Catweazle
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | Catweazle |
| Original title | Catweazle |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Year (s) | 1970-1971 |
| length | 25 minutes |
| Episodes | 26 in 2 seasons |
| genre | Children's and youth series |
| idea | Richard Carpenter |
| production | London Weekend Television (LWT) |
| music | Ted Dicks |
| First broadcast | February 15, 1970 on ITV |
| German-language first broadcast |
April 28, 1974 on ZDF |
| occupation | |
| |
Catweazle is a television series on the British private broadcaster Independent Television , which first aired in 1970. It is about the Anglo-Saxon magician Catweazle and the adventures he experienced after traveling back in time with his young friends and in the 1970s. The main role played Geoffrey Bayldon . The series resulted in the novels Catweazle and Catweazle Seeks the Magic Sign by Richard Carpenter , who also wrote the scripts. Two seasons of thirteen episodes were produced.
The series was shot on 16mm film . The first season was filmed on Home Farm in the village of East Clandon (near Guildford ) in Surrey , and the second season was in and around Bayford and Brickendon in Hertfordshire .
action
First season
Catweazle is a quirky, goatee-bearded sorcerer in a ragged brown robe who initially lived in 1066 and tried in vain to fly with the help of a magic potion made from henbane , hemlock , thimble and buttercups . Instead, on the run from the murderous Normans who attacked England in the course of the Battle of Hastings , he is unintentionally catapulted into the 1970s by his - again unreliable - sorcery. It does this by jumping into a river while casting a spell. Thereupon he reappears in a swampy pond. In the new world, still unknown to him, Catweazle is fascinated, among other things, by electrical inventions of modern civilization, whose innovations he considers powerful magic. In the first season he befriends the thirteen-year-old farmer's son Harold Bennet (in the English original Edward "Carrot" Bennet), who among other things helps him to survive the pitfalls of a highly technical environment. He constantly saves him from discovery, because there is a threat of unwanted disclosure of Catweazel's identity. Catweazle proves to be extraordinarily talented at only disappearing at the very last moment.
Catweazel's magic formulas such as “Salmei, Dalmei, Adomei” or “Shampampurasch”, with which he causes a lot of mess, are an integral part of his magic and his film character. Just like his constant companion and “confidante”, the toad Kühlwalda (in the original: Touchwood ) and his dagger Adamcos . He invents terms for everyday things such as For example: "Zauberknochen" (' telephone receiver ', in the original film: telling bone ) and "Elektrik-Trick" ( electricity in the original electrickery ). Catweazle is frightened at the sight of such modern things and considers them to be modern demons. For example, when a pastor holds a telephone receiver to his ear and asks Catweazle in shock: "What, do you do magic with a magic bone?", He immediately interprets the device as an evil spirit and threatens the telephone system: "I will destroy you!" At an early stage he would like to return to his ancestral present from the for him populated and equally inexplicable 1970s, although he had previously fled from it fearfully.
Second season
It begins like the first in the distant past. Catweazle is initially captured at the castle of a Norman prince during the Norman Wars . However, as in the pre-season, he manages to escape using his magic, albeit this time through an unintentional time travel to the present . There he befriends the young Lord Cedric Collingford - who he also respectfully calls the " owl face " because of his glasses - who has returned to his parents during the holidays from boarding school . He considers Cedric's glasses to be something like a magical means, comparable to the face veil of an owl, interpreted mythologically by him and thus possessed of magical power . He therefore believes he is confronting someone from his sorcerers' guild, who is also magical, because he does not recognize his glasses as a modern and simple visual aid . Added to this is the fact that Cedric is in the former alchemy laboratory when he first meets and is occupied with 19th century magic books by a lord from the ancestral line of the castle family. Cedric provides him with the essentials of life and supports him in the search for a magic through which the art of flying can be achieved. The eccentric ancestor Cedric had already dealt with this spell. Equally helpful is Cedric's knowledge of the alchemy laboratory accessible through a secret passage, which Catweazle now also knows. But it is also a source of tension, as nobody else should know about it. Friendship between the two is not always shown, because sometimes they also compete for things. Sometimes Catweazle calls Cedric derogatory as an "owl".
