1979 Pippin annual

I've never really covered the classic animated series by the likes of Oliver Postgate, Peter Firmin, John Ryan and Gordon Murray. I certainly don't have anything against Bagpuss or Trumpton, it's just that other sites such as Toonhound and Little Gems have already done a perfectly good job of covering them.

Something I haven't seen much coverage of online, however, is the array of comics and annuals that were released to tie in with these series. One example is Pippin; I've scanned some strips from the 1979 annual that are based on Camberwick Green, Ivor the Engine, Toytown and Mary, Mungo and Midge, along with the live-action puppet series Rubovia, Sooty and Andy Pandy. The annual also features the French character Colargol (known as Barnaby in the UK, and seen on the annual's cover) along with two strips - Sally and The Moonbeans - which, to the best of my knowledge, are not based on television series.

According to this fansite, the Rubovia illustations were provided by Neville Maine.
























The Ivor the Engine illustrations look like Peter Firmin's own work - either that or a close imitation.









The Mary, Mungo and Midge stories are downright odd-looking. The title characters are modelled closely on John Ryan's designs, but everyone else is drawn in a completely different style.









(I love Sooty's expression at the start of the page below...)



The latter two Sooty and Sweep strips look to have been drawn by Fred Robinson. He drew the annual's Pinocchio-inspired endpapers, the only art in the book to be signed.