germ@namur: The Magic Roundabout

Even though the term “The Magic Roundabout” could be understood as referring to a traffic circle located in Swindon, it’s also a TV series derived from a French one named Le Manège Enchanté. More specifically, it is a stop motion animation show created by Serge Danot, with the invaluable help of his friend Ivor Wood. In France, the series was broadcast on the ORTF channel (Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Français) from 1964 to 1974 and in England, on the BBC, from 18 October 1965 until 25 January 1977 at first in black and white, then in a coloured version. As it was a stop motion animation, the method of filming took a lot of time as every episode needed about 7500 pictures, which represents more or less two weeks of work. This TV programme was aimed at children but the parents were also tempted to watch, as the show was shown just before the news. Some of them even complained when it was rescheduled to earlier in the day!

Eric Thompson is the one who adapted the show into English. He did not simply translate the work of Serge Danot but created his own version in 441 episodes of only five minutes, doing also the narration and the voice of some characters. The reason why Eric Thompson did not simply translate from French into English is quite simple: he thought it was too complicated to dub, and he did not even like the French version that much, as he found it too noisy. After the success of the series, two full-length films were created: Pollux and the Blue Cat, released in 1972 and The Magic Roundabout in 2005.

The Magic Roundabout show is a very funny programme which talks about the adventures of Dougal and his friends. As the title suggests, the story takes place around a colourful carousel.

The characters of this show are really charming. First of all, there is Mr Rusty, an old man, owner of the Magic Roundabout. He and Florence, the sensitive little girl, are the only human beings in the series. The most famous character is of course the yellow dog, named Pollux in French, Dougal in English, whose voice was Eric Thompson’s in the first series. Dougal is Florence’s best friend. He often complains and hates it when the little girl does not pay attention to him. He is also sarcastic but still, he is the most appreciated character on this show. The funny thing is, Dougal was not supposed to be so important, but after some letters of the audience asking why he didn’t talk often, the directors decided to give him a bigger role. Dougal is surrounded by a lot of friends, such as Brian the snail, who follows the dog no matter what weird idea he has; Ermintrude the cow; Dylan the rabbit, who seems asleep most of the time; and Zebedee, a Jack-in-the-box that appears in the very first episode to help Mr Rusty to be happier.

The Magic Roundabout became famous in England with its eight million spectators on average. It is not a surprise if everyone still knows it nowadays because both parents and children could watch it. Moreover, The Magic Roundabout is the first series which gave its name to a famous traffic circle.

Catherine Carpentier, Valentine Delvaux, and Axel Zlotowski