Since the parents, who run a touristic castle business , are on the verge of bankruptcy due to insufficient income, Catweazle helps Cedric more in the search for an ancient treasure that is said to be hidden on the property. Thus, the two main characters of the plot not only have common secrets, but also each have a riddle to solve, whereby they support each other and also generally help each other to solve problems that arise.
Thematic matches of the two seasons
The many coincidences in the course of the action of the respective seasons are linked again and again. The two completely alien worlds, the time of the Norman Wars and the "modern times" are connected with each other. Things that do not seem to be related at first give the Catweazle insecure in the strange new world in the next a real meaning, which arouse curiosity and a thirst for research in him. Catweazle and his respective teenage friend almost always slip by the disaster in their adventures that are too early. With his eccentric rituals, Catweazle tries again and again to keep alleged evil spirits at first Harold, as well as later Cedric. Typical is his excited hissing, blowing over his thumb ring and conjuringly waving his magical witcher knife Adamcos . For him, nothing is coincidental or a matter of luck, not even the product of human ingenuity, but everything is magic - which he wants to decipher and which he wants to get hold of.
Catweazle thinks the modern, highly technological world he has got into is just as puzzling as Harold and Cedric Catweazle's magical world he reveals to them. This often provokes dialogues between the protagonists in which the eccentric impulses of the quirky wizard gush out of him. He can seamlessly transform himself from a submissive admirer of modern technical achievements, which for him represent magic, into a wildly cursing one who can exude a lot of imagination when ranting about these modern inventions . In his ancestral presence he had the most essentials of life, he could arrange himself there with the most sparse of things. The comforts of the modern everyday world were still alien to him there. Fathoming the magic in the new world also makes him restless. He doesn't want to finally arrive at a place and find peace - no, he wants to be able to fly and discover new and old worlds, explore their magic. Even if Catweazle sometimes shows a pronounced egoism with his somewhat devious manner, his good side always comes to the fore, for example when he tries to eradicate some evils of the new present with his magic power. But the magician from the distant past is not fundamentally hostile to the achievements of modern civilization. A modern three-wheeled bicycle, for example, is becoming a means of transport that he treasures, uses intensively and with pride. Harold and Cedric often do not take him seriously, and those around him often doubt his sanity. His unkempt-looking appearance and his frequent absent-mindedness partially reinforce this. However, his friends also recognize that his wisdom is often true. Observed closely, he is not a senile old man and he always retains his dignity. In his curiosity, mischievousness and his magic he always seems very concentrated and attentive. Often he is serious, not at all unfashionable in his views and simply a lovable elderly gentleman.
background
Richard Carpenter and Geoffrey Bayldon knew each other from the Old Vic Theater School . Carpenter wrote the play to fit the profile of Bayldon, who actually only played classical roles in the theater. In the role of Catweazle, Bayldon interpreted Old English using his own harsh dialect from his native Yorkshire . The make-up was so thick that he had to bathe twice after each day of shooting. The team was very familiar. A third season finally didn't come about, director Quentin Lawrence had died, no one wanted to follow in his footsteps and no one wanted to find a new style.
In his commentary on the series, in the accompanying text of the published DVDs, actor and author Uwe Sommerlad emphasizes that Carpenter managed to win over a number of television and cinema actors who were already well-known at the time for the respective roles. Above all, Bayldon shone in the ensemble, who made a lasting name for himself with this bizarre, but nevertheless sympathetically written role. In doing so - as a classic theater actor according to his origins - he succeeded in meaningfully realizing an unexaggerated representation and making his character appear multi-layered on the one hand, and not too distant or even too strange on the other. Although there were almost nine centuries between the starting year of the plot and the later point in time of the plot, there were no communication difficulties between the actors, who had to depict two widely separated epochs.
In an interview in August 2000, Bayldon reported about himself: "When I was 22, I was given roles by 90-year-olds".
When the television series was shot, Bayldon was only 45 years old - but otherwise looked even younger. The somewhat matted mane of hair and goatee-bearded facial hair in the film, but above all Bayldon's facial expressions there, in conjunction with the hand-rubbing gestures , the always somewhat humped gait with occasional wildly bouncing insoles, his excited overstrain with everything that was around him and his excited voice made the difference Bayldon an impelike and at the same time very old-looking sorcerer. The film character was basically not interested in time travel, because Catweazle only wanted to be able to fly. When asked about a possible leap into the era of computers , CDs and cell phones, Geoffrey Bayldon sums up that - since he too no longer understands how they work - Catweazle would have been very happy to return to the 11th century as soon as possible:
"What I thought was, never mind Catweazle, as Geoffrey Bayldon cannot begin to understand the workings of those things at all, I suppose Catweazle would have found peace fizzing quickly back to the eleventh century."
