Clangers to make TV return

[cronus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24523203

Clangers to make TV return

Beloved children's show, the Clangers is being resurrected, with a new series in production for CBeebies in 2015.

Debuting in 1969, the show told the tale of a race of knitted aliens eking out a threadbare existence on a cold blue planet, not far from Earth.

The pink, mouse-like creatures lived in craters covered by dustbin lids - whose noisy "clang" gave the show its name.

Co-creator Peter Firmin said the new series would involve "great storytelling with lots of heart".

The puppet-maker, whose other credits include Ivor The Engine and Bagpuss, promised the new series would be markedly different from the crude, jerky animation of the original.

"When you watch the original Clangers you have to make allowances for the limitations of the animation techniques when it was made," he said in a statement.

"It was magical for its time, but this is a new Clangers for a new age!"

(continued, and next week they'll be painting over the Mona Lisa to make it look more Rothko.)

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

"When you watch the original Clangers you have to make allowances for the limitations of the animation techniques when it was made," he said in a statement.

It wasn't bad considering it was produced in a garden shed.

[cronus]

"When you watch the original Clangers you have to make allowances for the limitations of the animation techniques when it was made," he said in a statement.

It wasn't bad considering it was produced in a garden shed.

Very influential on me during my formative years. Compared with the Apollo landings which dragged on all day they were the biz.

[Trinity]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! (I do actually have a dvd of them).

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

I think they should rename them Space Wombles.

[Thinking Aloud]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! (I do actually have a dvd of them).

You are not the only one.

[JimC]

"When you watch the original Clangers you have to make allowances for the limitations of the animation techniques when it was made," he said in a statement.

It wasn't bad considering it was produced in a garden shed.

They say that about my bathtub gin!

[Clinton Huxley]

Hope they don't update it too much. The day I see a Clanger twerking while updating its MyFace status is the day a very expensive cavalry boot goes through the TV.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

"When you watch the original Clangers you have to make allowances for the limitations of the animation techniques when it was made," he said in a statement.

It wasn't bad considering it was produced in a garden shed.

Not quite. It was a disused cowshed!

[Animavore]

Apparently the new series will be made on a pre-owned Apple Mac

[Audley Strange]

Apparently the new series will be made on a pre-owned Apple Mac

They could blow half a billion on it and it'll still be crocheted pigs and slide whistles doing mundane tasks on the moon.

We have a popular culture of remakes, rereleases, reimaginings and cover versions more and more, which makes me wonder, are we at a dead end or is it just the idea that public will always be happier with the familiar than the novel, so why take risks.

Or is it just our generation is almost crippled by nostalgia for its youth? I dunno, just seems like scraping the barrel.

[cronus]

Ageing population. A way to maximise viewing figures?

[Audley Strange]

Ageing population. A way to maximise viewing figures?

Certainly that's what it seems like. I guess as ever parents want their kids to enjoy what they enjoyed as kids, but the clangers was 40 years ago, those who were kids then are approaching grandparent age so it seems weird. I think the BBC found Dr Who to be such a success they decided to stick to reanimating anything that was vaguely popular in their annals since they seem to have stuck to that and legal based Surname drama for about the last decade.

[Trinity]

I guess I applaud things like the clangers coming back because so many modern kids programmes seem to be high octane hyperactive bonkers. I agree that there should be some new creative risks taken, but a move away from the "in your face" garishness that's rammed in kids faces right now.

[Audley Strange]

I guess I applaud things like the clangers coming back because so many modern kids programmes seem to be high octane hyperactive bonkers. I agree that there should be some new creative risks taken, but a move away from the "in your face" garishness that's rammed in kids faces right now.

Sure but the Clangers is Slo-mo bonkers. I mean there's a soup dragon on the moon. Let that sink in. I take your point, it seems like now they are all developed by twenty something coke-headed business types whereas in the seventies they seemed to be developed by opium addicted eccentrics.

Still at least they aren't making Winston the English Defence Bulldog.