Oliver Postgate:Pogles Wood,Noggin,The Clangers,Ivor The Engine,Bagpuss


There have been quite a few Blog postings about the passing of Oliver Postgate ,thought i'd add my own. If you're from the UK and you're of a certain age Oliver Postgate's name and voice are as familiar as The Queen's. I watched Pogle's Wood at Nursery School The Clangers At Infants and though i'd never admit it at the time Bagpuss while being off sick from Secondary School.
What i'm still aware of is how organic all of his and his creative partner Peter Firmins work seems even now.
I went with some friends to a big Animation festival in Cardiff 97 or 98 ?the big draw for the festival was the presence of ILM. The Phantom Menace was upcoming and the main event hall was packed with people waiting to get a whiff of the new Star Wars film or maybe even some stories of the early groundbreaking days . A representative from ILM preceded the event by såying he could not talk or say anything about the new Star Wars film but he was going to give us a talk about a film equally as exciting... 'Flubber'. You could feel the energy and excitment drain out of the hall as he proceeded to wow us with just how they got a green glob of slime to bounce around the screen. The following day we went to the same hall which was maybe a quarter full and there on the stage was Gerry Anderson ,John Ryan ,Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate. Repectively creators of Thunderbirds, Captain Pugwash and The Clangers. After a Q&A session we could go down the front and after a sheepish request from someone to have a closer look at Bagpuss., Out came the puppets from various Sports Bags . John Ryan had original artwork from Pugwash and all of them were not precious about their creations being manhandled. They just looked really proud .
Oliver Postgate's films had a spot either at lunchtimes or early evening preceeding the news. If anyone remembers 70's Britain with any clarity it was'nt always cheerfull or pleasant place to be so those films were 5 or so minutes of much appreciated charm.
Someone in the audience at Cardiff said "'Thanks for my Childhood' I thought that was bit corny at the time,but man am i grateful for those films and the people who made them.

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