For someone who saw "Catweazle" as a child in the mid-1970s on television and a quarter of a century later - in the " digital age " - found himself in the role of Catweazle and very ignorant of technology, for example in connection with the high technology of computer technology, this question was quite obvious.
The theme song Busy Boy was not written specifically for the series, but came from the archive of the television station.
reception
Generations later and not least because of the constant repetition, Catweazel's magic formula “Salmei, Dalmei, Adomei”, his toad “Kühlwalda”, the term “magic bones” or “electrical trick” have become terms in everyday culture and language. In addition, the decades-old episodes - with a melancholy look at past childhood days and a laughing eye at the simple film technology - are in a certain way unforgettable.
interpretation
While Catweazle takes on the role of a mediator of a bygone magical world towards his two young friends in the seasons, they take on the role of conveying the modern, highly technological world to him and allaying his fears of it. The two boys, on the other hand, have no obvious fears, either in connection with one or the other temporal epoch, in connection with magic and technology. They deal with the technologies of their time in a very ignorant and impartial way, whereas Catweazle sees the "modern achievements" from the outset mostly as demonized and enchanted. He has many prejudices and is very often biased towards modern technology and the people who use it. But Catweazle is also often amazed, with almost childlike naivety, about these - for us everyday - things. Sometimes you can see something like technology skepticism in his reactions, on the other hand he usually has no problem making use of technologies (the “magic”) of modern times. His “ dream of flying ”, dreamed of long ago, has already come true in the modern present with the help of technological aids. He doesn't seem to realize that all that is needed is such means and doggedly pursues his magical approach. In the episode “ Mistakes ”, for example , Herold Catweazle points out in vain that he has no magical abilities and that modern abilities, which he believes to be sorcery, are based on science . Catweazle then announced that he wanted to continue to “learn” the magical “electrical trick”. Cedric also replies in “ A New Friend ”: “... there are airplanes when I want to fly.” However, Catweazle wants to be able to fly himself and not just with the help of an airplane.
First season
In both seasons, Catweazle questions, often with bitter humor, the modern world of technology around him and the now apparently cultivated behavior of the typical villagers of the modern era of the first season. He conveys processes in nature to the boys and teaches them to be connected to nature. Today this appears as an - almost "green" - approach of an environmental movement that was just beginning to establish itself , this is supported by the background scenario of the first season. Catweazel's leap in time certainly ends up on an idealized farm for a reason. He also has a strict but fair boss, or father, a dumb and therefore sympathetic assistant named Sam and the motherless boy Harold, who basically - without admitting it to himself - urgently needs an intimate friend and confidante. In their basic function, both seasons fulfill the well-known wish of children: to have a friend all to yourself, to keep secrets from parents and, above all, to be allowed to break strict rules in everyday life. The small village community, without crime and with many children from the first series, looks innocent and well-behaved from today's perspective - then also in the aftermath of the Swinging Sixties .
In particular, the role of Harold's father represents the classic social authority in stark contrast to the involuntarily anarchist Catweazles. Already from the first episode, not only does a potential for conflict build up, but the - first and foremost - young people, well-known virtues such as honesty , Hard work and a feeling of togetherness conveyed almost playfully.
