The Adventures of Twizzle | |
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The Adventures of Twizzle title screenshot |
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Also known as | Twizzle |
Genre | Adventure Children's Fantasy |
Format | Marionette puppetry |
Created by | Roberta Leigh |
Written by | Roberta Leigh |
Directed by | Gerry Anderson |
Voices of | Denise Bryer Nancy Nevinson |
Narrated by | Nancy Nevinson |
Composer(s) | Barry Gray |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Language(s) | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 52 |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Gerry Anderson Roberta Leigh |
Editor(s) | David Elliott |
Cinematography | Arthur Provis |
Camera setup | Single |
Running time | 13 mins approx. per episode |
Production company(s) | AP Films Banty Books |
Distributor | Associated-Rediffusion |
Broadcast | |
Original channel | ITV Network |
Picture format | Black and white |
Audio format | Mono |
Original run | 13 November 1957[1] – 10 June 1959 |
The Adventures of Twizzle (or simply Twizzle as it was known in some territories) is the very first television show produced by AP Films and specifically Gerry Anderson, after being approached by author Roberta Leigh (who also co-produced with Anderson) and her colleague Suzanne Warner. Sources vary as to who directed the series. In addition to his production duties, Anderson also directed the action[1] whilst photography was directed by Arthur Provis, Anderson's founding partner at AP Films. Music was scored by Barry Gray, art direction came from Reg Hill and special effects (which at the outset amounted largely to scenery painting[1]) were by Derek Meddings, all of whom would become long-time collaborators with Anderson. Twizzle and all the puppets for the 52 films were made by Joy Laurey, and there were 2 Twizzle puppets made for filming, 1 Twizzle puppet for conventional shots and another Twizzle puppet for the stunt shots when Twizzle's arms and legs became longer. The trick of extending Twizzle's arms and legs were based on a system of curtain rings and puppet strings pulled internally inside the puppets arms and legs.
Twizzle - from whom the series gets its name - is a boy doll with the ability to extend (or "twizzle") his legs and arms and wears a pixie like hat and has a cat companion known as "Footso". Although a boy, he was voiced by a woman, Nancy Nevinson who also narrated the series. Denise Bryer did Footso and the other voices.
The series follows his adventures as he uses his abilities to get out of trouble. In all, 52 episodes were made in black and white, although only the first, Twizzle and Footso, is believed to survive and was included as an additional feature on the boxed set of the entire series of Space Patrol released in 2003.
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Twizzle's legs looked suspiciously like drinking straws with lines around them in a swirling pattern and undoubtedly the figure was pushed up from below while the straw-like legs were twisted around to give the "Twizzle" effect. Twizzle originally lived in a toy shop and was sold to a naughty girl named Sally Cross. He escapes her that night and hides in a dog kennel where he finds Footso who has run away from home.
Twizzle proved useful in a fire by saving a child on a high window when no ladder was available for which he was given a racing car as a reward but after crashing it he swapped it for a breakdown truck which he uses for rescuing toys. Footso had large feet which sometimes trip him up, hence his name. Later came Jiffy the Broomstick Man (a cross between a broom made of twigs and a man who could sweep the floor on his own) who Twizzle and Footso rescued from the clutches of a stereotypical evil witch (who had threatened to burn him) when he flew up the chimney to escape her. The witch returned in a later episode and there was another narrow escape by all. Jiffy could fly by lying horizontal and would fly other people out of trouble. Twizzle and Footso built Straytown where stray toys (misfits) could live and lived in a cabin there. This theme was later carried over to Torchy the Battery Boy. Both ideas bear a resemblance to Peter Pan and Neverneverland.
All had their songs which were entertaining time-wasters, with Footso "dreaming of herrings and kippers and creamy cream" after which he'd say "Purr! Purr! Purr! Meowwll!", the latter loudly and then the show would continue (a theme Anderson later carried into Four Feather Falls). The songs were written by Roberta Leigh. There was also Chawky the white faced Golliwog who would complain: "Who wants a white faced golliwog" and Candy Floss, a "Mamma Doll" who could not say "mamma" as well as Bouncy, a ball who had lost his bounce. There was also a thin Teddy Bear as well as a China Doll and a Jack in the Box. An occasional visitor to Straytown was The Toy Inspector who would check on the toys living there.
There was a British annual brought out in 1960 by Brin Brothers Ltd, called More Twizzle Adventure Stories, "The lovable T.V. character by Roberta Leigh". It had 91 pages of text stories and comic style stories (18 of them with the one page introduction). Illustrations were by F. Woof. Apart from the covers and frontispiece which are in full colour, the rest of the illustrations are black and white with one other colour (red, orange, blue or green). The annual is printed on cheap cardboard-like paper and is now very rare though not sought after.
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