Usually when we think of British animated shows even those from long ago we usually think of something that is 2D animated or has some form of 2D animation in it. Yet that is not the case with the episode that i'm going to be talking to you all about today as here the characters where all knitted with there being no 2D element to it all and yet the episode still has alot of charm to it and so then join me as In review the episode that is very charming with the episode in question being called simply just "Flying" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when Major Clanger hurts himself testing out his flying machine Small Clanger and Tiny Clanger have to go to the soup dungeons to get him some soup. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this vert episode was in all honesty really good. The best word that could be used to describe this episodes plot is simple as that is exactly what it is in the best sense of the word it's a simple plot that is very easily to follow along with with the characters having a clear goal in mind. Yet this doesn't take away from the episodes plot and doesn't stop it from being good rather it adds to the charm of the episode as due to the episodes documentary feel having a more simple plot is something that would work to the episodes advantage and while plots for first episodes of kids TV shows today prefer to have these big epic plots that introduces all of the characters there's something about the episodes more simpler plot that oddly makes something that your not only going to remember but also something that both kids and grown ups will find enjoyable as there are things in the plot that both age groups will like and will have fun with as there's nothin harmful in this plot and there's nothing that will confuse kids in it rather its just a plot that's not afraid of being a simple plot with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is this shows creator and writer Oliver Postgate as The Narrator with him being the only person in the show. While this is wasn't an uncommon thing back in those days as alot of British kids TV shows did have just the one actor in them nine times out of ten they were just playing different characters here due to the fact that the characters speak using slide whistlers Oliver is the one that is purely just The Narrator with him being the one to explain alot of who alot of the characters and set the scene for the episode and this is something that he does do wonderfully with his voice making the series and the episode for that matter oddly sound alot more adult due to how he says certain things which is something that is missing in alot of kids shows today. This is something that does add to the documentary feel to both the show and the episode as the whole thing does feel like a documentary with Oliver being the Sir David Attenborough of the show and it is something that does work for this show and for this episode with it having the added advantage of making this show well and truly stand out as the show would have become just like every other kids show out there at the time if they did have just the one actor voicing all of the characters but due to the fact that they didn't take that approach it is something that makes the episode stand out from all of the rest with the same thing also being true for this show, yet one can't help but wonder what this episode would sound like if it was fully voice acted as while the slide whistles do add charm to the episode episode they also make it hard to tell which character is which but in saying this tho the episode could very well loose that extra something if it was fully voice acted.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this vert episode was in all honesty really good. To be frank even tho there isn't acting in the typical sense as no one is playing a character in this episode one could argue that there is still acting as The Narrator still does have to tell the story in this regard Oliver Postgate does do a really good as afterall who else to better narrate this series then the person that not only wrote the series but also created it as he does have perhaps the best understanding of how to narrate this episode better then anyone else. With the best actor in this episode by default being Oliver Postgate as he does have the right voice for his show as this is a show and an episode that requires more of a serious voice and a voice that can make this episode feel both childlike and adult and this is something that he does do beautifully with it being a wonder that the show isn't that more well known just for just acting alone as it is something that does help to bring the overall expirence of this episode to life with it even making the show on the whole feel alot more like documentary and alot less like every single other kids TV show out there. With the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so good that all this episodes actors really has to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance really will come out pf them them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the animation for this episode is the legends and the really greats that are currently over at Smallfilms. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this vert episode was in all honesty really good. The fact that this episode does gave some really good looking animation in it was something that was quite surprising as by all rights this episode shouldn't have that good animation in it due to the fact that all of the main characters are knitted characters with that being something that doesn't really lend itself to animation. Yet here it's something that does work as do the characters mouse like designs as they are simple enough or kids to recognise what they are and yet there distinct enough for them to stand out and not be compared to something like The Wombles for example which they very easily could have done with the fact that they are knitted characters also makes you wonder how they managed to animate the characters as there would need to be something underneath the fabric for the animators which in this case was Oliver Postgate himself there would need to be something there that would enable him to animate the characters and to make the show in the way that he wanted to and while the movements aren't as fluid as they could have been this is something that really doesn't harm the episode, rather the whole animation process in this case does add to the charm of the episode as it wonderful just thinking about how they would have been able to animate these characters and make them come alive in the first place and the fact that the revival series stuck to this method and didn't use CGI does prove that it is a charming thing that does work.
The best word that could be used to describe this episode is imaginative as the episode is full to the brim with creativity as it does take as full advantage of the fact that it's not only an animated series but its also an animated series thats made for kids and happens to be set in outer space. With the Clangers living on the moon and having an entire home underneath the moon's surface but then on top of that they have a room where they can get green soup from a dragon that is just such a creative idea and it's one that could only work in an animated form and it's something that doesn't really need explaining as this is meant to be a kids show and therefor you do end up just accepting it as that's just how life is for these characters. While yes it would have been nice if the makers of this episode did take the time to explain things like why these characters live on the moon or why they have a dragon that only gives them green soup it's not really something that's needed and it is something that very well could take all of the fun out of the episode as the episode would then need to spend vast amounts of time in just explaining that very aspect, on the other hand given the fact that this show does kind of have a universal appeal to it as you could show this episode to both a kid and a grown up and still get the same level of enjoyment out of it it still would have been nice if some of those things would have been explained as while the kids will accept those things for what they are the adults might have a harder time with that and therefor it would've been nice if the episode did take a few seconds to just to explain those things away even tho it would stop the episode from being as fun as it could have been on the other hand tho given how whimsical and imaginative the episode is those things don't need to be explained and they should just be accepted as they are.
