It was announced on Monday, Peter Fermin, artist, puppet maker and the creator of Bagpuss and Basil Brush who worked with the late Oliver Postgate of Small Films had died aged 89.
Peter believed passionately in the appeal, the soul of traditional animated films and their puppets feeling they had soul that appeal more greatly than computer generated icons (CGI) to viewers being more relatable.
There are many series he had a hand in of one one I feel on balance is the one most of us hold the greater affection for and that is Bagpuss, "a saggy, old cloth cat, baggy, and a bit loose at the seams" for whom Emily the owner of a shop that repaired and sold old things so loved.
Her affection for him remains a most poignant moving thing for me and many others who have seen the original series from 1974 with it's sepia toned introduction.
It would be a mistake to ignore his involvement in other series Small Films made and that are fondly remembered such as the railway series set in Wales, Ivor The Engine, which was popular with us boys or the Viking adventures of the Saga of Noggin the Nog.
The Clangers communicate in Clanger, a language using whistling something to which much to the annoyance of ones parents and teachers many of us used too and the series had a narrator who would explain what was going on while allowing the characters to communicate directly to us in Clanger.
It was a peaceful co-operative space world so many of us loved in the era where man's space exploration was at its peak, eagerly followed by schoolboys and girls and also featured a musical tree that played music and an Iron Chicken.
These cartoons, in part Peter's life work were and are core parts of our childhoods I cannot say to hear of his demise doesn't make me sad, it does but thanks to digital media they live on able to offer something that more glossy more, commercially savvy series lack.
R.I.P Peter.
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