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Skip
and Fuffy (1977)
producers: Gordon Murray for the BBC
animation:
stop-motion animation
episodes: 5 min episodes
Now
here's a rare gem. Skip and Fuffy were created by Gordon Murray, who
had previously brought us the delights
of "Rubovia" and the three series based
in the mythical county of Trumptonshire.
The "Skip and Fuffy" films were featured
on the BBC's "Multi-Coloured Swap Shop"
back in 1977-1978. With the help of
Murray's narration the youngsters would
take it in turns to play word games, and
tricks with language incorporating nouns
into limericks and couplets which, when
pronounced phonetically could be mistaken
for something else.
Confused?
Well, let's take a look at young Skip
there. He's holding a soup tin and
wants us to "Catch this one!"
Catch what, exactly? - Why, the hidden word
CANADA in the limerick he now recites:
I'm going on a picnic treat
With others on our troop.
I've got the bread and cheese
and here's a CANADA
best soup...
Then we had this kind of exchange concerning
rhubarb:
SKIP: We've
just spent a day at the local gymkhana,
With
barrow and bucket and spade.
We've
worked very hard and we've cleaned up the litter,
That
hundreds of horses have made.
FUFFY:
But what shall we do with the fruits of our labour?
The
odour is hardly divine!
SKIP: We're going
to spread it all over the rhubarb.
FUFFY: I'd rather have custard
on mine!
Okay, so it wasn't rocket science, but
it was certainly an interesting addition
to the Murray CV, and served as a stepping
stone on to the Gublins
films
which featured further linguistic trickery...
The
1st Swap Shop book
Our playful twosome get their very own
page in the first "Multi-Coloured
Swap Shop Book" published by the
BBC in 1978. The page is sub-titled:
"Genoa - Batter - Won?" and
it includes the two ditties detailed earlier
on this page, alongside ones for BULLETIN,
AVENUE and AMAZON.
Oddly, no credit is given to the
characters or those verses...
Skip
and Fuffy Jigsaws
In 1978, Falcon produced at least
two "Skip and Fuffy" jigsaw puzzles.
to tie-in with the characters' "Swap
Shop" appearances. The one
above is Puzzle No.2, consisting of thirty
chunky pieces...
Skip and Fuffy created by Gordon Murray
with music by Freddie Phillips
On
the web
Trumptonshire
Web
The
Trumptonshire Web. The search engines favourite for Gordon
Murray and Trumpton, it also features
additional info and links for Rubovia
and The Gublins. But alas, no Skip
and Fuffy as yet...