly, well telegraphed (He was diagnosed with
    prostate cancer 18 months ago). Even so, his passing is still a
    shock, slap-bang in the middle of the jolly holiday season. He'll be
    much missed....

   ___________________________________________________________________

   All tooned up...   (19.01.04)

    Phew-ee! - At last, the first month of the New Year sees the new 'Wombles'
    page added to the site, which means The Hound can proudly announce that
    all 134 of the TvToons index pages have been upgraded, refreshed and amended.
    It's quite a relief, actually (as well as quite an achievement), and it frees
    Yours Truly up to finally start attacking the Comics and Puppet sections
    of this site - two areas that have been woefully neglected of late...

    Of course, there are still too many gaps in that tv index. Where are 'Funny
    Bones', 'Wil Cwac Cwac', 'Joshua Jones', 'Fetch The Vet', 'Victor & Hugo', even
    the new 'Andy Pandy'? Well, they'll be coming, in time with others. Oh, but gaps
    - schnaps! - where else can you find 134 british toon series indexed, detailed,
    reviewed and linked to online?

    But enough bragging. Those puppets await...

    Till next time!

             thehound@toonhound.com