Small World Animations – where Fireball XL5 meets Button Moon!

Scouring the backwaters of the ITV Hub for a period drama to watch (!!), I came across Fireball XL5 – all the complete series. An early 1960s Gerry Anderson “Supermarionation” (yes, that’s where Super Mario gets his name from) children’s series, I absolutely LOVED this when I was a little kid, and would always watch it, so long as our telly was working – not always a given in the middle of Dartmoor in the 1960s.

Here’s the first episode of Fireball XL5.

I remember it mainly for being the first thing I ever had a dream about, so I knew it had caught my five year-old imagination. However, it seems to have been more influential than I realised, as watching it again today, I see how much Shimmer and Disappear, the music video I animated in 2018, was inspired by it.!

You can find all the episodes of Fireball XL5 here on ITV (in the UK). It’s definitely worth a look. Even though some of the attitudes and views are pretty dated, the craft and the visual storytelling are extraordinary. Not so sure my effort quite lives up to it…! 🙂

In fact, my animation has been described as having more of a “Button Moon vibe”!

To give you an idea, here’s a still from Button Moon:

Coincidentally, all the series of Button Moon are also on the ITV Hub, so that’s where to head if this post has sparked your interest in British Sci-Fi Puppetry TV Shows For Kids!

“The Herds”

This is an amazing puppetry project, featuring life-size cardboard puppets of animals that will be walked across the world from the Congo to Trondheim in the Arctic Circle. Animals all over the planet are facing life-threatening dangers from global warming – this project aims to highlight the peril that they, and we (also animals), are all facing.

On the website you can sign up for the Newsletter to receive updates on the journey taking place from now till end August, and there are great education resources, including downloadable Puppet-making workshops! 🙂 I’ve uploaded the Pangolin here – it’s a bit fiddly, but worth the effort, and the materials (ie cardboard!) are very accessible.

THE HERDS How to Make Your PangolinDownload

Do try this at home – Read for Good story generator

Have a go at this – it’s brilliant. Here’s the story it generated for me (aka Lavinia)

The Pop Star

by Lavinia

I am smally olives, the famous pop star. All my fans threw their hot pants at me when I went on Top of the mops to sing my new single, ‘jumping tuba’. which reached number 5 in the charts. Anyway, I told paul macartney, ‘Compared to me, paul macartney, you sound like banana skin!’ Then paul macartney said ‘Oooh! Get you Lavinia! Wait till I tell cilla black!’

The End

Roll up, roll up for the Amazing Squirrel Circus animation workshop!

My next kids workshop will be a 2D stop motion animation workshop about a circus featuring the exploits of some very extraordinary squirrels!

Suitable for ages 5-12, it’s on 7 April from 10.30-12.30pm. You can book through Teignmouth Pavilions .

Come along, it’ll be lots of fun!

And here’s a little squirrel in my garden! 🙂

Fantastical Forests Art Workshop

Some beautiful, magical artworks were made at the “Fantastical Forests” workshop I ran at half term. So good to see all the children so busy and engaged, imagining and creating their own fantastical forest worlds.

Sensory pictures for spring

Spring is taking a while to get to Devon this year, so to brighten up the day we made some colourful, sensory spring pictures with bees and spring flowers.

I’ve been working for a few months with a small group of adults with very different abilities at a local care home. They really enjoyed creating their pictures using shiny paper, brightly coloured card and soft felts.

“Fantastical Forests” Illustration Workshop

Venue: Teignmouth Pavilions

Tuesday 18 February 2025 10.30-12.30pm

Who lives in the Fantastical Forest? What strange and extraordinary creatures live in its trees and lakes? What magical plants grow there?

Come and paint, draw, print and collage your own fantastical forest illustration full of magical creatures and plants. We’ll be using a wide variety of materials – paints, coloured pencils, collage and oil pastels – so come dressed for (a lovely little bit of) mess!.

One wonderful example of a fantastical world is The Moomins by Tove Jansson, and we’ll be having a look at her books and art during the session.

Price £12 per child

Suitable for ages 6-12 years

16 places

All children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult

The Owl and the Pussycat workshop

My next workshop will be at Teignmouth Pavilions Theatre on 12th February 10.30am-12.30pm. We’ll be reading the poem and finding out a bit about its author, the artist and writer Edward Lear, and learning a bit about “nonsense verse” too.

Come and make, colour and decorate your own model of Edward Lear’s characters The Owl and The Pussycat in their pea-green boat!  Keep it for yourself, or give it to the person you love most in the whole world for Valentines Day! Ages 5-11. Price £15

It’s going to a fun and super-creative session! Click here to book!

make your own santa shadow puppet show!

Here’s a lovely simple activity to download, perfect for keeping you, and your friends and family entertained for long dark nights. Learn how to make your own shadow Santa puppet and set up a shadow “screen” to perform on.

santa-shadow-puppet-workshopDownload
A little film I made of my Santa puppet…. see if you can do better!