This article is about the television series. For other uses, see Magic Roundabout.
The Magic Roundabout
Characters from the original Magic Roundabout
Genre
Children's television series
Created by
Serge Danot
Based on
Le Manège enchanté by Serge Danot
Written by
Eric Thompson
Narrated by
Eric Thompson
Nigel Planer
Jimmy Hibbert
Theme music composer
Alain Legrand[1]
Country of origin
France (original footage)
United Kingdom (audio content)
No. of episodes
441
Production
Animator
Ivor Wood
Running time
450 × 5 minutes (1965–1992)
104 × 11 minutes (2007–2010)
Production companies
Danot Production
AB Productions
Original release
Network
BBC 1
Release
18 October 1965 (1965-10-18) – 25 January 1977 (1977-01-25)
Network
Channel 4
Release
March 1992 (1992-03) – September 1993 (1993-09)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)
The Magic Roundabout is an English-language children's television programme that ran from 1965 to 1977. It used the footage of the French stop motion animation show Le Manège enchanté but with completely different scripts and characters.
The French series, created by Serge Danot with the help of Ivor Wood[2] and Wood's French wife, Josiane, was broadcast from 1964 to 1974 on ORTF (Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française). The BBC originally rejected translating the series because it was "charming... but difficult to dub into English",[2] but later produced a version of the series using the French footage with new English-language scripts unrelated to the original storylines. This version, written and told by Eric Thompson, was broadcast in 441 five-minute episodes between 18 October 1965 and 25 January 1977. It proved a great success and attained cult status,[2] and when in October 1966 it was moved from the slot just before the evening news to an earlier children's viewing time, adult viewers complained to the BBC.[2]
A new version is being made by Method Animation, targeted for 2024, that will try to "find a balance between the French and English contexts".[3]
^"Le manège enchanté". l'Institut national de l'audiovisuel. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
^ abcdCite error: The named reference bfi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Willsher, Kim (9 September 2022). "It's time for bed again: French team bring back The Magic Roundabout". The Guardian.
and 20 Related for: The Magic Roundabout information
TheMagicRoundabout is an English-language children's television programme that ran from 1965 to 1977. It used the footage of the French stop motion animation...
A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are all, with certain distinctions between them, a type of circular intersection or junction in which road...
remembered for creating and performing the English narration for TheMagicRoundabout, which he adapted from the original French Le Manège enchanté. Eric...
with roundabouts at the points that other roads join the main roundabout. MagicRoundabout (Colchester) MagicRoundabout (Hemel Hempstead) Magic Roundabout...
proclaiming he was "the British De Niro". Winstone provided the voice of Soldier Sam in the screen version of TheMagicRoundabout. In 2005, he appeared...
made the acclaimed French series Le Manège enchanté (known in English as TheMagicRoundabout), with Wood as the animator. Following the success of The Magic...
Dougal and the Blue Cat (French: Pollux et le Chat Bleu) is a 1970 animated film based on TheMagicRoundabout directed by Serge Danot. It was released...
Thompson for the BBC as TheMagicRoundabout. Danot was born in Nantes, France. As a young artist, he worked on the restoration of the Eiffel Tower and...
gate to open. As with The MagicRoundabout, the sophisticated writing style and narrative delivery of The Herbs meant that the appeal was somewhat broader...
the series, which was directed by animator Ivor Wood, who also worked on TheMagicRoundabout, The Wombles, Paddington, and The Herbs. Following the success...
Marsupilamis The Garfield Show The Jungle Book (co-production with DQ Entertainment International and ZDF Enterprises, season 3 only) TheMagicRoundabout (a.k...
Hype's "A Trip to Trumpton", which featured samples from Speed Racer, TheMagicRoundabout, Sesame Street, Charley Says, Roobarb, and Trumpton, respectively...
(international) or roundabout (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The "seats" are...
as Nicholas Craig The Nicholas Craig Masterclass (1992) as Nicholas Craig Carry On Columbus (1992) as The Wazir TheMagicRoundabout (1992, English adaptation...
Nighy is an English actor of the stage and screen. "The Man With The Stolen Heart". Charlotte Film Festival. Archived from the original on 8 August 2012...
2005, the animated film TheMagicRoundabout was released, in which she served as the voice actress for the role of Florence. She reprised the role in...
animator Ivor Wood, who also worked on TheMagicRoundabout, Paddington, and The Herbs. Following the success of the first season, and that of several subsequent...
Global Information