Film CXL

( CXL: Woman of the Year (George Stevens, 1942) )

140 (Cinema: 64; DVD: 71; TV: 5)

R.I.P. Oliver Postgate

I knew that Postgate has been ill for some time, and he was 83 or so, but it's still a shock to hear that he has died. His father was a prominent historian of the working classes and he was related to politicians - but Postgate made an indelible mark on several generations of British children. Certainly the earliest sf I saw (excluding Dougal and the Blue Cat, which I heard until I was twenty) was Clangers, and just hearing the voice took me back. Even allowing for nostalgia, there is a magic to the simplicity of the animation that all but the best CGI and stop motion cannot match - Nick Park would have been unthinkable without him.

Seeing the original script for one of his programmes (I think Noggin the Nog) was a bigger tingle factor than any painting I can recall. The British animation exhibition on Postgate, Firmin and Godfrey at the Sydney Cooper gallery closes this week. I nearly went yesterday - I shall certainly go tomorrow.


http://www.dragons-friendly-society.co.uk/



And let us not forget that his film-making partner, Peter Firmin, is still with us - invisble despite having drawn the pictures.

Postgate Quiz

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/quiz/2008/dec/09/oliver-postgate-hot-topic


5/5 - easy peasy.