Ivor the Engine image

The Fire Engine

January 23, 1975 (estimated) Ivor the Engine

Studio
Smallfilms

Synopsis

Some fire engines will go absolutely anywhere, so long as they don't get stuck. Then they must not be too proud to ask for help.

Characters

Ivor, Jones the Steam

Credits

Directing

Director
Peter Firmin

Producing

Producer
Peter Firmin, Oliver Postgate

Writing

Writer
Oliver Postgate

Animation

Animator
Peter Firmin

Music

Music
Vernon Elliott

Crew

Photography
Peter Firmin
Artwork Created By
Peter Firmin

Production notes

The first six episodes were made in Black & White. The first six met with great success, so they were followed up with two more sets of thirteen episodes each in the early sixites.

In 1975, Smallfilms got the rights to the characters back, and produced 40 new episodes in color. Many were remakes of the black & white versions, but some had new story lines.

The films were made in cut-out card animation which is a laborious procedure in which figures cut from painted cardboard are jointed together with Blutack, laid on a background and moved, in increments of 1/25ths of a second, under a single-frame camera driven by a motor, some pieces of meccano and a rubber drive band.