Dance Your Cares Away!
FRAGGLE ROCK SEASON 1 (DVD)
Lionsgate UK
Release date: October 18th 2010
Certificate (UK): U
Running time: 592 minutes
Year of production: 1983
Created by: Jim Henson
Cast: Gobo, Mokey, Red, Wembley, Boober, Uncle Matt
“Dance your cares away,
Worry’s for another day.
Let the music play,
Down at Fraggle Rock.”
Do you remember getting home from school and turning on the TV for a daily afternoon triple bill of Sesame Street, The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock? Or was it just me?
From the mid to late 80’s those were some of the best times, back when kids TV shows entertained and taught simultaneously. Before the Teletubbies, Hoobs and that really creepy little fellow, Iggle Piggle came along.
Created by the magical genius known as Jim Henson, Fraggle Rock was in the vein of Sesame Street and The Muppet Show but met somewhere in between playing and learning. The show is set in a world where creatures, including humans, are part of a complex system of symbiotic relationships. Much of the fun was seeing how they continue to exist without realising it!
EPISODES:
- Beginnings
- Wembley and the Gorgs
- Let the Water Run
- You Can’t Do That Without a Hat
- The Thirty-Minute Work Week
- The Preachification of Convincing John
- I Want to Be You
- The Terrible Tunnel
- The Lost Treasure of the Fraggles
- Don’t Cry Over Spilt Milk
- Catch the Tail By the Tiger’
- The Finger of Light’
- We Love You, Wembley
- The Challenge
- I Don’t Care
- Capture the Moon
- Marooned
- The Minstrels
- The Great Radish Famine
- The Garden Plot
- Gobo’s Discovery
- Mokey’s Funeral
- The Beast of Bluerock
- New Trash Heap in Town
At the centre of it all is the “Rock” where the fun loving and colourful Fraggles live. There’s Mokey, Red, Wembley and Boober. Gobo is the leader and most level headed and practical member of the group. His Uncle Matt is somewhat of an explorer and ventures out of the Fraggle caves into “Outer Space” where he observes humans. One of them is an inventor called Doc who lives with his dog, Sprocket.
Through another cave exit, the Gorgs live. They are three giant furry creatures; a king, queen and prince of the universe, who are in actual fact a simple family living on a farm. The prince always tries to catch the Fraggles and succeeds on some occasions but his parents regard them as pests.
Let’s not forget the Doozers. They too live in the Fraggle caves, although they are much smaller, only a few inches tall. They are always busy building things and they’re extremely dedicated to their jobs. The Fraggles on the other hand are very dedicated to eating everything the Doozers build.
All 24 episodes are included in this Season 1 boxset. If, like me, you grew up watching American television, you’ll be happy to know that this is the American version. The UK version had the some differences; the inventor was changed to a lighthouse captain and the show was set on an island with a light house.
Though it’s a bare-bones release (no special features are included) and the picture quality looks very grainy, as if from a VHS transfer, it’s still Fraggle Rock and a nice piece of nostalgia from long gone days to have once again.
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