Sumptuous Sirens
- Studio
- HIT Entertainment
- Animation studio
- John Cary Studios
- Distributor
- British Broadcasting Corporation
Synopsis
When the Black Pig runs out of food, Captain Pugwash and his crew smell cooking and follow the scent to picnic point, home to two sirens. However, Cut-Throat Jake has got there before them
Characters
Captain Horatio Pugwash, Master Mate, Pirate Barnabas, Pirate Willy, Tom the Cabin Boy, Cut-Throat Jake, Jonah, Swine, Stinka, Dook
Credits
Directing
- Director
- John Ryan
Producing
- Producer
- Gordon Murray, John Ryan
Writing
- Writer
- John Ryan
Voices
- Voice
- James Saxon (Captain Horatio Pugwash, Master Mate, Pirate Barnabas, Pirate Willy, Tom the Cabin Boy, Cut-Throat Jake)
Music
- Music
- Johnny Pearson
Editing
- Editor
- Barry Shephard
Crew
- Illustrator
- John Ryan
- Caption Team
- John Ryan, Priscilla Ryan, Sara Cole, Hazel Maringell
- Camera
- Bob Bura, John Hardwick
- Sound
- Barry Shephard
Production notes
Hurrah for Captain Horatio Pugwash as he sets out on adventures on his fine ship The Black Pig with his motley crew: The Mate, Willy, Jonah and, last but by no means least, Tom the Cabin Boy. As the Captain pits his wits against the mean Cut-throat Jake and his crew of ruffians- Swine, Stinka and Dook- it's Tom the Cabin Boy who saves the day and lets his dear captain take the credit.
Captain Horatio Pugwash first appeared in comic-strip form in 1950 (in the first issue of "Eagle" comic). His adventures were then serialized in Radio Times before they were first broadcast on TV in 1957. Peter Hawkins did all the voices for the initial series.
The initial episode, which aired on BBC1 on October 22, 1957, was the only episode broadcast that year. Later episodes arrived in irregular batches until the initial run of 58 episodes ended on June 26, 1966.
A second, 30-episode series ran much more regularly, starting on September 16, 1974 and ending on July 11, 1975.
The original series used setups that creator John Ryan called "captions." These were made up of cardboard cutouts of the characters laid on painted backgrounds and connected to a series of cardboard levers and pull-aways to make the figures and objects appear to move. Scenes were then filmed in real time.
In 1988, Pugwash returned to the TV screen in a new computer-animated style. This new style, nevertheless, remained faithful to the original. James Saxon took over on voices, but these are almost identical to Peter Hawkins'. The studio switched from the BBC to HIT Entertainment; John Cary Studios was the animation studio. The 26-episode series cost 1.5 million pounds.
In 1991, Ryan won retractions and settlements from the Sunday Correspondent and the Guardian after both British newspapers alleged that the BBC had taken the series off the air because the show's characters had pornographic names.
The Guardian's statement read:
Evening Standard correspondent Victor Lewis-Smith recalled in 1999:
Captain Horatio Pugwash first appeared in comic-strip form in 1950 (in the first issue of "Eagle" comic). His adventures were then serialized in Radio Times before they were first broadcast on TV in 1957. Peter Hawkins did all the voices for the initial series.
The initial episode, which aired on BBC1 on October 22, 1957, was the only episode broadcast that year. Later episodes arrived in irregular batches until the initial run of 58 episodes ended on June 26, 1966.
A second, 30-episode series ran much more regularly, starting on September 16, 1974 and ending on July 11, 1975.
The original series used setups that creator John Ryan called "captions." These were made up of cardboard cutouts of the characters laid on painted backgrounds and connected to a series of cardboard levers and pull-aways to make the figures and objects appear to move. Scenes were then filmed in real time.
In 1988, Pugwash returned to the TV screen in a new computer-animated style. This new style, nevertheless, remained faithful to the original. James Saxon took over on voices, but these are almost identical to Peter Hawkins'. The studio switched from the BBC to HIT Entertainment; John Cary Studios was the animation studio. The 26-episode series cost 1.5 million pounds.
In 1991, Ryan won retractions and settlements from the Sunday Correspondent and the Guardian after both British newspapers alleged that the BBC had taken the series off the air because the show's characters had pornographic names.
The Guardian's statement read:
"In the Young Guardian of September 13 [1991] we stated that the Captain Pugwash cartoon series featured characters called Seaman Staines and Master Bates, and for that reason the series had never been repeated by the BBC. We accept that it is untrue that there ever were any such characters. Furthermore, the series continues to be shown on television and on video. We apologize to Mr. Ryan, the creator, writer and artist of the Captain Pugwash films and books. We have agreed to pay him damages and his legal costs."
Evening Standard correspondent Victor Lewis-Smith recalled in 1999:
"Unwittingly repeating a folk myth that had been passed down through generations of schoolboys, I'd stated that the dramatis personae included such nautical naughties as Master Bates, Seaman Stains and Roger the Cabin Boy, and that 'Pugwash' was Australian slang for a form of oral sex. The matter seemed trivial, but an apology was made, Mr Ryan's honour was satisfied and two sets of parasitical, low-life libel lawyers thus pocketed yet more easy (and thoroughly ill-deserved) dosh."