The Clangers

'The Clangers' is quite rightly looked upon as one of the greatest ever children's TV programmes. Created at the time that man walked on the moon for the first time, it benefited both from the interest in the space age, and the new availability of colour on television.

Therefore the series is loud, inventive, colourful, and fun. The family, Father and Mother, and Small and Tiny Clangers, are inquisitive, sweet, and talk in strange whistling noises (sometimes putting in little jokes to irk the paymasters at the BBC!). Below them deep in the ground, the Soup Dragon stirs an ever-boiling, never-ending, supply of green gloop, while Mother Clanger makes her blue string pudding.

Visitors to Clanger land never stay long, and always leave bewildered! The series was different to any which had gone before and has quite rightly become something of a cult.

Far from Earth on a distant planet live the Clangers – a strange, mousey form of alien life that sound uncannily like a load of penny whistles being played. Each episode, the Clangers face a different story on their quiet little planet – and none of them are ever straight forward. This series ran for less than 30 episodes but its influence runs deeper and it is telling that everyone knows the noise a Clanger makes and they are still sought after toys that are produced all these years later.

The stories are never that amazing but, narrated by Postgate, they have a sense of humour and unique wit that is often associated with Smallfilms cartoons and things like Magic Roundabout – it is hard to put into words but it is unmistakably British and not something that you see repeated often. The narration works wonderfully and really helps the shorts work but it is the imaginative animation that makes it stand out as one of those short animations that stay with children for decades. How I pity the generation that grow up the Saturday morning computer-generated serials that all involve robots and guns and constant action – they all look the same and do nothing to encourage imagination or invention in their minds.

The movement of the characters is jerky of course but it is not the quality that is important, rather it is the unique feel to it that works and the imaginative characters etc. It looks good and many people would be able to identify the series just by a single frame – so distinctive is it. The overall effect is a classic British animation that is funny, imaginative and distinctive with silly stories blessed with a touch of absurdist wit. Well worth seeing and well worth getting kids now to watch.

.. The finest thing to come out of the small screen at any time EVER.

The animation is the sort of thing you imagine you could knock up in your kitchen table on a few long winter nights.. stop camera, nudge puppet, expose a couple more frames, nudge puppet again.. it's jerky and quirky and utterly unsophisticated.

The Clangers themselves are basically pink knitted socks with eyes, and the props are, I believe, worked up from bits of thin brass sheeting, cardboard and Styrofoam.. with cotton wool and string, of course.

Without any visible lips to sync speech to, the Clangers just whistle and Oliver Postgate interprets what they say on the fly.

In spite of - or because of - this, the Clangers are more alive and have more personality than the most sophisticated cgi-generated and superbly voice-acted creations.

I look at the Clangers and I believe in them - they're real, but "illustrated" rather than depicted. The Clangers are a story being told, and carry the message with the film as words on a page carry a story. You don't accept that the ink on the paper is somehow alive, but you listen to the story behind the words. AND the storytelling is fantastic.

I look at Shrek, and I believe I'm seeing superb animation, but there's no real character behind the glossy facade. I see the printed words asking me to accept that they are real, rather than what they tell me is real. (yes, I like Shrek)

The Clangers are comfortable childhood dreams, the cosy warmth of snuggling down with a teddy bear with no worries beyond wondering what the weather will be like tomorrow.

The clangers inhabit a cosy, surreal reality where no-one ever gets hurt and something wonderful always happens to delight the senses, even if Mother Clanger doesn't always approve..

image.. Tiny Clanger fishing from her music-powered flying boat with a rod, line and horseshoe magnet and catching a passing "Hoot" - a baby musical horn which she takes home to discover it growing and hooting loudly enough to annoy the "grown up' Clangers..

Marvellous!!

Time for soup, said Mother Clanger.

Watch it with someone you love.

As a child in the early seventies I loved The Clangers. Made at a time when space was the big thing and we all "knew" that there would be people living on the moon before the end of the century this was made to meet the interests of the youngest of space fans.

Living on a distant planet which looks like a small version of the Moon the Clangers are a family of small mousy creatures who live in caverns under the surface, The don't talk as we do but are voiced by a Swanee whistle with the narrator explaining to us what they are saying. They have many adventures which are always gentle in tone they often feature other creatures such as the Soup Dragon and my personal favourite the Iron Chicken.

The characters are all fairly simple, the Clangers themselves are knitted soft toys and the Iron Chicken is made of Maccano. The narration by the creator, the late Oliver Postgate, couldn't be better, he has a gentle tone that feels almost like a grandfather telling a story to his grandchildren. While a little Jerky the stop-go animation is charming, I'm sure this series will appeal to younger children today as well as too their parents and people who watched it when they were children themselves.

Words cannot describe how much I loved my childhood. Watching films like Beauty and the Beast, Bambi and the Wizard of Oz and shows like Pingu, Rosie and Jim and this, The Clangers. Since then I have gone on watching various films and TV show, animated and non-animated, and I always try to revisit my childhood favourites. The Clangers is one of those I revisit, it's just that I loved it as a kid and it still holds up for me.

Visually, The Clangers is wonderful. Maybe not the most visually sumptuous I have seen, but it does have a unique visual style with lovely sets, props and colours. The music is also memorable and pleasant. The stories are often simple, but humorous too and rather cute. A major reason why The Clangers works so wonderfully is the narration of Oliver Postgate, I agree he is like a grandfather reading to his grandchild, and the narration itself is wonderfully written, a perfect balance of humour and whimsy. I love the mellow tone to his voice and his way of telling the story that he does with humour and excitement. And I have to say the characters are endearing, of course they're simple but they are memorable and likable I think.

Overall, a childhood favourite and in my opinion a must watch for those not already familiar with it. 10/10 Bethany Cox