Toonhound - Toytown Featuring Larry the Lamb

    "Oh Mister M-M-Mayor, Sir!...."

    Welcome to Toytown, the busy bustling home of Larry the stuttering young lamb
    and his best friend Dennis the Germanic Dachsund. These two get up to all
    sorts of innocent mischief around town, much to the chagrin of the egocentric
    Mayor, Ernest the stout policeman, the bumbling Magician, miserable miser
    Mr Growser, the Inventor, Mrs Goose, Mr and Mrs Noah and the rest.

    Toytown folk enjoy attending their local theatre, they get up to 'dreadful doings'
    in Ark Street, regularly run into Highwaymen on the Toytown Road, and set sail
    with the haughty Captain Salt of the good ship Mermaid (bound for the
    Cannibal Islands, I'll be darned). Most of all, they are unctuous and dismissive
    of their ghastly neighbours from nearby Arkville..

       Toytown folk    Larry and Ernest The Policeman

    Twenty-six Toytown stories were adapted for tv by Hendrik Baker, a close friend
    of the creator of the original characters and settings, the late great S G Hulme
    Beaman. The TV stories were filmed by Bura and Hardwick, who also brought
    Gordon Murray's three Trumptonshire series to life. The characters designs
    stuck closely to Hulme Beaman's original figures, with their chunky,
    squared-off heads and bodies. Likewise much of the language and narrative
    from those original stories remains intact. Characters bowdlerise and expectorate
    in a most-particular way. Old-fashioned to some in this new millennium, but
    endearing to just as many others of a particular generation weaned on the
    books and radio shows that preceded the series...

    Toytown's story

    The Toytown stories and characters were created by Sydney George Hulme
    Beaman. They date back to the end of the First World War, when Hulme Beaman,
    a theatre hall actor by profession, turned his artistic talents to carving small
    wooden animals, figures and vessels. Excited by his models of Mr Noah and
    Noah's Ark, folks invited commissions from him for various wooden characters
    and a mini-industry was born. In 1923 The Golders Green Gazette published
    Hulme Beaman's comic strip 'Philip And Phido'. His pen and ink characters
    were deliberately styled after his wooden creations. Several Toytown stars
    emerged from the strips, like the Mayor who developed from a self-important
    Admiral figure. Now on a roll, Hulme Beaman wrote and illustrated a number of
    classic storybooks after the same fashion, before the first true Toytown story
    'The Road To Toytown' was published in 1925.

    Anthologies of Toytown stories followed, and by chance 'Tales Of Toytown',
    published in 1928 was happened upon by May Jenkin who portrayed
    'Aunt Elizabeth' on the BBC's Children's Hour radio programmes.
    Hulme Beaman was eventually commissioned to write some 28 Toytown stories
    for the BBC. It was through these shows that the characters of Larry and
    Dennis were developed from 'bit-part' characters to true Toytown stars.

    The BBC programmes were hugely successful, but Hulme Beaman himself
    wasn't quite fulfilled. He continued to develop his carved figures and vessels
    alongside his writing and even went so far as to construct a model stage show
    with accompanying string controlled puppets for a performance of 'The
    Arkville Dragon'. It proved to be a stepping stone on to a fully-fledged
    animation experiment, shot with the assistance of the Pathe film company
    in 1932. Sadly, though, Hulme Beaman died of pneumonia that February

    The Toytown stories and characters lived on, though. There was even a command
    performance given in the presence of Royal Family at Broadcasting House
    in 1939. Toytown tales continued to be broadcast and performed for more
    than three decades, through to 1963.

    Toytown to own

    Numerous promotional items, published material and tie-in products have
    been produced over the years. Larry The Lamb annuals and picture books
    abound. The Hound's favourites are the series of 20 page A5 picture booklets
    published by George Lapworth and co. some time in the 30s/40s (they're
    undated and thus tricky to tie down to a date). These reprint 'The Original
    Toytown Story of the famous Broadcast Play' with illustrations by Ernest Noble
    and they go by the generic banner title of 'The Adventures Of Larry The Lamb'
    - fabulous little things, these...

