Funnybones

Funnybones
Created byJanet Ahlberg
Allan Ahlberg
André Amstutz
Written byJocelyn Stevenson
Directed byGary Hurst
Narrated byRay Gravell (Welsh)
Griff Rhys Jones (English)
Music byErnie Wood
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languagesWelsh
English
No. of series1
No. of episodes12
Production
Executive producersTheresa Plummer-Andrews
Christopher Grace
ProducerNaomi Jones
EditorRobert Francis
Running time5 minutes
Production companyCartŵn Cymru
Original release
NetworkS4C (Welsh)
BBC1 (English)
BBC2 (English)
Release29 September (1992-09-29) –
15 December 1992 (1992-12-15)

Funnybones (Welsh: Sgerbyde) is a British children's animated comedy series based on the book series of the same name, written by Janet Ahlberg and Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by André Amstutz and first published in 1980. Cartŵn Cymru produced the series for S4C in association with William Heinemann Ltd. and BBC Enterprises.

Originally broadcast in Welsh as part of S4C's Slot Meithrin strand, the English version of the series aired from 29 September to 15 December 1992 on BBC1 and BBC2 as part of Children's BBC. Ray Gravell provided all the voices in the Welsh version, while popular comedian Griff Rhys Jones provided the voices in the English version. Each episode is five minutes in length.

Plot

The series focuses on the adventures of a pair of skeletons, who were the eponymous Funnybones. The characters in the series are Big Funnybone (whose catchphrase was "good idea"), Little Funnybone (the brains of the group), Dog Funnybone (whose catchphrase was "Woof") and Cat (whose catchphrase was "Meow").

Main characters

Episode guide via storybook comparison

On the television series of Funnybones, six episodes have the same title as the stories from the published books, three episodes were retitled from the storybook versions, and the other three were written for TV and didn't use a storybook as source material. The final episode of the television series, however, was based on the first storybook of Funnybones, while the first episode was based on the second storybook called "The Pet Shop". All twelve episodes were originally shown on BBC One and repeated on BBC Two as part of the CBeebies and Children's BBC strand, as it was known before 1999, on Tuesdays at 4:00 pm.

Title of episode Title of storybook based on Air date Summary
1. The Pet Shop2. Same title29 September 1992Big and Little decide to swap Dog for another pet, because all he does is bark and dig holes. Big and Little can not find a perfect pet as the goldfish, the parrot, the hippopotamus and a family of rabbits cause nothing but problems, so they decide to finally swap the family of rabbits back for Dog.
2. Bumps in the Night4. Same title6 October 1992It is a particularly dark, dark night tonight, and Big and Little keep bumping into each other, making them fall to pieces at their House, the Park and the Midnight Funfair, and there is only one thing to do: send in Dr. Bones, who does a great job of patching them up to stop them from bumping in the night.
3. Give the Dog a Bone5. Same title13 October 1992Dog is having his favourite dream, the one about a big, juicy bone. After Dog wakes up from his favourite dream he chases after other animals that have got the big, juicy bone including Cat.
4. Dinosaurs6. Dinosaur Dreams20 October 1992Dog gets left behind when Big and Little decide to visit the dark, dark dinosaur museum. When Dog follows Big and Little to the dinosaur museum, he thinks a huge, huge dinosaur wanted to hurt them.
5. The Ghost Train7. Same title27 October 1992Big, Little and Dog are invited to take a trip on the Ghost Train full of ghosts and monsters to the dark, dark seaside and back again. The envelope containing the ghost train tickets was delivered by the Skeleton Postman.
6. Skeleton Crew8. Same title3 November 1992The Funnybones are on a boat holiday on the dark, dark sea. The Skeletons saw an Octopus, Skeleton Pirates and a Gorilla before a dark, dark thunderstorm takes them home from a desert island on their raft.
7. Mystery Tour9. Same title10 November 1992The Funnybones receive an invitation to a party at the end of a Mystery Tour. The Mystery Tour begins with a huge party cracker.
8. WishboneN/A17 November 1992The Funnybones find a huge wishbone, and try to decide which one of them has the best idea for what to wish for. Ideas include being firefighters, flying like birds, being kings, going to live on the moon, being a famous rockstar, being invisible etc.
9. Shake, Rattle and RollN/A24 November 1992The Funnybones decide to put on a show and Cat tries to put up a poster advertising the show.
10. Cat Chase3. The Black Cat1 December 1992The white, white Dog disappears in the white, white snow and the black, black Cat disappears in the dark, dark shadows. At the Pet Shop Big and Little tell Mr. Bonehead that they need a lead for Dog.
11. City NightsN/A8 December 1992Little gets bored with the quiet life on the dark, dark hill. So he decides to go to the city before he gets worried about Big and Dog getting lost. "There are too many skeletons" says the Big Skeleton in the city, where even the Underground has them.
12. Night Fright1. Funnybones15 December 1992Cat gets left behind when the skeletons decide to go out and frighten anybody they come across. Dog falls to pieces, so Big and Little put Dog back together again.


Broadcast

This was one of several cartoons dubbed by the then-new Irish post production company Telegael, to demonstrate children's programming possibilities for a proposed television station in Irish. The result, entitled Smior agus Smiortán (translated to the English language as Marrow & Little Marrow), was broadcast on Ireland's two national television stations, RTÉ1 and 2, in 1993.

The series also aired on ABC in Australia, from 1 February 1994 to 28 January 1999 as well as airing on the channel in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea, SABC2 in South Africa, as part of a block for children called Mini-TV, the military television network BFBS in Germany and West Germany as well as being shown on the channel in Cyprus and Falkland Islands, TVO in Canada, Yle TV2 in Finland, TVNZ 2 in New Zealand and Cartoon Network, as part of a block for preschoolers called Small World and FOX Family Channel, as part of Mister Moose's Fun Time, a spin-off from The All New Captain Kangaroo in the United States, S4C in Wales, and BBC One, BBC Two and CBeebies (when repeated) in the United Kingdom.

Home Media

A VHS release containing all twelve episodes of the series, entitled "Funnybones – Bumps in the Night", was released by BBC Video in 1992 shortly after the series ended. The series has also been released on VHS in Bulgaria and Australia.

References

  1. ↑ "BBC One London – 29 September 1992 – BBC Genome". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "BBC One London – 6 October 1992 – BBC Genome". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  3. ↑ "BBC One London – 13 October 1992 – BBC Genome". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "BBC One London – 20 October 1992 – BBC Genome". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  5. ↑ "BBC One London – 27 October 1992 – BBC Genome". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  6. ↑ "BBC One London – 3 November 1992 – BBC Genome". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  7. ↑ "BBC One London – 10 November 1992 – BBC Genome". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  8. ↑ "BBC One London – 17 November 1992 – BBC Genome". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  9. ↑ "BBC One London – 24 November 1992 – BBC Genome". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  10. ↑ "BBC One London – 1 December 1992 – BBC Genome". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  11. ↑ "BBC One London – 8 December 1992 – BBC Genome". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  12. ↑ "BBC One London – 15 December 1992 – BBC Genome". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2017.