Captain Pugwash

Captain Pugwash is a fictional pirate who appears in a series of British children's comic strips, books and television shows created by John Ryan.

The eponymous hero – Captain Horatio Pugwash – sails the high seas in his ship called the Black Pig, assisted by cabin boy Tom, pirates Willy and Barnabas, and Master Mate. His mortal enemy is Cut-Throat Jake, captain of the Flying Dustman.

History

At John Ryan’s wedding in 1950, he was introduced by a friend to Marcus Morris, who was launching Eagle, and asked the artist to create a strip for it. When John returned home, he claimed that Captain Pugwash appeared without explanation.[1] It ran for the first nineteen issues of Eagle, but was dropped due to being considered too childish, and John replaced it with Harris Tweed.[2]

The first Captain Pugwash picture book, subtitled A Pirate Story and featuring Tom’s debut, was rejected by twelve publishers until The Bodley Head picked it up in 1957. The book became successful, and was translated around the world.[3][4] That same year, the BBC commissioned it to be adapted into an animated short film, made using "captions". This was a form of cutout animation that involved levers attached to the back of characters.[5]

All the voices were provided by Peter Hawkins, who had to be hidden behind a monitor due to his facial expressions made while recording being too distracting for the animators.[6] What this did mean was that he could write notes in his script about incidental characters and be reminded of them as they appeared onscreen.[7] Further short films would be produced and broadcast until 1966, and in 1960 a popular and regularly released Radio Times strip was launched to promote the series, running until 1965.[8] In 1974 a new colour series was commissioned, with Peter Hawkins reprising his roles, and wider-reaching than its sporadically produced predecessor. Four of its 30 episodes were remakes of black-and-white shorts.

In 1997, Gullane Entertainment (then called The Britt Allcroft Company) purchased the rights to the character, with the intention of producing a revival series.[9] The new series of 26 episodes, animated traditionally, aired in 1998.

A related book by John Ryan is Admiral Fatso Fitzpugwash, in which it is revealed that Pugwash had a medieval ancestor who was First Sea Lord but was terrified of water.

Characters

Pugwashisms

Captain Pugwash is renowned for his exclamations, owing something to the style of Captain Haddock in The Adventures of Tintin:

Cut-Throat Jake has occasionally been known to utter the similar exclamation, "Scupper me skull-and-crossbones!"

• "Dolloping doubloons/dolphins!"
• "Coddling catfish!"
• "Lolloping landlubbers!"
• "Suffering seagulls!"
• "Staggering stalactites!"
• "Nautical nitwits!"
• "Plundering porpoises!"
• "Kipper me capstans!"
• "Tottering turtles!"
• "Dithering dogfish!"
• "Scuttling cuttlefish!"
• "Stuttering starfish!"
• "Blistering barnacles!"
• "Shuddering sharks!"

Theme music

The series' signature tune was the "Trumpet Hornpipe", a folk dance that dates to at least the early nineteenth century. Some early versions of the tune refer to it as "Lascelles Hornpipe" and "Baloon Hornpipe".[12] The composer and country of origin are unknown.

The original black-and-white episodes of Captain Pugwash used a solo rendition by the accordionist Tom Edmondson, who had learned the tune from watching Jimmy Shand's band in Northumberland as a teenager.[12] Edmondson's version was recorded in the front room of his home in Harbottle, Northumberland, on 12 July 1954.[13] The recording was made by the folklorist Peter Kennedy as part of the BBC's Folk Music and Dialect Recording Scheme[14] and Edmondson was paid £1.50 (30s) for his efforts.[15]

Captain Pugwash books

Television episodes

Planned film

In May 2017, a live-action film adaptation was announced, to be directed by John Hay, produced by Atticus Films[25] and starring Nick Frost as Captain Pugwash and Jason Flemyng in an unknown role. Production was set to begin in 2018, with the plot following Captain Pugwash travelling to Botany Bay, where he eventually finds himself at the helm of The Black Pig on a mission to rescue Tom the Cabin Boy's father, who is marooned on a volcanic island.[26] In March 2021, Frost said that he believes the film will be unlikely to be produced because of budget issues,[27] however the following year Isabel Ryan, daughter of creator John, said she wants the film to have the involvement of Rye.[28]

Stage adaptations

On 17 December 1973, a theatre show, Captain Pugwash, written by Ryan and John Kennett, opened at the King's Road Theatre in Chelsea, London. Directed by John Ingram and designed by John Marsh, the entertainment for children played twelve performances a week (twice daily, Monday to Saturday) until 12 January 1974. Edward Philips as Pugwash headed a cast of live actors playing characters including Tom and Cut-Throat Jake.[29] The following year a second play was performed, entitled Captain Pugwash and the Inca Treasure, from 19 December 1974 to 18 January 1975.[30] In 2008 a new show was performed with Richard Alan in the title role.[31]

Merchandise

According to Isabel Ryan, her father John did not partake in merchandising unless somebody had created something for him.[32] Waves of merchandise were first produced with the 1974 series, including badges, T-shirts,[33] and jigsaw puzzles. In 1981, Corgi Toys produced a model of the Black Pig, complete with stand-up figures of Pugwash and Tom the Cabin Boy. John himself remarked that the franchise did not sell well in the United States due to the titular character being "too innocuous".[34] For the 1998 series, Vivid Imaginations created many more toys, including miniatures and plushies, both in eight inches and fourteen inches. Six inch Happy Meal plushies were also available as part of the Children's Favourites line.

See also

• List of animated television series

External links

• Pugwash website by HIT Entertainment
• Toonhound Captain Pugwash page
• Toonhound The Adventures of Captain Pugwash page
• Pugwash'' at Nostalgia Central
• Captain Pugwash at Don Markstein's Toonopedia