Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Would you take a trip into the forest with a group of friends in the middle of the night, with the purpose of telling scary stories, and to ask the question 'Are you Afraid of the Dark?'

These guys would!!

Are You Afraid of the Dark? revolved around a group of teenagers who referred to themselves as "The Midnight Society". Every week, at a secret location in the woods, one member would tell a scary story to the group. The actual story, rather than the telling, was displayed to the television viewer. The story was shown between the group's arrival at the site and their departure. Each storyteller would begin their story by saying "Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story..." at which point he or she would toss a handful of "midnight dust" from a leather pouch into a campfire to heighten the flames and produce an eerie white smoke. The storyteller would continue by announcing its title (The Tale of...).

I purposely chose one of the creepiest stories that was made for the series, because we are all grown ups now and we can handle a decent scare (just make sure you know what's behind you!!)

Fun Fact - Quite a few people who appeared in this show went on to become rather big stars in their own rights in recent years, some of which are Ryan Gosling, Neve Campbell, Hayden Christensen, Laura Vandervoort, Jay Baruchel and Mia Kirshner!

The Paw Paws

Today's next post is one of Hanna Barbera's lesser known, but still equally charming characters, The Paw Paws! (aka Paw Paw Bears)

The Paw Paws are a group of small bears that live in a tribal society, the cubs spend every day defending themselves from their enemies, The Meanos, led by the evil sorcerer, Dark Paw. The antagonist bear and his henchmen are seeking to claim the Paw Paws' three large wooden totems, Totem Bear, Totem Tortoise, and Totem Eagle. The totems also serve as the tribe's protectors, coming to life when needed through means of Princess Paw Paw's Mystic Moonstone, which she wears around her neck, to defend the village.

Shoe People

Today's first post is one of those shows where once you've heard the theme tune, it stays with you for days!

In a shoe repairs shop, the Shoe Mender tries to repair all of the shoes he gets, but sometimes cannot repair them all. But he does not throw away these shoes, he puts them on the back room of the shop.

These join the other shoes and boots he could not bear to throw away and the ones where their owners never came back for them but this room has a secret. Every night when the Shoe Mender locks up the shop, he makes sure the back room door is shut. This door does not shut very easily and when he slams it shut, the strangest thing happens. A large cloud of dust from the room fills the air and when it settles, the shoes come to life and the back wall disappears and Shoe Town appears!

Just below Toecap Hill is Shoe Town, where all the shoes and boots live!


Fun fact - The theme tune was written and sung by Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues!!

Bagpuss

Today's next post is fondly remembered by many, many people. Bagpuss, the old, saggy cloth cat, baggy, and a bit loose at the seams!

Each programme began in the same way: through a series of sepia photographs, the viewer is told of a little girl named Emily who owned a shop. Emily found lost and broken things and displayed them in the window, so their owners could come and collect them; the shop did not sell anything. She would leave the object in front of her favourite stuffed toy, the large, saggy, pink and white striped cat named Bagpuss.
When Emily had left, Bagpuss woke up. The programme shifted from sepia to colour stop motion  film, and various toys in the shop came to life: Gabriel the toad, and a rag doll called Madeleine. The wooden woodpecker bookend became the drily academic Professor Yaffle, while the mice carved on the side of the "mouse organ" woke up and scurried around, singing in high-pitched voices.
The toys discussed what the new object was; someone would tell a story related to the object (shown in an animated thought bubble over Bagpuss's head), often with a song, accompanied by Gabriel on the banjo, and then the mice, singing in high-pitched squeaky harmony as they worked, mended the broken object
The newly mended thing was then be put in the shop window, so that whoever had lost it would see it as they went past, and could come in and claim it. Then Bagpuss would start yawning again, and as he fell asleep the narrator would speak as the colour faded to sepia and they all became toys again.

Come repeat with me now and see if we can wake Bagpuss up together!

Bagpuss, dear Bagpuss
Old Fat Furry Catpuss
Wake up and look at this thing that I bring
Wake up, be bright, be golden and light
Bagpuss, oh hear what I sing!

The Adventures of Tintin

 The Adventures of Tintin is a series of comic albums created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name of Hergé. The series is one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century.

Here is an episode of the 1990's adaptation that used to be shown on Channel 4!!

Tintin is a young Belgian reporter who becomes involved in dangerous cases in which he takes heroic action to save the day. The Adventures may feature Tintin hard at work in his investigative journalism, but seldom is he seen actually turning in a story. He is a boy of neutral attitudes with whom the audience can identify.
Tintin is aided by his faithful dog Snowy. Later, popular additions to the cast included the brash and cynical Captain Haddock, the highly intelligent but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus, and other supporting characters such as the incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson.