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Gogs | |
---|---|
Created by | Siôn Jones, Deiniol Morris, Michael Mort |
Directed by | Deiniol Morris, Michael Mort |
Country of origin | Wales |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 13 (+1 special) (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producers | Michael Mort, Deiniol Morris, Helen Nabarro, Colin Rose |
Running time | 5 minutes 30 minutes (Gogwana) |
Production company | Aaargh! Animation |
Original release | |
Network | S4C, BBC Two |
Release | 21 December 1993 – 25 December 1998 |
Gogs is a Welsh claymation animated comedy television series created by Siôn Jones, Deiniol Morris, and Michael Mort and produced by Aaargh! Animation. The series is about the antics of the eponymous family of stereotypical dim-witted cavemen, which take the form of frequent slapstick and gross-out humour with no spoken dialogue.
The series consists of 13 five-minute episodes and a 30-minute special. The first series of five episodes aired on S4C in 1993, and received wider attention when they aired on BBC Two in 1996. This was followed by a second series of eight episodes which aired in 1997, and the series concluded with the 30-minute special Gogwana in 1998, both of which first aired on BBC Two.
The series was well-received, winning a number of international awards. [1] [2]
In the Welsh language, the term 'Gogs' is slang for 'Gogledd' which translates as 'North' and 'gogs' as 'Northerners'. The Welsh creators of the show - Deiniol Morris, Sion Jones and Michael Mort - decided that the single syllable word 'Gog' had just the right sound and a simple, direct quality which seemed to lend itself well to the primitive nature of the cave family.
Production of the pilot episode was a collaboration between numerous companies and individuals in 1993. Welsh animation studio Aaargh! Animation Ltd was then created specifically for the purpose of making the 'Gogs' series as a result of the success of the initial pilot episode created by Deiniol Morris, Siôn Jones and Michael Mort.
Later Aaargh Animation Ltd. went on to produce the animated segments of the 1997 film A Life Less Ordinary , and numerous commercials including ones for Levi jeans. [3]
Welsh channel S4C originally commissioned the pilot episode of Gogs. This episode was originally only aired on Welsh television, and was funded mainly by S4C.
The pilot episode, originally entitled 'Y Cymro Cyntaf' ('The First Welshmen') was the brainchild of friends Siôn Jones and Deiniol Morris. The initial treatment centred around the idea of a group of cavemen discovering fire and then losing it immediately.
Early in the development stage, Deiniol enlisted fellow animator and Newport college alumni Michael Mort to join the project and the concept was then reworked to incorporate the classic family structure (which did not feature in the initial treatment). Mort introduced the dinosaur element to the show as an homage to classic Ray Harryhausen movies. Mort was also responsible for designing and building the characters, as well as storyboarding, co-directing and animating the pilot episode.
After the success of the pilot episode, Michael and Deiniol went on to form Aaargh! Animation to produce two more series of five minute episodes. Sion Jones continued to be involved as a script writer and set builder over the course of the production. Deiniol subsequently directed the half hour special Gogwana, which was to be the final installment of the Gogs.
After the Gogs TV show was cancelled, Aaargh! Animation was dissolved and Mort and Morris parted company. Deiniol Morris and Sion Jones did not subsequently pursue careers in the animation industry. Mort continued working in the field, directing many commercials and creating the character of Chuck Steel who went on to appear in a short film (Chuck Steel: Raging Balls of Steel Justice 2013) and a feature length movie (Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires 2021).
