Le manège enchanté

I got to confess I was way too young to enjoy this TV show in any meaningful way. Still, in some weird way, some of these characters are part of my happy subconscious, my dreamscapes.

A series where a clothed rabbit lives side by side with a naked cow, a giant snail, an out-of-the-box jack-in-the-box, and an assortment of quirky characters has to assuredly be memorable. Even to 4-year-old me.

I remember this children's television programme. I used to watch it when I was younger and it was shown on Channel 4 in the 1990s. I heard it was shown on the BBC in between 1965 and 1977. I thought I found it very entertaining.

Eric Thompson did a great job for narrating this series.

Back in summer 2005, I watched some extras in the DVD of The Magic Roundabout when I was fifteen years old and I revealed the classic children's television programme of the same name was originally made in France. I did not even know that The Magic Roundabout was French. I thought it was made in the UK.

Anyway I still like The Magic Roundabout. My favourite characters are Dougal, Zebedee, Dylan and Florence.

Originally made for European TV, this achieved cult status when finally screened in Britain thanks to Eric Thompson's narration. Yes, it was Emma Thompson's dad who turned this into such a smash and the whole thing was rejigged again in 1990 when Nigel Planer took the voice over duties.

Still great fun for those kids who have now grown up and are watching it with their own children.

The animation is simple but effective and Thompson's scripts are deliciously witty. His voices for ever pompous Dougal, the sugar- munching dog and cocky Brian the snail never fail to engage.

Other characters such as Florence, Ermintrude the cow and Dylan, the hippy rabbit help round out one of the finest kids shows ever.

Track down Dougal and the Blue Cat if you want some feature length fun. Failing that, the five minute adventures are great fillers.

It's great the way Eric Thompson added his own witty commentary to a French children's programme. That's what made it so good. He watched it with the sound turned off and devised his own narration in a manner similar to Woody Allen in "What's Up Tiger Lily". A lot of the humour was a bit too advanced for kids and a most of the jokes would have been lost on them but Mums and Dads enjoyed it and this is the reason for the programme's enduring popularity.

What we've got here is a French series for very young children (from zero to seven or eight years, I'd say, although I'm not much of a judge of age categories). It's an immensely charming series which started out in France but gradually conquered large parts of the known world. I remember watching it as a child, and being absolutely delighted by it.

The series had much to recommend it : a variety of friendly and well-drawn characters, sweet songs, pleasant stories and a nice line in gentle wit. The various episodes were short, too, which turned them into ideal bedtime stories or sweet little treats.

Looked at from a 2019 perspective, the series has gained an additional charm : it's got a cosy, handmade feel to it, which contrasts nicely with all the computer-generated and/or decided-by-commission crap released nowadays. (One does not need much imagination to picture two or three Frenchmen in shirtsleeves carefully moving the dog Pollux, one meticulous millimetre after another, while discussing the merits of the 'coq au vin' in the local bistro. Meanwhile there's another Frenchman sitting on a nearby chair, smoking a cigarette and making cutting remarks about the latest presidential address.)

Mind you, I'm talking about the first and original "Magic Roundabout". The creation went through various later adaptations. I never saw one of those but I do know that both the tone and the look changed - and probably not for the better...