Ivor the Engine Original Artwork

[relaxinghobby]

And Bag Puss too. Meet the Clangers in all their knitted glory. The Soup Dragon is Meccano but there is none of the original Ivor cardboard models. But there is a whole gallery of him and the Small Films design artwork. A nostalgic trip for all railway modellers of Ivor and other imagineering , as some mousers say.

 

I found my self on a pre-Christmas shopping trip to the old town of Canterbury. Snapped a lot of cute and ancient half timbered buildings in the side streets all very model-able. Got snap happy then popped into the city museum and library on the main shopping street in the middle of town. Called the Beany for some reason but like so many museums, galleries and exhibition there is no where to sit down. I have low tolerance easy to tire knees.

What a great surprise. A  whole side gallery displaying the art work of Oliver Postgate and  Peter Firmin  know as Small Films including the  Welsh branch line themed Ivor the Engine Stories. The only engine with a three whistle set up to play tunes.

 

Also some social and cultural history at the entrance. Magnificent full size oil portraits of Farmer Browns favorite Bull, incredible agricultural paintings from the 18th century. Social history of ordinary people.

 

https://canterburymuseums.co.uk/collections/the-beaney/the-smallfilms-gallery/

 

Some artwork here

 

http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/ivor/index.htm

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by relaxinghobby
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[Bernard Lamb]

Some years ago, 2016 possibly there was an exhibition of all the Oliver Postgate related material at the V & A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. Bag Puss and The Clangers in the flesh so to speak, plus a lot of Ivor material.

Fascinating stuff.

Thanks for highlighting it.

Bernard

 

[41516]

I went to the V&A while that exhibition was on. There was a board with various Ivor assets with an camera positioned over the top. You could create your own little short by moving the pieces, saving images to build frames before playing back your animation.

 

3 hours ago, relaxinghobby said:

The Soup Dragon is Meccano

 

The Iron Chicken!  I think the poor old Soup Dragon would be very confused if you mixed them up.

[Hal Nail]

Peter Firmin brought the whole lot, including an Ivor with rotating wheels, to Shirley (Hants) library when I was a kid.

[decauville1126]

I too went to the V&A exhibition at Bethnal Green and photoghraphed everything. Interesting in the variations over time, particlarly the number of spokes to the driving wheels. One major revelation was an outline sketch showing frames with what seems to be cutouts for a Triang-style motor. Was a motorized version thought about I wonder. 

Edited November 21, 2023 by decauville1126
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[Coldgunner]

For those who want to relive the series, its on Blu Ray now

http://www.fabulousfilms.com/products/835

[westernviscount]

15 minutes ago, Coldgunner said:

For those who want to relive the series, its on Blu Ray now

http://www.fabulousfilms.com/products/835

I found myself watching the first episode as it is on ITV x premium and I had a trial. 

 

What a wonderful children's program. To think how lovingly and skilfully kids TV was crafted then. Youtube reigns supreme today sadly, although I am sure Ivor is available on there :-)

[Steven B]

18 hours ago, westernviscount said:

To think how lovingly and skilfully kids TV was crafted then.

 

It still is. Whilst a lot uses computer generated animation, you'll still find many of the old skill alive - the new Clangers is still stop-motion animation as an example.

 

 

Steven B

[RedgateModels]

piiisssssshhhhticuff!

 

 

[westernviscount]

2 hours ago, Steven B said:

 

It still is. Whilst a lot uses computer generated animation, you'll still find many of the old skill alive - the new Clangers is still stop-motion animation as an example.

 

 

Steven B

A very fair point. Still some actual model making in films also. 

Edited November 22, 2023 by westernviscount