      Pistols For Two - a Larry The Lamb Adventure The Brave Deed Of Ernest The Policeman - a Larry The Lamb adventure    The Book Of Toytown

    Two Larry The Lamb LP records were released by EMI featuring artistes from
    the theatrical productions. In the 1970's several Toytown stories were reprinted
    as TV tie-in editions with stills from the show accompanying the tales. But
    better yet, in 1979 a retrospective anthology 'The Book Of Toytown And Larry
    The Lamb' was published by Harrap. Along with a well-chosen selection of Hulme
    Beaman's illustrated stories this volume contains colour photos from the TV series
    and a short but informative biography of the creator by Hendrik Baker. A great
    introduction to Hulme Beaman's extraordinary world...

     Toytown TV episodes

       Toytown Goes West                                                   Mr Noah's Holiday
       The Tale Of Captain Brass The Pirate                       The Toytown Mystery
       The Extraordinary Affair Of Ernest The Policeman     A Portrait Of The Mayor
       The Disgraceful Business At Mrs Goose's                    Pistols For Two
       Golf (Toytown Rules)                                                  How The Wireless Came To Toytown
       The Arkville Dragon                                                   The Brave Deed Of Ernest The Policeman
       The Tale Of The Inventor                                          The Tale Of Ernest The Policeman
       The Tale Of The Magician                                        The Showing Up Of Larry The Lamb
       The Theatre Royal                                                     Larry The Plumber
     The Toytown Treasure                                               The Mayor's Sea Voyage
      Tea For Two

      adapted and directed by Hendrik Baker
      from the Toytown Stories by S G Hulme Beaman

      settings in the Toytown Tradition
      by Colin Large

    animation:   Bura and Hardwick
    animators:   Pasquale Ferrari, Denis Russo
    music:         Barry Cole
    sound:         United Motion Pictures
    voices:       Patsy Blower (Larry)
                      Wilfred Babbage
                      Peter Hawkins
                      Paul Bura

      On the web

      Little Gems
      http://www.thechestnut.com/larry/larry.htm
      Here's Larry The Lamb, Dennis, Ernest The Policeman et al, in a super
      scrolling page detailing several episodes of this beloved series, with more
      promised in time. Pics take time to load on The Hound's rotten modem,
      but they're well worth waiting for...

      School Of Design
      http://www.adh.bton.ac.uk/schoolofdesign/...
      Want to know about Larry's past? Here's a fine scrolling page featuring
      Toytown art and other work from Larry The Lamb's genius creator S.G. Hulme
      Beaman - but be patient, it loads quite s-l-o-w-ly...

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			Stories From Toytown Featuring Larry the Lamb (1972-1974) producers: Larry the Lamb Ltd for Thames TV animation: stop-motion animation episodes: 26 x 11mins

