{"id":50858,"date":"2019-01-29T00:01:30","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T08:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=50858"},"modified":"2019-01-29T07:05:28","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T15:05:28","slug":"lionel-jeffries-the-water-babies-1978-on-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/lionel-jeffries-the-water-babies-1978-on-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Jeffries\u2019 \u201cThe Water Babies\u201d (1978) on Records"},"content":{"rendered":"

The soundtrack to this animation\/live action fantasy, directed by Chitty Chitty Bang Bang\u2019s<\/em> Grandpa Potts, features an eclectic score, two Doctor Who\u2019s and two cartoon Beatle voices.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

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THE WATER BABIES<\/strong>
\nOriginal Film Soundtrack<\/strong>
\nNarrated by Bernard Cribbins<\/em>
\nAriola Records ARLB-5030 (12\u201d 33 1\/3 RPM LP with Gatefold \/ Stereo)<\/p>\n

Released in 1978.<\/strong> Album Producer: Phil Coulter. Film Producer: Peter Shaw. Musical Score: Phil Coulter. Running Time: 46 minutes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Performers:<\/strong> Bernard Cribbins (Narrator); Tommy Pender (Tom); Jon Pertwee (Mr. Salmon, Jock the Lobster); Olive Gregg (Mrs. Salmon); Paul Luty (Claude the Swordfish); Lance Percival (Terence the Sea Horse).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Film Songs<\/strong>: \u201cTry a Little Harder,\u201d \u201cHigh Cockalorum,\u201d \u201cLuli Lu Li\u201d by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter.
\nAdditional Songs:<\/strong> \u201cOver to Hartover Hall,\u201d \u201cTom\u201d by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter.
\nInstrumentals: Main Title, \u201cDo As You Would Be Done By,\u201d I\u2019m Ellie,\u201d \u201cStop Thief,\u201d \u201cDead Man\u2019s Pool,\u201d \u201cOld Tom,\u201d \u201cEvil Forest,\u201d \u201cMarch of the Water Babies\u201d and End Title by Phil Coulter.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Published in 1863, Charles Kingsley\u2019s The Water-Babies<\/em> is an early Victorian fantasy novel in which an orphan chimney sweep is changed into a magical creature of the deep. As a feature film<\/a> the story becomes a Dickensian Mr. Limpet<\/em> of sorts, in which the young chimney sweep Tom alternates between live action (with a stellar British cast including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea\u2019s<\/em> James Mason, David Tomlinson, Billie Whitelaw, Joan Greenwood and Bernard Cribbins) and animation in an undersea fantasy world. Most of the live actors also play animated characters, though a few are only in the cartoon portion, like Jon Pertwee, who was the Third Doctor on the long-running sci-fi series Doctor Who<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The film\u2014never given wide theatrical release in the U.S. but a staple of early cable, especially HBO\u2014transitions to animation about 40 minutes into the story (perhaps timed to a reel change). Water Babies then shifts back and forth from grim realism to jaunty whimsy in which sharks play cards, characters make friends instantly, and even imposing figures don\u2019t seem all that worrisome. <\/p>\n

The live-action was directed by veteran Lionel Jeffries, internationally known as actor in many features like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, First Men in the Moon, The Notorious Landlady<\/em> and Camelot<\/em> and as a director specializing for family films based on classic novels including The Railway Children<\/em> and The Amazing Mr. Blunden<\/em>.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

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The animation is very basic, not quite as static as TV cartoons of the seventies, but loose and erratic. This may have been the style of Polish director Miroslaw Kijowicz, who oversaw a Warsaw staff. If the design seems somewhat familiar, it might be due to the involvement of supervising designer\/animation director Tony Cuthbert and storyboard\/animation director (UK) Jack Stokes, both of whom worked on Yellow Submarine<\/em> and the original Beatles<\/em> TV cartoon. There\u2019s even a Beatles<\/em> TV cartoon cast member: Lance Percival, who voiced the animated Paul and Ringo. The modest budget was such that no real matte work seems evident. The transformation scene appears to be a series of dissolves and double exposures. (By coincidence, the film\u2019s producer, Peter Shaw, was the late husband of the live action\/animated Bedknobs and Broomsticks<\/em> star Angela Lansbury).<\/p>\n

David Tomlinson adds a touch of Mary Poppins<\/em> to the proceedings, doing a polar bear voice sounding very much like his parrot head umbrella character in the 1964 Walt Disney classic. He is not likely to be on the album (unless he joined in the final chorus of \u201cHigh Cockalorum\u201d) but it\u2019s nice to see and hear him in another family fantasy film.<\/p>\n