American cartoons were exhillirating and entertaining, like a wild and entertaining ride through a colourful, fantastical world where anything seemed possible. Cartoons from Great Britain were more akin to a storybook than a movie. They were safe and comforting and warmly familiar but very rarely offered the highs of their American counterparts. American cartoons were a bag of candy, British cartoons were a cup of tea and biscuit. In Australia we were exposed to many of these British cartoons due to our main children’s channel ABC having links with British channels BBC, Thames-ITV and Channel 4 among others. They must have got a truckload of these shows per year on some discount offer. Many of the shorter ones were used as fillers in between longer format shows.
If American cartoons were from the big city, then British cartoons were from just down the street. Perhaps it was Australia’s British roots that made them seem sort of familiar? I grew up in the hills of South Australia where it would often be cold in winter and these cartoons were like a cosy blanket. They were not sugary and bright or full of snap, crackle and pop. They were often darker looking in their tones even to the point of glum. They always looked a little underdone or rougher around the edges than other cartoons too and this made them feel very accessible but also meant that they could very quickly become a little depressing to watch. They were closer to a throw away newspaper comic strip than a slick superhero comic with a glossy cover. Whenever a British cartoon came on I wouldn’t switch it off but I would usually feel like I was slightly coming down off the American cartoon before it. Maybe they provided the necessary mouthful of blandness between sugary meals?
The cartoons that spring to mind off the top of my head are Bananaman, Danger Mouse, The Ratties, Raggy Dolls, Henry’s Cat, Willo The Wisp, Superted, Jimbo, Count Duckula and Bangers & Mash.
These cartoons definitely fill with me with a comforting sense of nostalgia and do feel like part of the family, father than an exciting foreigner. They were full of puddles, gumboots, umbrellas, cobbled lanes and average looking brick lane houses and bedrooms with smokey chimneys. They were occupied by bobby policeman, double-decker buses and woodland creatures living in little houses, nestled in tree trunks. They were like a cup of tea on a dreary cold day at your grandmothers’ house, greasy, vinegary fish and chips eaten from newspaper on the windy docks of the town or baked beans and egg on toast.
Occasionally they’d leap out of this world into something a little more ‘out there’ in the case of Superted. Humour-wise they were a lot more subtle than the American cartoons. Dryer and usually peppered with historical references or jokes. Many of which probably went over our heads. Their theme songs were often more rambunctious and less smooth and tight than other cartoons too. Often their theme songs would be damn right irritating but this somehow added to their ‘ugly’ charm.
Here is one of the worst theme songs for The Ratties. Have a watch and cringe and see why I wanted to drown myself in my own bubble bath after I heard this one.
But then sometimes they would hit a really great little tune that was so loveable and warm to hear and made you excited to enter the world you were about to watch. This one was of my very favourites. The Raggy Dolls
The simple superhero theme song for Bananaman was also great in an understated way.
One style that the British did best I think was stop-motion. Some of the most memorable and well done series of the era were in this style. The Trap Door, Noddy, Morph, Wind in the Willows, Paddington, The Wombles and Fireman Sam . While many of the characters walked like they had clubfeet or some inner ear problem, they were charming and cute because of this.
Noddy was one of my favourites and when looking at it now was incredibly trippy.
I think what made many of these cartoons likeable was the fact they were unpolished and unpretentious, but they sort of knew it. They often looked as if they were drawn with a marker in about ten minutes, or animated using cut outs with a popsicle stick in the case of Captain Pugwash a looseness that American cartoons would never have dared entered on a mainstream level.
Next post: Cartoons from Japan