	"Oh Mister M-M-Mayor, Sir!...." Welcome to Toytown, the busy bustling home of Larry the stuttering young lamb and his best friend Dennis the Germanic Dachsund. These two get up to all sorts of innocent mischief around town, much to the chagrin of the egocentric Mayor, Ernest the stout policeman, the bumbling Magician, miserable miser Mr Growser, the Inventor, Mrs Goose, Mr and Mrs Noah and the rest. Toytown folk enjoy attending their local theatre, they get up to 'dreadful doings' in Ark Street, regularly run into Highwaymen on the Toytown Road, and set sail with the haughty Captain Salt of the good ship Mermaid (bound for the Cannibal Islands, I'll be darned). Most of all, they are unctuous and dismissive of their ghastly neighbours from nearby Arkville.. Twenty-six Toytown stories were adapted for tv by Hendrik Baker, a close friend of the creator of the original characters and settings, the late great S G Hulme Beaman. The TV stories were filmed by Bura and Hardwick, who also brought Gordon Murray's three Trumptonshire series to life. The characters designs stuck closely to Hulme Beaman's original figures, with their chunky, squared-off heads and bodies. Likewise much of the language and narrative from those original stories remains intact. Characters bowdlerise and expectorate in a most-particular way. Old-fashioned to some in this new millennium, but endearing to just as many others of a particular generation weaned on the books and radio shows that preceded the series... Toytown's story The Toytown stories and characters were created by Sydney George Hulme Beaman. They date back to the end of the First World War, when Hulme Beaman, a theatre hall actor by profession, turned his artistic talents to carving small wooden animals, figures and vessels. Excited by his models of Mr Noah and Noah's Ark, folks invited commissions from him for various wooden characters and a mini-industry was born. In 1923 The Golders Green Gazette published Hulme Beaman's comic strip 'Philip And Phido'. His pen and ink characters were deliberately styled after his wooden creations. Several Toytown stars emerged from the strips, like the Mayor who developed from a self-important Admiral figure. Now on a roll, Hulme Beaman wrote and illustrated a number of classic storybooks after the same fashion, before the first true Toytown story 'The Road To Toytown' was published in 1925. Anthologies of Toytown stories followed, and by chance 'Tales Of Toytown', published in 1928 was happened upon by May Jenkin who portrayed 'Aunt Elizabeth' on the BBC's Children's Hour radio programmes. Hulme Beaman was eventually commissioned to write some 28 Toytown stories for the BBC. It was through these shows that the characters of Larry and Dennis were developed from 'bit-part' characters to true Toytown stars. The BBC programmes were hugely successful, but Hulme Beaman himself wasn't quite fulfilled. He continued to develop his carved figures and vessels alongside his writing and even went so far as to construct a model stage show with accompanying string controlled puppets for a performance of 'The Arkville Dragon'. It proved to be a stepping stone on to a fully-fledged animation experiment, shot with the assistance of the Pathe film company in 1932. Sadly, though, Hulme Beaman died of pneumonia that February The Toytown stories and characters lived on, though. There was even a command performance given in the presence of Royal Family at Broadcasting House in 1939. Toytown tales continued to be broadcast and performed for more than three decades, through to 1963. Toytown to own Numerous promotional items, published material and tie-in products have been produced over the years. Larry The Lamb annuals and picture books abound. The Hound's favourites are the series of 20 page A5 picture booklets published by George Lapworth and co. some time in the 30s/40s (they're undated and thus tricky to tie down to a date). These reprint 'The Original Toytown Story of the famous Broadcast Play' with illustrations by Ernest Noble and they go by the generic banner title of 'The Adventures Of Larry The Lamb' - fabulous little things, these... Two Larry The Lamb LP records were released by EMI featuring artistes from the theatrical productions. In the 1970's several Toytown stories were reprinted as TV tie-in editions with stills from the show accompanying the tales. But better yet, in 1979 a retrospective anthology 'The Book Of Toytown And Larry The Lamb' was published by Harrap. Along with a well-chosen selection of Hulme Beaman's illustrated stories this volume contains colour photos from the TV series and a short but informative biography of the creator by Hendrik Baker. A great introduction to Hulme Beaman's extraordinary world... Toytown TV episodes Toytown Goes West Mr Noah's Holiday The Tale Of Captain Brass The Pirate The Toytown Mystery The Extraordinary Affair Of Ernest The Policeman A Portrait Of The Mayor The Disgraceful Business At Mrs Goose's Pistols For Two Golf (Toytown Rules) How The Wireless Came To Toytown The Arkville Dragon The Brave Deed Of Ernest The Policeman The Tale Of The Inventor The Tale Of Ernest The Policeman The Tale Of The Magician The Showing Up Of Larry The Lamb The Theatre Royal Larry The Plumber The Toytown Treasure The Mayor's Sea Voyage Tea For Two adapted and directed by Hendrik Baker from the Toytown Stories by S G Hulme Beaman settings in the Toytown Tradition by Colin Large animation: Bura and Hardwick animators: Pasquale Ferrari, Denis Russo music: Barry Cole sound: United Motion Pictures voices: Patsy Blower (Larry) Wilfred Babbage Peter Hawkins Paul Bura On the web Little Gems http://www.thechestnut.com/larry/larry.htm Here's Larry The Lamb, Dennis, Ernest The Policeman et al, in a super scrolling page detailing several episodes of this beloved series, with more promised in time. Pics take time to load on The Hound's rotten modem, but they're well worth waiting for... School Of Design http://www.adh.bton.ac.uk/schoolofdesign/... Want to know about Larry's past? Here's a fine scrolling page featuring Toytown art and other work from Larry The Lamb's genius creator S.G. Hulme Beaman - but be patient, it loads quite s-l-o-w-ly... index » previous » next »
	© S.G. Hulme Beaman / F2000-2004