Although they'd had a previous hit with Supercar, this was the series that established Gerry Anderson and AP Films as major players in the world of television. The series captured the imagination of the public at a time when the space race between the USA and Russia was at its height. Set in the year 2063, Fireball XL5 followed the exploits of Colonel Steve Zodiac as he piloted a 300ft rocket propelled spaceship. Now, instead of wanting to be a cowboy, every child wanted to be a spaceman! Gerry Anderson would cater to this ambition with his next series - Fireball XL5. Kennedy, on, announced before a special joint session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the decade, a brand new age dawned. Within three years AP Merchandising could boast retail sales exceeding £750,000. It was during the production of Supercar that Anderson set up AP Films (Merchandising) Ltd, a separate company set up to handle the licensing of merchandising rights for APF properties and designed purely to cash in on his product. Before you could mutter the word 'merchandise' there were wooden puppets of most of the characters, plastic figures by Cecil Coleman Toys, a 'Supercar Magnetic Adventures' board by Allan Industries Ltd (a painted magnetic board featuring cardboard cut-outs of different characters from the show so you could create your own Supercar adventures at home), a Supercar Intercom Set by Merit, a large friction model of the craft by Fairylite and, most famous of all among collectors, a Budgie diecast model of Supercar (this being very hard to find these days with the front aerial still intact). When Supercar arrived on British TV screens in 1961 it captured the imagination of its young audience like no other series before it. At this point the Deputy Managing Director of Associated Television, Lew Grade, who was also beginning to build a huge reputation for himself, stepped in and bankrolled Anderson's next project: A series about a futuristic craft that could travel in the air or under the sea - Supercar. Following the success of the series as well as his impressive CV, Anderson quite naturally expected a commission for another series. Gerry Anderson had broken away from Roberta Leigh after Torchy, and Four Feather Falls was the first production of his company AP Films. It was Anderson's fourth series that proved to be the turning point. The same was true of Anderson's next series - Torchy the Battery Boy, although merchandising began to pick up with Anderson's third series, a cowboy puppet series called Four Feather Falls. There were records, annuals and card sets, but only one stringed puppet which was made by Pelham. Cautiously though, there were precious few Twizzle toys created. And toy manufacturers wanted - well, toys. The television series was so well received that Associated Rediffusion wanted another. The Adventures of Twizzle was first broadcast on Novemat 4.30pm. Details were added to the set and during filming Anderson employed cuts and close-ups, all of which were unheard of in a children's puppet series up to that point. To compensate, he and Art Director Reg Hill decided to add a number of 'film technique' elements. Anderson, who had previously made some television commercials, had been aware that puppets seen on television up to that point were quite grotesque looking and static in as far as eye movements and facial expressions. Children's writer Roberta Leigh was the creator of Twizzle, but it was Gerry Anderson and his partner Arthur Provis who bought the doll to life in what proved to be a ground-breaking puppet series. He drove a red breakdown truck and set about rescuing broken toys. Twizzle was a 'living' boy doll who had the ability to extend his arms and legs to amazing lengths. Television Merchandising 1950 1960s TV Tie-Ins: Disney to Daleks and Beyond
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |