It is a widely held urban myth that the sailors on board Captain Pugwash's ship, the Jolly Roger, had extremely rude names. Allegedly by never using their full name together the full meaning passed censors, parents and children alike. Unfortunately this particular myth is not true. However, the fundamental interest this myth has generated amongst adults is highly revealing. For in allowing an adult level of interpretation of any kind, which passes the child unacknowledged, creates a feeling of superiority and exclusiveness which is highly appealing.
Created by a generation who lived through the Sixties, examples like The Magic Roundabout are
guilty of treading a very fine line between drug-induced surrealism and innocent
playfulness. Characters variously eat grass and sugar lumps, and characters may be read as
personifying the effects of certain types of drugs. The cows are incredibly laid back and
relaxed, countered by Zebedee who bounces uncontrollably off the ceiling.
Just as children's books may be read on various levels (an example is Peter Pan
which seems an innocent children's story on the surface but in fact opens up a Freudian
goldmine) so children's TV may.
Often this takes the form of very straightforward elements placed for adult appreciation. An example from the Nineties,
Pingu, uses shop and street signs, some of which are written in gobbledigook, others in
German, and some in Russian. At one point Pingu and his girlfriend have to go home
seperate ways and part by a sign-post. The sign-post reads (for the Russian literate) Glasnost
one way and Perestroika the other. This is perhaps one of the most intellectual examples
but identifies a use of exclusive meaning, carefully aimed as a knowing nod to those in the
know, usually excluding the children. For adults this generates an appeal which confirms
their superiority through anachronistic humour.
Mr. Benn forms an excellent example of the deeper meanings which may be read into Seventies animated children's television. See the Mr. Benn Case Study.
