Muffin the Mule- Muffin's Aquarium Part 2

50's children's television programme "Muffin the Mule" starring Annette Mills and puppeteer Ann Hogarth.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• muffin
• the
• mule
• 50s
• childrens
• tv
• octopus
• tadpole

[andywalker]

Mum told me about Muffin today, so this track and several others from the 1950's 1960's through to the 1980's has rekindled my childhood . It is amazing what you actually find on the web, some of todays childrens programmes dont match these programmes I used to watch

[moonlithanyou]

I love Muffin :)

[Matt571]

@fyphfoko The company who made the Muffin the Mule films was Parthian. They weren't an American company but the films were made for America (although they were shown on the BBC as well when the Muffin pupetteers were touring). The BBC Muffin programmes went out live and sadly none were recorded, so only the films survive.

[CBETelevisionNetwork]

@fyphfoko  these were not made by an american company, muffin the mule was made from 1946 by the BBC at alexandra palace

[fyphfoko]

does anyone know who made these?

i know it was made by an amarican company, in england, for the beeb. their logo seems to apier at the end of most episode, including this, but not the name of it

just a curiouse little rhino ^^

[DirkBout1]

Wally the Gog was not allowed into room but remained at the windows edge. This exclusion, the outsider the demi-monde as always been his lot. Not to be associated with other puppets, he was considered not good enough. Only a colonial. Ostracised even in the world of puppetry.

[jackyeats88]

That's because Wally the Gog is a Golliwog. Gollywogs were popular children's toys at the time. Theres one at my grandmas which used to belong to my dad. The particular slur "golliwog" probably derives from the name of those toys, although obviously it itself contains the term "wog" which isn't really acceptable anymore. I saw some golliwogs being sold recently which was a bit of a surprise in itself given their politically incorrect nature, but they were marketed as "gollies" instead.

[nbgwho]

What people today don't grasp, is that political correctness was non-existant in the fifties. Yes, Wally the Gog was a bad racial stereotype...but, he was a common story book figure until the mid-60's. What was acceptable then, isn't now. And what's acceptable now (sex & swearing) on television, would have been totally taboo, back then.

[LtColKroenen]

Another question-Is is just me or is Wally the Gog a thinly veiled derogatory black racial stereotype? Heres my evidence-

It could be the camera but it looks like he has been "blacked up" with boot polish

His outfit looks either like a monkey jacket or the stereotypical livery of a black pageboy in tht 17-1800s.

He sports a dodgy afro and finally-the most damning evidence is that if you muck about with his name you get a mispelt version of the racial slur "golliwog"

What do you think?

[LtColKroenen]

That octopus is one of thee most terrifying things ever! Its a shapeless rag with a grotesque grin!

[SimonWallwork]

wow its as like going back in time