"Captain Pugwash" (1957) TV series 1957-1966

Creator:

John Ryan

Seasons:

unknown

Genre:

Animation | Family

Plot Keywords:

Caption Animation | Character Name In Title

Cast

Noel Coleman

...

Narrator (1 episode, 1957)

Runtime:

5 min (86 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

On 13 September 1991 national British newspaper 'The Guardian' claimed that certain characters names could be viewed in a vulgar context (e.g. Master Bates and Seaman Staines). Such character names did not form any part of the series and creator John Ryan successfully won retractions and settlements from both 'The Guardian' and another British newspaper, 'The Sunday Correspondent', which also printed a similar story.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 100 Greatest Cartoons (2005) (TV)

Good writing and nostalgia both help make it worth a look still

Aboard his ship, Captain Pugwash is a jovial and rather innocent pirate – certainly a stark contrast to the scheme and rather underhand personae of fellow pirate but mortal enemy Cutthroat Jake. Along with Master Mate, Pirate Barnabas, Pirate Willy and Tom the cabin boy, Pugwash sails to adventure on a regular basis.

Spread over 86 episodes, this is one of those animations that many viewers remember from childhood and tends to get great praise because it is viewed through the fog of nostalgia and so forth. The animation is naturally dated as it tends to use drawn backgrounds and cut out figures that are manipulated on screen – there is limited motion of the characters and things are left as static as they can be; imagine a story book where the pictures change on each page to get the rough idea. However it still works well enough once you have accepted that it is doing this, and the main reason it does work is because the stories are mostly well written and interesting. The narration is wholesome and clean, as are the stories, although there is a fine smattering of wit throughout it.

Overall this is not a cartoon that will win many new fans – particularly not among younger viewers used to fancy animation, noisy and action; but it is still a pleasurable watch when you have a nostalgic link to it. The animation is basic but the stories are mostly interesting and it rarely bores.