The Adventures of Twizzle (partially found puppet TV series; 1957): Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 15:34, 9 January 2020

Twizzle01.jpg

The Adventures of Twizzle title card.

Status: Partially Found

The Adventures of Twizzle is a television show produced by AP Films, a company formed by Arthur Provis, Reg Hill, Sylvia Tamm, and Supermarionation artist Gerry Anderson, who would go on to create popular British science fiction shows as Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Terrahawks. In total, 52 episodes were made and aired, with the first episode being broadcast on November 13, 1957 at 4:30pm.

Premise

The series follows Twizzle (Nancy Nevinson), a boy puppet who has the ability to extend, or "twizzle," his legs and arms, and his cat companion known as "Footso." One day, while Twizzle is meeting new toys in his toy shop, a bad-tempered girl comes into the shop and wants to buy Twizzle. Frightened by the girl, he escapes from the toy shop after Teddy Bear suggests he runs away before she can buy him. He eventually makes his way to a dog kennel as the owner of the kennel, Footso, the cat (Denise Bryer), enters. The two become fast friends and decide to go off on adventures after sleeping for the night. While on their adventures, they also create a haven for toys running away from abusive children called Stray Town.[1]

Production

When AP Films initially formed, the company originally planned to make films but struggled to find commissions. In 1957, Roberta Leigh and Suzanne Warner approached the company with the idea to make The Adventures of Twizzle, to which the company reluctantly agreed to do. Episodes were shot in a small room, and the overall budget for the show was under £500. Additionally, the schedule was very tight, with the puppets themselves having their finishing touches on an actual shooting of the episode occurring on the same day, leaving little time to perfect the puppets. To enhance the show's quality, however, the crew implemented techniques from films that were rarely seen in puppet shows, such as background props and close-ups of the puppet's faces.

Another technique that they applied was to have the puppeteers operate the puppets from an overhead bridge 12 feet above the set instead of them simply leaning over to see what they were doing, eliminating their shadows showing up in the shot. To help this, Anderson bought a lightweight camera that had just come on the market and rigged it onto the main camera to project what was happening anywhere on the set of the operators. This technique became known as "Video Assist" and was soon used in the entire film industry.[2]

The series, while using intricate puppetry, predates the first official Supermarionation series by Anderson, Four Feather Falls, by two years, though it's still classified as such by many.

Availability

Much like Roberta Leigh's other puppet show, Sara & Hoppity, only the first episode has survived.

A 16mm reel of the first episode was discovered with the entire 16mm reels of the complete series of Space Patrol in Roberta Leigh's possession. The pilot episode was included in the 2003 DVD release of Space Patrol.

Episode List

# Episode Title Air Date Status
1 Twizzle And Footso Nov 13th, 1957 Found
2 Twizzle And Footso Get Caught Unknown Lost
3 Twizzle Saves The Doll Unknown Lost
4 The Breakdown Van Unknown Lost
5 Footso Is Stolen Unknown Lost
6 Twizzle And The Golliwog Unknown Lost
7 Jiffy And The Chawky Quarrel Unknown Lost
8 Footso Disappears Unknown Lost
9 Twizzle And The Broken-Down Toy Unknown Lost
10 Twizzle Builds Stray Town Unknown Lost
11 A Flag For Stray Town Unknown Lost
12 Jiffy's New House Unknown Lost
13 Twizzle And Footso Go Fruit Picking Unknown Lost
14 Twizzle Has Some Fun Unknown Lost
15 Twizzle And Candy Floss Open A Cake Shop Unknown Lost
16 Twizzle Saves The Broken-Down Toys Unknown Lost
17 Twizzle Gets Lost Unknown Lost
18 Jiffy Opens A Barber Shop Unknown Lost
19 Another Racing Car Unknown Lost
20 Twizzle And His Friends Go To The Circus Unknown Lost
21 The Toys Go To School Unknown Lost
22 Bouncy The Ball Unknown Lost
23 Jack-In-The-Box Unknown Lost
24 Twizzle Catches Cold Unknown Lost
25 The Naughty Girl Unknown Lost
26 Jiffy's New Twigs Unknown Lost
27 Twizzle And The Snowman Unknown Lost
28 Twizzle And The Thin Teddy Bear Unknown Lost
29 The Lazy Broomstick Man Unknown Lost
30 Twizzle And The Polly Moppet Unknown Lost
31 Footso And The Magic Seeds Unknown Lost
32 Jiffy And The Polly Moppet Quarrel Unknown Lost
33 Footso Gets A New Tail Unknown Lost
34 Twizzle Is Naughty Unknown Lost
35 Twizzle Is Stolen Unknown Lost
36 Chawky Gets A Present Unknown Lost
37 Twizzle And The Toy Inspector Unknown Lost
38 Twizzle And The Naughty Breakdown Van Unknown Lost
39 Orange And The Banana Tree Unknown Lost
40 Jiffy's Birthday Unknown Lost
41 Polly Moppet Disappears Unknown Lost
42 Naughty Polly Moppet Unknown Lost
43 Footso And The Naughty Girl Unknown Lost
44 Stray Town Thief Unknown Lost
45 Twizzle Papers The Cabin Unknown Lost
46 Twizzle And Footso Go Camping Unknown Lost
47 Twizzle Goes To The Seaside Unknown Lost
48 Twizzle Goes To The Fair Unknown Lost
49 Twizzle Goes Fishing Unknown Lost
50 Twizzle Goes To The Zoo Unknown Lost
51 Candy Floss's Birthday Unknown Lost
52 Footso and the Toothache Unknown Lost

References