Captain Pugwash, the master of the Black Pig, is a rotund and somewhat less than fearsome pirate, who nevertheless engages in the usual piratical activies involving lost treasures and so forth. His arch enemy is Cut-Throat Jake, captain of The Flying Dustbin. Despite his blustering optimism and self-importance, Pugwash is usually unobtrusively saved from catastrophe by Tom the Cabin Boy.
Released: 1957
Language: English
Style: 2D animation
Rated: G
Musical Score by: Johnny Pearson
Based on: The Captain Pugwash books by John Ryan
Of Interest: Originally a black and white TV series starting in 1957, Captain Pugwash returned as a colour series in the 1970's, and again as a multi-million dollar series in the 1990's. The series used a process which Ryan called 'caption animation'. The crew used flat, cardboard cutouts of the characters, whose eyes, mouth, limbs etc were moved by a series of levers controlled by people off-frame. Essentially the same technique used for The Adventures of Prince Achmed. An urban legend grew up while the show was off air that it had contained characters with suggestive names (e.g. 'Master Bates' and 'Seaman Staines'). This was completely untrue (though there was a 'Master Mate'), and two British newspapers were forced to print an apology after swallowing the myth and printing it.
Links:
- Captain Pugwash Interactive Storybook -- Step aboard, me hearties, for 'Pugwash and the Sea Monster', a mighty fine interactive storybook with great pictures and a wicked foot-tappin'sea shanty.
- Jedi's Children's TV -- Captain Pugwash page, with screenshots, and reprint of early interview with John Ryan, explaining the 'caption animation' process.
|
|
/ 1 review)
Captain Pugwash