The Magic Roundabout

Original title: Le manège enchanté

TV Series
1964–1995
5m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Stop Motion Animation Adventure Animation Comedy Family Fantasy

Cult classic children's animated series about a group of human and animal characters that gather at the roundabout / carousel in the park. Although the original series is French there are mu... Read allCult classic children's animated series about a group of human and animal characters that gather at the roundabout / carousel in the park. Although the original series is French there are multiple dubbed versions from other countries.Cult classic children's animated series about a group of human and animal characters that gather at the roundabout / carousel in the park. Although the original series is French there are multiple dubbed versions from other countries.

Creator
- Serge Danot
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

460

YOUR RATING

Creator
- Serge Danot
Stars

7User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

Episodes441

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2 years

Photos5

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The programme started life as a French children's TV series "Le Manège Enchanté" (The Magic Roundabout). Dougal the Dog was named Pollux in the original French version and spoke French with a strong English accent. The animation was done by Ivor Wood who later went on to animate The Herbs (1968), The Wombles (1973), Paddington Bear (1976) and Postman Pat (1981). Eric Thompson was asked to narrate a translation of the French script, but chose instead to discard the French script and devise his own stories, based purely on what was happening on-screen.

Connections
Featured in Room 101: Episode #1.3 (1994)

User reviews7

Review

Featured review

Trippy kids fun

Originally made for European TV, this achieved cult status when finally screened in Britain thanks to Eric Thompson's narration. Yes, it was Emma Thompson's dad who turned this into such a smash and the whole thing was rejigged again in 1990 when Nigel Planer took the voice over duties.

Still great fun for those kids who have now grown up and are watching it with their own children.

The animation is simple but effective and Thompson's scripts are deliciously witty. His voices for ever pompous Dougal, the sugar- munching dog and cocky Brian the snail never fail to engage.

Other characters such as Florence, Ermintrude the cow and Dylan, the hippy rabbit help round out one of the finest kids shows ever.

Track down Dougal and the Blue Cat if you want some feature length fun. Failing that, the five minute adventures are great fillers.