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In 1963, after devoting 25 years as a publicist for an advertising agency, Serge Danot, from the Clisson region of France, decided it was time for a change. From this decision Le Manège Enchanté (The Horse-gear Magic) was born. Assisted by his wife Josiane and an English friend, Ivor Wood, Danot made over 500 episodes between 1963 and 1967.
The original programmes were filmed in a derilict house in Paris where the electricity used by the sets lights continually blowed the fuses. Using 24 frames a second, each five minute episode of The Magic Roundabout uses 7500 images.
First seen on French television on October 6th 1964, this programme was an instant success which its creator had not anticipated. Pollux (Dougal) was one of the most famous dogs, and still is today with his love of sugar and long hair. Zébulon (Zebadee) with his spring and his famous "Tournicotti-Tournicotton" (time for bed), put, and continues to put, generations of children to sleep, the only difference is the decade.
Originally the BBC turned down this hit French series, as it would be difficult to dub into English. However the BBC’s Head of Children's Programming decided to pass it on to Joy Whitby, the producer of Playschool who then gave it to one of the presenters of the show to see if he could voice an adaptation. That presenter’s name was Eric Thompson.
Eric Thompson chose not to work from translations of the French script, instead making up the stories as he went along. He re-named the characters and introduced irony, wit and melancholy to the English language shows. Pollux became the curt Dougal In Thompson's hands, Pollux became the dry, curt Dougal we know and love hovering round the garden with a put-down for every event. Even the theme tune was speeded up for British production. Along with Dylan the newly hippified rabbit, the ever-cheerful Brian the snail, enthusiastic flower-chewing Ermintrude the cow and all the rest, Dougal and his friends were ready for English stardom. The 'new' series first aired in the UK on 18 October 1965.
The fact that the five minute programme showed just before the evening news guaranteed that the programme had a
viewing figure of over eight million. The show was enjoyed by two generations, by the children for its innocent
good fun and by the adults for its witty commentary.
With its heavy sixties feel, the show soon achieved a cult status. The show contained a slightly dubious cast of
characters. Dougal, the hairy dog who lived on an exclusive diet of, er, sugar, a spring with a moustache called
Zebedee who arrival was announced with a boing and declared that it was ‘time for bed’, Dylan the
rabbit who could be growing something other than carrots in his vegetable patch, Ermintrude the pink cow who had
amazing neck flexibility, Brian the snail and his scarf, Florence the girl and their friends.
Danot’s wife has denied the link people have made between the show and drugs, claiming the drug culture of today
didn’t exist them, but maybe Dougal’s sugar is just sugar, and Dylan’s mushrooms are just mushrooms.
After two years of The Magic Roundabout showing at 5:55pm the BBC attempted to change the time to one hour earlier, causing a huge response and forcing them to return The Magic Roundabout to it’s original spot. Even in the 1970’s, people still had opinions to express on this subject:
"I should like to know how the BBC thinks I am going to regain my equilibrium after teaching all day if there is no Magic Roundabout to come home to?"
52 unseen French episodes were bought for Britain by Channel Four. Unfortunately, Eric Thompson was dead by then, so Nigel Planner provided narration and script adaptation to these.
Le Manège Enchanté (Magic Roundabout) has been shown on over 98 TV stations world wide and translated into 28 languages, proving a true success.
"It comes from a simple history of the everyday life, with characters having humor, poetry and an anecdote
to be as much close to the parents than children, which makes it possible to join together various generation for
this famous animation."
Brian is a snail. A snail with common sense, intelligence and good intentions. He credits the others in the gang as being cleverer than himself, but without this brave mollusc things would always turn out worst. Agreeing sometimes with Dougal’s more ridiculous ideas, he rectifies the situation by a “Do you think…” or “Maybe we should…”
Dougal is often considered the main character in The Magic Roundabout . One of the best descriptions of him is from his amigo Dylan,"...That crazy dog with the...like...way-out fur?" Dougal is a maltese Terrier and stars in his own film, Dougal and The Blue Cat. Dougal enjoys turning round and round in circles, upsetting Ermintrude and insulting Brian. He also has an addiction to, er, sugar cubes. He believes he is the brains of the bunch and is arrogant and has reached new heights in the field of rudeness. Underneath his shaggy fur and harsh tongue however, is just a big softie. Dougal has everything needed in a leading dog, including the ability to daydream, sarcastic wit and a droll sense of humour.
Ah, Dylan. This rabbit rarely awakens, and then only to play his guitar. Without him, the whole theory that The magic Roundabout is actually about drugs. In fact, the only episode Dylan is really crucial to is The Magic Mushroom Instantly recognisable with his big teeth and hands, Eric Thompson created his hippy persona, which is the main evidence for the drug theory.
In the new film, Sprung, our favourite old characters are played by well known actors and pop stars:
Dougal is Robbie Williams
Florence is Kylie Minogue
Brian is Jim Broadbent
Ermintrude is Joanna Lumley
Dylan is Bill Nighy
Soldier Sam is Ray Winstone
Tom Baker is ZeeBadee
And Sir Ian McKellen is Zeebede
The plot of the film is based around the breakdown of the roundabout and the need to recover the crystals that power it before the world is frozen over by the evil Zebadee. Dylan seems to spend a more than usual amount of time awake, and even kicks of the film with The Kinks, You Really Got Me on his guitar, with the help of Ermintrude. Dougal’s love of sugar leads him astray, and Brian is stirringly courageous, especially in pursuit of a certain pink cow!
Here are some websites I’ve found helpful with this webpage:
Magicroundabout.com
Zebidee
Film
Characters
More about the film