The Trap Door
British animated series about monsters and a trap door.
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Its plot follows the daily misadventures of monsters living in a castle, including a blue creature named Berk, a spider-like Drutt, and a skull called Boni.[1][2] The show blended humour with horror and dark fantasy elements, marketed as children's programming.[2] In 1986, the British stop-motion animated series The Trap Door first aired on UK television.[1]
Making and release
British animators Terry Brain and Charlie Mills created The Trap Door through their companies CMTB Animation and Queensgate Productions Ltd.[3] The duo, known as "Brainbox Mills," animated without laboriously planning each frame ahead, working "blind" instead.[4][3] A Den of Geek article noted that modelling materials were mixed in an old Nescafé jar and character eyeballs came from an animator's mother's marble collection.[4] The first series consisted of 25 episodes, each running about four minutes, broadcast in 1986.[3]
A second series added 15 more episodes, bringing the total to 40.[3][5] Willie Rushton voiced Berk, Boni, Rogg, and the Thing Upstairs.[6] Terry Brain performed all the character voices except Drutt, which was voiced by Nick Shipley.[6]
What the cited sources add
The Den of Geek article reported that the show's DIY aesthetic included visible felt-tip pen strokes in its logo.[4] According to the same source, the animators acted out each character's behavior rather than analyzing it.[4] The article described Berk as having a west-country drawl provided by Rushton, exclaiming phrases like "Oh, glommits"[4] Terry Brain explained to BBC Two in 1988 that the trap door allowed introduction of a new character each episode that moved differently.[4]
The BBC News obituary noted that Brain's family said "making people laugh was his priority"[5] The same obituary reported that Brain later joined Aardman Animations and worked on Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, and Shaun the Sheep.[5] Box remarked that "slickness isn't important" and noted that the quality of performance increased throughout the show's run.[4]
References
- Wikipedia, "The Trap Door" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Trap Door: celebrating a much-loved 80s animated series", Den of Geek, 10 March 2016; "News", EMAP, October 1986, p. 9; "Piranha to put the bite on software industry", Sunshine Publications, 24 July 1986, p. 5 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "The Trap Door" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Toonhound – The Trap Door (1984)", www.toonhound.com; "The Trap Door: celebrating a much-loved 80s animated series", Den of Geek, 10 March 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "The Trap Door" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Trap Door: celebrating a much-loved 80s animated series", Den of Geek, 10 March 2016; "Trap Door animator Terry Brain dies after cancer battle", BBC News, 27 March 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "The Trap Door: celebrating a much-loved 80s animated series", Den of Geek, 10 March 2016. facts only, no text reused. denofgeek.com
- "Trap Door animator Terry Brain dies after cancer battle", BBC News, 27 March 2016. facts only, no text reused. bbc.co.uk
- Wikipedia, "The Trap Door" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Trap Door: celebrating a much-loved 80s animated series", Den of Geek, 10 March 2016; "Dave Brain (@Ornsack) on Twiter: "Willie Rushton is credited but only did Berk, Boni, Rogg and the Thing Upstairs. Nick Shipley did Drutt, and my dad, Terry Brain, did the rest of the characters."", Twitter (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article The Trap Door (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Dark fantasy television series
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: The Trap Door (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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