Sunday 2 October 2016

When kids TV was cool - Part 4

So we are coming to the end of my journey down children’s TV lane and this is the penultimate post as my final show deserves a post all to itself.  Next week you will find out my all time favourite show which is still popular to this day with children and adults alike.   However for this post I am going to talk about a show which many people may not remember but it was a favourite of both myself and my younger sister and a series which still features heavily in children’s items now.

First up is the series Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds.  It was a Spanish/Japanese animation based on the novel by Alexander Dumas, this 26 part story tells the story of young Dogtanian and his quest to become one of the kings guards.  However all the characters are mainly dogs, hence the name Dogtanian and his companions are the Muskehounds.  The cartoon tells the story of young Dogtanian who sets out from his home town of Bearn with a message from his father to Monsieur Treville, captain of the Musketeers.  Along the way he meets up with Athos, Porthos and Aramis the bravest of the the Musketeers and also Juliette, a sweet girl who is Queen Anne’s maid in waiting whom Dogtanian falls in love with.  He comes up against some villainous treachery from Cardinal Richlieu, Count Rochefort (known to Dogtanian as the ‘Black Moustache’ for he doesn’t know his name), Widimier a bumbling captain of the Cardinals Guards, and Milady de Winter, commonly known as Milady, a cunning cat.  The story is quite faithful to the original story with a couple of exceptions in that Juliette is not someone else’s wife, but unattached.  Also Milady is not executed at the end of the series as she is in the novel and even comes back for the sequel (which I never saw).   

My sister and I loved the series, although I never knew the novel and still haven’t read it to this day but I thoroughly enjoyed the cartoon and found the characters adorable and engaging.  My favourite was Aramis, a rather dashing King Charles Spaniel.




My second show this week is the beloved Mr Men.  Based on the books written by Roger Hargreaves, these wonderful characters each have their own story.  Narrated by Arthur Lowe originally and later by John Alderton, these stories have all proved timeless.  I had all the stories as a child, my sister after me enjoyed the stories and recently I bought all of them for my niece to ensure the delights continue into the next generation.  They are used in advertising and merchandise to this day.  Some of my favourites include Mr Chatterbox and his magic growing hat, Mr Mean and his potatoes and Mr Snow delivering Christmas presents.

There were more stories released in books and cartoons other than the main stories but it’s the original books and stories that are especially dear to me.  I also remember another series by Roger Hargreaves called Timbuctoo but I don’t remember it being released as a cartoon.




So these are my choices for this week and next week I will reveal my all time favourite show from my childhood.  There are many other shows I remember from being a child that I have not gone into in more detail such as Inspector Gadget, Knightmare, Button Moon, He-Man, She-Ra, Dungeons and Dragons, Button Moon and Paddington.   However there is still one show that remains at the top of my list and I will reveal all next weekend.

Until then, enjoy my other reviews.


1 comment:

  1. I want to watch Dogtanian now it sounds awesome. I loved the Mr. Men books. I remember Inspector Gadget too he was one of my favourites, and now I've got the theme song stuck in my head hehe. I liked He-Man and She-Ra too!

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