For those of you that don't know Clangers first started airing on BBC1 on the sixteenth of November nineteen sixty nine with it's final episode airing on the tenth of October 1974. With this original series lasting only two years and one special yet the characters did remain in the public conscious tho so much so that in 2015 there would be a revival series with Sir Michael Palin taking over the role of the narrator with that series lasting all the way until 2020 and having three series and two specials weather or not the revival is any good or not is a different story all together but it is something that does show that sticking to what works with these characters and sticking to what people liked from the original show s something that will always bring people into to watch the new show if you want a more modern example of this look at the Scrubs revival as that did the exact same thing it kept what people liked about the original show and gave us good stories out of it. This is series is one that due to the fact there are no voice actors to replace as you only have to replace the main narrator does mean that the show could have universal appeal as alot of the action is told from the characters and not just what the narrator is saying and yet this show does oddly enough seem to be only well known here in the UK this is despite the fact in American the revival series is narrated by William Shatner who is arguably a better for the show then Sir Michael Palin is as William Shatner does have more expirence with TV shows set in space but in saying this tho Sir Michael Palin does have the right amount of charm and wit needed to pull this show of.
There is one thing that is really annoying about this episode and that's the fact that's there's nothing distinctive about how the characters look. Which is somethin that does make it hard to tell just who is who as there's nothing about the way they look or what there wearing that makes each character stand out again to bring up The Wombles with that show you could tell who is who which is something that does make it alot more easier for us the audience to full get on board with an episode of the show whereas here in this episode it's the opposite thats true as you send more then half the episode working out who is meant to be who and when you do work all of that out the episode is coming to its end whereas if the makers of this episode had added things to either the characters designs or what they wear then it would make them alot more easier to work out just who is meant to be who. Not really helping things in this case is the fact that they have two characters who's names mean the exact same thing as we have Small Clanger and Tiny Clanger with both small and tiny meaning the exact same thing with the only difference in he two characters being the fact that Tiny Clanger is just a few inches smaller then Small Clanger is and even then that's not really something that you pick up on right away and therefor there should have been something added to them to make it more obvious just who is Small Clanger and who is Tiny Clanger like maybe since Tiny is meant to be a baby why not have him wearing something that a baby or a small child would wear like maybe he wears something brightly colored just something would work, yet things get more complicated when you factor in Major Clanger who looks exactly like Small Clanger with this being a case where adding things to the characters designs would have helped to make it more easier for us the audience to work out just who is meant to be who and not leave us wondering whom is who for alot of the episode.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly nine minuets and twenty nine seconds. This is pretty much the bogstandard running time for this show as alot of the episodes do have very similar running times to them and to be frank here you do feel alot of that running time with this being due to the fact that for a large portion of this episodes running time there really isn't alot of happening to further the plot with it feeling like that the makers of this episode are just making the plot up as they went along this is something that obviously wasn't the case but that's what it does feel like as the stuff with Major Clanger gets resolved within five minuets with the rest of the episode having to do with Small Clanger and Tiny Clanger inventing a a flying machine which gets Tiny Clanger stuck to the roof of there home with the episode having more then enough plot to really cover that that amount of running time in the first place. With the episode not really using its running time all that wisely as the episode really doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot which is more due to the fact that the episode is very much done like a documentary but it is something that could have been fixed just by adding something to the plot that would have made the plot of the episode feel more well developed with the makers of this episode being more focused on showing of its space setting then it was in giving us a well developed plot. This is something that is kind of true for the episodes character development as while the episodes characters aren't that well developed this is something that again could be argued is more due to the fact that the show is very much done in a documentary style and those don't typically give the characters character development therefor it wouldn't have made no sense for the makers of this episode to do ether but given that this is a TV show it still would have ben nice if the characters got some form of character development with the makers of this episode being putting more thought and effort into not making it clear just which Clanger is which then they where into giving the episodes characters some character development but i really will admit that this episode really does have some really bad pacing to it tho/
So now then as this is a comedy show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy tats actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. Much like the episodes plot this episodes comedy can be described as being simple as that's exactly what it is and such like the plot this is something that does work well in the episodes favor as these are characters that are meant to have simple jokes that the whole family can enjoy and get some basic amount of amusement out of and this is somethin that just wouldn't be possible if the jokes where more complex. With the best joke in the whole entire episode being a good example of this as when the rest of the Clangers are trying to get Tiny down from the roof the episodes cuts to one Clanger trying to climb up what might be a plant only for when he gets to the top the plant just bends over causing him to fall to the ground this is a simple joke yes but that's exactly why it works because it is so simple and because of that it is a joke that the whole family can enjoy as little kids will love it because of the fact that it is this silly moment and adults will like it because its a cute joke which is exactly the type of jokes that work best of a show like this as if the episode had more adult type jokes in it they would just feel out of place and yet having cute jokes for the whole family is something that does work with the rest of this episodes jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this is an episode that is hard to sum as while the more simplistic nature of the show and of the episode is something that does work in the episodes favor the fact that the episode doesn't really make it clear who is who alot of the time is something that does make it hard to fully recommend in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now the i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in his very episode in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.





























