I don’t expect anyone out of the UK to know this man, but he is evry important to people of a certain age here in the UK.

Oliver Postgate made a lot of animated children’s TV programmes - Ivor the Engine, Noggin the Nog, Bagpuss - with a body of work spanning a good 30 years or so. They were small animated films - ether puppets or flat animation made with characters drawn on bits of card. The stories were pretty simple, but very well made, told and gentle in humour and delivery.

Sadly, he died yesterday, and like many others of my age, I am saddened by the news. He provided my childhood with a narrative, music and stories. The older I got, the more I appreciated them, and their production. I bought a leather jacket in the 1980’s and painted a Clanger on the back.

I still watch his output today - they are, to use the well-worn word "timeless".

Wikipedia entry

Smallfilms web site

I’ll dig out my Clangers DVD and watch some later this evening.

 

And here are The Clangers. That’s Oliver narrating the story.

[MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfsMZKwqw3w[/MEDIA]

 

He was no Dr. Who,
Yet it seems that he had a great following, The end of an era for sure.
R.I.P. Oliver!

 

The Clangers appeared on Dr Who. The Master was seen watching them and commenting on their life. He thought they were real :-)

 

So thats why I felt I had seen them before!

 

They were also in the first Tomb Raider film, fairly near the start.

Apparently, there are moves to revive them, Ivor the Engine and Bagpuss with new stories. I fear this will be the the ruination of my childhood if this happens. The only good thing to come out of this is the inevitable Ivor the Engine train set from Hornby.