Doctor Snuggles

Did You Know?

• Songs in the Finnish dub were sung by the actors of YLE Import re-using the De Angelis's music but with new Finnish lyrics.
• In the Finnish dub some scenes are cut, which includes musical numbers in some episodes.

Production

The animation work was divided between two studios: Topcraft in Japan created episodes one through seven, along with the opening and closing sequences, while DePatie-Freleng in the United States handled episodes eight through thirteen, leading to slight visual differences between the two sets. The Topcraft episodes, which also have their own distinct sound effects, were directed by Tsuguyuki Kubo, a prolific animator who worked on Rankin/Bass projects like The Hobbit, The Last Unicorn, and ThunderCats. The English version featured Peter Ustinov as the narrator and voice of the title character, with additional voices from Olwen Griffiths and John Challis. The series was built on original drawings by British artist Nick Price, with initial concepts and stories by Jeffrey O'Kelly, and television scripts for each episode written by Richard Carpenter and John Halas. Notably, episodes seven and twelve were penned by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, both focusing on environmental themes, while episode nine was written by Loek Kessels. In the UK, the show was part of the Watch It! block on ITV, later repeated on Channel 4 and The Children's Channel. It also aired on TVO in Ontario, Knowledge Network in British Columbia, ABC in Australia, M-Net and Bop TV in South Africa, RTB in Brunei, RTÉ in Ireland from 1989 until 1998, PTV in Pakistan, and in the United States through syndication via Chicago-based Field Communications, as well as on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. Channel. Other broadcasters included TV2 and TV3 in Malaysia, MediaCorp Channel 5 in Singapore, and TV1 and TV2 in New Zealand. The Dutch dub was directed by Frans Voordrecht, with voice actors Jules Croiset, Trudy Libosan, Dick Scheffer, and Rupert van Woerkom. The Swedish dub featured John Harryson, and the French version had Roger Carel in the lead role. A comic series based on the show was also published in Germany and Sweden.

Plot

The show follows the adventures of Doctor Snuggles, a kind old gentleman who lives with his elderly housekeeper, Miss Nettles. He spends most of his time inventing, creating such items as robot Mathilda Junkbottom, a worm-mobile, a machine to restore the colours of the rainbow, a gadget to fight depression, a fire-proof lotion, and a time machine. He typically travels by a talking pogo-stick/umbrella and a wooden spacecraft called the Dreamy Boom Boom, and contends with his arch enemy, the malevolent magician Professor Emerald.