Le manège enchanté

TV Series
1964–1995
5m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Stop Motion Animation Adventure Animation Comedy Family Fantasy

Cult classic children's animated series about a group of human and animal characters that gather at the roundabout / carousel in the park. Although the original series is French there are mu... Read allCult classic children's animated series about a group of human and animal characters that gather at the roundabout / carousel in the park. Although the original series is French there are multiple dubbed versions from other countries.Cult classic children's animated series about a group of human and animal characters that gather at the roundabout / carousel in the park. Although the original series is French there are multiple dubbed versions from other countries.

Creator
- Serge Danot
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

470

YOUR RATING

Creator
- Serge Danot
Stars

7User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

Episodes441

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1964

Photos4

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Pollux - Le manège enchanté

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The programme started life as a French children's TV series "Le Manège Enchanté" (The Magic Roundabout). Dougal the Dog was named Pollux in the original French version and spoke French with a strong English accent. The animation was done by Ivor Wood who later went on to animate The Herbs (1968), The Wombles (1973), Paddington (1976) and Le facteur Pat (1981). Eric Thompson was asked to narrate a translation of the French script, but chose instead to discard the French script and devise his own stories, based purely on what was happening on-screen.

Connections
Edited into BBC Future Generations (1998)

User reviews7

Featured review

8/10

tournicoti tournicoton !

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...