Case Study of the Clangers

Anti-Realism

Surrealism abounds in this programme, set out in space on a small planet which has no night, and is inhabited by mouse-like creatures called the Clangers. Other characters include the Hoots, a race of trumpets who live on a tiny planet, a single cloud, music trees, the Iron Chicken who floats around on a metallic nest, and the Soup Dragon. They travel through space in a boat powered by music, and live in tunnels sealed with dustbin lids. None of the characters speaks, rather they communicate through musical noises and strange sounds. The narrator enacts their conversations and reactions in his own words. This distracts from the realism of dialogue and renders the physical movement more expressive and important.

Although narrative closure does occur more than other examples there is a more unstable feel to the series, as each episode follows on from the previous one. This often leaves the initial situation of any one episode quite inexplicable, having used several episodes to gain that position. For example the presence of the Hoot, a living trumpet, is explained by its first appearance. But later it appears with no apparent explanation whatsoever, and therefore can appear utterly surreal.

Each episode the narrator begins with an image of the Earth, and encourages us to imagine what life would be like on other planets. A clear movement into the realm of fantasy is established. One which then allows the creators to introduce whatever fantastic elements they choose. Openly acknowledging the fantastical nature the creators generate a world in which they have complete freedom of imagination, and freedom from the restraints of realism.

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