It's a kind of magic

4:55AM Friday April 25, 2008
By Scott Kara

A new version of The Magic Roundabout is returning to TV screens, but the staple characters are the same. Photo / Supplied by Michelle Gimblett.

The Magic Roundabout was a timeless children's show that adults also enjoyed. While the new version might not be such a wicked trip for grown-ups, kids will still love it, writes Scott Kara

With today's advanced technology, you'd think the creators of the new Magic Roundabout would be able to make it even more psychedelic and far out than the original which rose to popularity in the 70s.

Set in a garden with bright and excitable colours - apparently French creator Serge Danot didn't like green, so the red, white and blue of his country's flag became the show's staple colours - it was trippy, man. Then there was the cast of odd characters like Dougal the dog, with the bob cut, the earnest and irritating snail Brian, magical mystery man Zebedee, and Dylan, the droopy-eyed, laid-back rabbit.

With a cast and setting like that, just imagine the crazy tweaks the British and French creative teams on the new Magic Roundabout, which screens here on Nickelodeon, could have made with the power of CGI (computer-generated imagery). Well, sorry, you can forget your hallucinogenic allusions and the two levels of meaning because the new show is aimed specifically at kids.

Producer Laurent Rodon won't be tempted into sharing his views on the original's famed references to drugs and 70s counter-culture.

"But," he chuckles, "parents who know the old TV series, it's kind of a private joke for them."

And he also has a laugh about his favourite character, Dylan - clearly the slacker of the bunch.

"I love the rabbit. He is cool. He is timeless."

Rodon says this time round the creators kept in mind the charm of the original and wanted to make a unique children's show.

He says the original TV series, which was developed from Danot's idea by British TV presenter Eric Thompson (father of actress Emma), was influenced heavily by a society that was undergoing huge, and often revolutionary change.

"But now, because society has changed a lot,   the show is more focused on children. For them, it's just about entering a magical world where very different characters are living happily together."

The many characters, says Rodon, are why The Magic Roundabout is so timeless.

"It is quite unusual to have a TV series with so many different characters.   You have a rabbit, a snail ... with different personalities, and then the magic aspect with Zebedee, so I think it's a very unusual combination and very modern, even now."

On a visual level it was also a challenge to stay in keeping with Danot's design while coming up with a modern version using CGI.

"It is always very difficult to respect the past and, at the same time, do something in fitting with today and you must keep in mind originally they were puppets. But what we've come to do is transfer this to CG to give even more life to these characters."

With the exception of Dylan, of course. He's just as cruisy as ever, if not more so.

The Magic Roundabout, on Nickelodeon, Wednesdays at 10.30am and 1pm from May 7