He Likes Playing Round And Acting A Fool"….
It started off as a wet and cold afternoon and not a nice
afternoon for our regular outings with my grandson so we
both settled down on the comfortable sofa together with my
two Scottie dogs and watched the children's programs. What
happy memories came flooding back to me seeing the new
animated Muffin the Mule show.
My mother used to take me around to see Muffin the Mule
at my sister Joyce and Peters house, as we didn't have a
TV in the early fifties. We used to sit and watch the TV
with my niece Pearl who was then four years old and I
was 9. Pearl and I would sit at the table eating our
tea of hard-boiled eggs and toast while watching Muffin
the mule. We were so happy to watch this little chap
and didn't mind seeing the strings of the marionette
dancing on the piano that Annette mills used to play
her songs on.
What a surprise I got one Christmas when I opened my
presents from Father Christmas and see a Muffin the Mule
puppet, a book and a cup all with Muffin the mule on.
I treasured the cup for a long time and loved to have
my hot cup of Ovaltine before I went to bed I was very
upset when one day there was a bang in the kitchen and
one of our cats had knocked my precious cup of the table
and there it was laying in pieces on the floor it was
never replaced.
Muffin the mule was one of Britain's very first TV stars.
He was a performing Marionette" discovered by Annette
Mills and Ann Hogarth in 1946. Mills was the older sister
of actor John Mills. She played songs on her piano and
told stories whilst Ann brought Muffin to life on top of
her musical stage in "For the children" which was
broadcast live by the BBC each week from Alexandra Palace
until 1952. That's when the show was renamed "Muffin the
Mule" and editions were filmed for weekly broadcast and
repeated and repeated. It's a popular misconception that
Muffin was a "Watch With Mother" star But although he was
on screen at the same time as those shows. He was broadcast
and billed separately at teatime on a Sunday. Until
Annette's untimely death in 1955. Ann Hogarth then took
her boss over to ITV where he clippety clopped for two
more years until 1957.
Looking back from today's giddy world of computers
generated eye candy and corporate branding. It's
difficult to see how such a simplistic creation
could have spewed any success at all. But Muffin
proved to be something of a fifties Phenomenon,
spawning a wealth of associated licensed products
and apparel, toys and books and regular appearances
in "TV Comic" This host was a star all right. And
it's a measure of his success to find that his own
fan and collectors club are still with us today 60
years on honours him. And now he's back on our
screens in a new fangled animated series in which
he looks younger than ever only he's lost his
strings for this animated show. And he's gained
his own voice. What's more after 60 years Muffin
has finally been allowed off his piano, out of
the studio and into the countryside. He now wanders
the hills and vales of Muffinham, where he ponders
and pastorates beneath sunny blue skies.
It is nice to see Muffin free from his strings and
out into the wonderful countryside but the magic
had disappeared for me I still loved the old black
and white Muffin that entertained me all those
years again.
I hope you enjoy the rest
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Last Updated: 25th NOVEMBER 2005
