Funnybones


Funnybones is a British children's television comedy series, which originally aired on S4C in Wales, and BBC One elsewhere in the United Kingdom from 29 September to 15 December 1992.
It was based on the eponymous series of nine storybooks and one triple storybook, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg, which were illustrated by André Amstutz, and focused on the adventures of a pair of skeletons who were the eponymous Funnybones, Published in 1980. There was Big Funnybone, Little Funnybone, Dog Funnybone and Cat. Each of the show's episodes was five minutes in length.
The voices were provided by popular comedian Griff Rhys Jones, who also sang the theme song as the Moon Man.

Main characters

On the television series of Funnybones, six episodes have the same title based on the storybooks, but three had different titles of storybooks based on the same episode, and the other three never had a storybook applicable to them, excepting one storybook has a three story collection. The final episode of the television series, however, was based on the first storybook of Funnybones, and the first episode of it was based on the second storybook called "The Pet Shop". All twelve episodes were originally shown on BBC One as part of the Children's BBC strand on Tuesdays at 4:00pm.
Title of EpisodeTitle of storybook based onAir DateSummary
1. The Pet Shop2. Same title29 September 1992Big and Little decide to swap Dog for another pet, because all he does is bark and dig holes. But after Big and Little could not find a perfect pet as the others caused nothing but problems, they decided to swap them back for Dog.
2. Bumps in the Night4. Same title6 October 1992It is a particularly dark, dark night tonight, and Big and Little keep bumping into each other, making them fall to pieces, and there is only one thing to do: send in Dr. Bones, who does a great job of patching them up to stop them from bumping in the night.
3. Give the Dog a Bone5. Same title13 October 1992Dog is having his favourite dream, the one about a big, juicy bone. After Dog wakes up from his favourite dream he chases after other animals that have got the big, juicy bone including Cat.
4. Dinosaurs6. Dinosaur Dreams20 October 1992Dog gets left behind when Big and Little decide to visit the dark, dark dinosaur museum. When Dog follows Big and Little to the dinosaur museum, he thinks a huge, huge dinosaur wanted to hurt them.
5. The Ghost Train7. Same title27 October 1992Big, Little and Dog are invited to take a trip on the Ghost Train full of ghosts and monsters to the dark, dark seaside and back again.
6. Skeleton Crew8. Same title3 November 1992The Funnybones are on a boat holiday on the dark, dark sea. The Skeletons saw an Octopus, Skeleton Pirates and a Gorilla before a dark, dark thunderstorm takes them home from a desert island on their raft.
7. Mystery Tour9. Same title10 November 1992The Funnybones receive an invitation to a party at the end of a Mystery Tour.
8. WishboneN/A17 November 1992The Funnybones find a huge wishbone, and try to decide which one of them has the best idea for what to wish for. Ideas Included Being Firefighters, Flying like Birds, Being Kings, Going to Live on the Moon, Being a Famous Rockstar, Being Invisible etc.
9. Shake, Rattle and RollN/A24 November 1992The Funnybones decide to put on a show and Cat keeps getting told to go away each time she was carrying a poster that advertised the show.
10. Cat Chase3. The Black Cat1 December 1992The white, white Dog disappears in the white, white snow and the black, black Cat disappears in the dark, dark shadows. At the Pet Shop Big and Little ask or tell Mr. Bonehead that they need a lead of Dog.
11. City NightsN/A8 December 1992Little gets bored with the quiet life on the dark, dark hill. So he decides to go to the city before he gets worried about Big and Dog getting lost. "There are too many skeletons" says the Big Skeleton in the city and even the underground has them.
12. Night Fright1. Funnybones15 December 1992Cat gets left behind when the skeletons decide to go out and frighten anybody they come across.

A BBC video, entitled, Funnybones – Bumps in the Night, which contained all twelve episodes, was released soon after the series ended, but this is now out of print. The VHS tape was also released in Bulgaria and Australia, respectively by the companies Proxima Entertainment and ABC Video.

Miscellaneous

This was one of several cartoons dubbed by the then-new Irish post production company Telegael, to demonstrate children's programming possibilities for a proposed television station in Irish. The result, entitled Smior agus Smiortán, was broadcast on Ireland's two national television stations, RTÉ1 and 2, in 1993.
The series also aired on ABC in Australia, from 1 February 1994 to 28 January 1999 as well as airing on the channel in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea, SABC2 in South Africa, as part of a block for children called Mini-TV, the military television network BFBS in Germany and West Germany as well as being shown on the channel in Gibraltar, Bosnia, Belize, Cyprus and Falkland Islands, Yle TV2 in Finland and Cartoon Network, as part of a block for preschoolers called Small World and FOX Family Channel, as part of Mister Moose's Fun Time, a spinoff from The All New Captain Kangaroo in the United States.