The first series was initially brought to a minor Welsh audience by Meirion Davies of S4C in late 1993, complete with Welsh language titles and credits, and thereby less suitable for English language channels. Gogs sprung on to an international platform with the help of Colin Rose at the BBC, who had the show translated for an English-speaking audience and aired on BBC Two in the Christmas holidays of 1996. The Gogs did not use any language. This was a deliberate move by the creators of the show as it would make Gogs a better commercial prospect for prospective commissioners S4C by eliminating the costly need to translate and re-dub the voices and would also cut production costs by saving time in overdubbing and animating lip sync. [3] After this, a second series, Gogs II, was produced and aired in 1997, and in 1998 the Gogwana 30-minute special and finale. The show also aired in the US as a segment on The Three Friends and Jerry on Fox Family in 1998
Both series of Gogs and the Gogwana special were critically well received and garnered numerous awards. However, Gogwana would prove to be the last ever episode of the show. The high costs of producing claymation compared to the emerging sophistication of computer-generated animation (even one episode of Gogs took a very long time to produce with the small team, little resources and funding they had), and the prime time slot allocated to Gogs which would be better filled with "more conventional" sitcoms, ensured that Gogs was not commissioned for a third series or another special by the BBC. Steven Spielberg and his newly founded DreamWorks had recently attempted to retain the services of Nick Park, head of British studio Aardman Animations and creator of Wallace and Gromit , to make an animated caveman film; however Aardman "resisted being bought by Hollywood lock stock and barrel." Soon after, Spielberg saw the first episode of Gogs, which revolves around the consequences of the Gogs discovering fire for the first time; Spielberg was being impressed by it he offered Gogs creators AAArgh! work in the United States instead of Aardman. Morris and Mort met with Spielberg at his ranch and admitted they would be tempted by an offer to produce a theatrical Gogs with DreamWorks, [4] although no deal was made and there were no further developments to the plan. DreamWorks later resumed their contract with Park and Aardman, resulting in the films Chicken Run and Flushed Away . In 2005, Aardman announced they were working with DreamWorks on an animated caveman comedy without AAArgh!; it was to be called Crood Awakening in which a clan chief is threatened by the arrival of a prehistoric genius who comes up with revolutionary new inventions like fire. Co-written by John Cleese it eventually became the 2013 film The Croods . [5] [6]
The series depicts the Gogs comically as being mind-bogglingly stupid and struggling to navigate and avoid the perils of an exotic, prehistoric land inhabited by dinosaurs, prehistoric mammals, giant insects, human-eating plants, and other exotica. Even the primeval landscape is a danger, likely to erupt in a volcano or collapse in an earthquake, and the world is wracked by powerful lightning and thunder storms.
Among the show's key comedic aspects are crudeness and toilet humour; the characters do not talk, instead communicating with grunts, roars, screams, burps and farts, and overly exaggerated facial expressions. The rest of the show had an emphasis on slapstick, cartoonish violence as the Gogs spend the rest of their time wrestling, urinating, vomiting, bashing each other on the head with clubs, and scoffing food. The show was criticized by some for being too over the top.
Main antagonist of Gogwana.
A major supporting character and the primary antagonist of the show, Ray is a ravenous Tyrannosaurus rex who is frequently attempting to eat the Gog family clan, and is constantly stalking them wherever they go. In the first episode, when the characters are introduced in the opening credits, the T-Rex is said to be named Ray. Ray is used a designation for the T-Rex at other points in the show also. The name was in homage to the artist, designer and early model animator Ray Harryhausen [3] Ray's obsession with the Gogs may be as much down to revenge as hunger, as also in the first episode Ray is thwarted from eating the Gogs by having his private parts burnt by fire. In the second episode, Oglas and Ogo flee from the small dinosaur, only to discover a massive T-Rex which chases them off a cliff. Ray continues to appear in several episodes in the first series and in the half-hour special Gogwana.
Ray's depiction is inconsistent. In the first episode Ray is smaller and faster (perhaps a juvenile T-Rex), and in the film Gogwana he is depicted as slower but larger and generally more menacing. In Gogwana Ray, who is again stalking the Gogs, inadvertently saves them when he eats the new antagonist, the Cannibal King. There are other assorted dinosaurs featured throughout the episodes but Ray is the only one who makes more than one appearance. One model was made for the series episodes and a larger, more menacing model was made for use in Gogwana.
Based on 241 user ratings, Gogs has a weighted average vote of 7.5 out of 10 on the Internet Movie Database. Of the IMDB users who rated the show, 43.2% rated it 10 out of 10. [7]
Gogs received international acclaim and won several awards, initially winning "Yr Animeiddio Gorau" (Welsh for Best Animation) for four years running in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 at the Welsh BAFTA Cymru. Again, in 1995 the show won the international Children's BAFTA Award for Best Animation, [3] and in the 1996 international BAFTAs, Gogs won the entry for Best Animation.In June 1996, Gogs won the award for best animation at the Banff television festival in Canada.
The thirty-minute-long special in 1998, Gogwana, which wrapped up the show, was also well received, winning several awards. These included the Banff Rockie award for Best Animation Program Award at the 1999 Banff Television Festival, and the Audience Award for Best Film at the Rio de Janeiro Anima Mundi Animation Festival. It won Best Children's Series at the 1998 British Animation Awards and was nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 1999 international BAFTAs.
Both the first and second series of Gogs were released separately on VHS in 1997 by Warner Vision International with a parental guidance rating. With the airing of the thirty-minute long special Gogwana in 1998, Gogwana was also released separately on VHS.
Gogs was released as a Region 2 DVD on 9 April 2001 also by Warner Vision International. The DVD contains all thirteen episodes of both series, including the 30-minute special "Gogwana", all on a single disc, with a total run-time of 89 minutes. Special features include a rare photo gallery.
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