The only magic Catweazles that exactly reaches its goal is hypnosis , at least for the first season . An example of side effects and conflicts of conscience in the film can be that due to the hypnosis carried out by Catweazle from the very first episode, the son of the house cannot name his father the real culprit for a window pane that was later broken. But he has an urgent need to make it clear to him that he is innocent. Here the film character of the magician serves as a constant but elementary possibility of comparison with the conscience of the protagonists, but also for the viewers with their conscience. Not only does the druid-like magician grow into the unusual role of a much older friend , he completes - at least from the boy's point of view - the incomplete family presented here due to the missing mother. Harold's only female caregiver is just the housekeeper, and Catweazle quickly becomes not only his closest confidante, but also, in some ways, a mother's substitute. He gives confused advice at first glance, but at least he tries to help the boy in his own way, and many of his suggestions - especially if you question them further - turn out to be real help and for him to be instructive. In later episodes this distribution of roles will be reversed and Harold takes the opportunity to teach the mostly childishly naive, but also sometimes childishly laid out older gentlemen, some “customs and morals”, which is actually traditionally the task of a legal guardian. It turns out that the newly forming family-like community - only completed from Harold's perspective - should not be broken up if possible. This is revealed to the viewer in the fourth episode "Hexerei" . Here Catweazle helps Harold to drive away an important business partner of his father - as it turns out later. Something like this is practiced again at the end of the first season in “The Magic Potion” , here a new housekeeper initially tyrannizes - together with her son - Harold. With the help of the “magic” of a brew, Catweazle manages to scare away the unbearable domestic dragon and to revive a “healthy” family atmosphere. This also fits the film plot that the servant Sam prefers to avoid his domineering mother. In the episode “ The Magic Bone ”, this lady is primarily driven through the countryside asleep and only very reluctantly by the faithful son - significantly, lying with Catweazle under the back seat. This seventh episode also parodies a clichéd, often a little simple-minded, country pastor named Potts .
The beginning of the story arc, which spans the rest of the entire first season, consists of the discovery of a magic book with a formula for the return of Catweazel to his time. A fine line between a modern, apparently enlightened , industrial society and the popular superstition still widespread close under the "shell" is trodden here and shows the continuous development of Catweazel from an initially rather pitiful fool to a multi-layered, nuanced and peasant cunning film character. In “The Eye of Time” widespread superstition is linked to the national passion for horse racing . In the episode “ The Magic Image ”, the superstitious fear that a photograph could steal a soul is discussed. Catweazle believes there - because of photos of herself, a rich American photographer named " Eleonor Derringer " - to have become dependent. In the eighth episode "Adamcos" the magician lost his witcher 's dagger. There he appears - very clichéd - as a homosexually portrayed antique dealer and costume designer with a funny demeanor. In spite of all of this, “Catweazle” remains a harmless television series suitable for children, albeit with a few socially critical undertones.
The film motif of being taken prisoner is reflected, for example, in "The Witches' House" , here a scientist records bird calls in the local forest with a tape recorder and then plays them back. Sam is applying there. The magician from the distant past who joins them, of course, cannot explain the process of sound recording and playback and considers the technology, which seems mysterious to him, to be witchcraft. Catweazle and Herold later believe Sam may have been murdered. The irritated magician is supposedly trying to rescue trapped “souls” this time not on photos but on magnetic tapes. Thereby - due to a misunderstanding - Catweazle gets into the situation that the scientist wants to make sound recordings of him. Catweazle feels at his mercy, whom he considers a "witcher", and panics, because he fears that the device will "wipe out" him.
If you look at these episodes one after the other, it is clear that the role development of the eccentric but lovable magician druid is inconsistent. In “The Eye of Time” he seems vain, almost arrogant - on the other hand, in the following episode “The Magical Image” he seems helpless and worth protecting. The extent to which the series is not just mere entertainment, but also, with the help of Catweazel's role, should give young viewers in particular a sense of right or wrong, is emphasized, for example, by the episode “Mistakes” . Staged in the tradition of the British "Carry On" comedies , the magician is drastically taught that stealing is wrong. At the same time, Catweazel's grouchy stubbornness of old age - still very pronounced at the beginning of the episodes - is strongly pushed back. The film role of the former colonel in the British Army, named Upshaw , also caricatures the traditionalism and militarism of the fallen British Empire .
Second season
This season, too, Catweazle questions the highly technological, modern world and the meanwhile - only superficially - cultivated behavior of the aristocrats of modern times. Except for Catweazle, none of the film characters will appear this season and he will appear again in a completely different, aristocratic environment. Bayldon appears convincing in his cinematic role, less rigid than those around him - but which realistically reflect British tradition in many facets. Catweazel's potential new friend here is Cedric, whom he calls - sometimes a bit derogatory - "itchy earwig", "hollow-headed acorn" or "four-eyed ferret". Cedric is dressed more conservatively, more intellectual, more intelligent and musically, but also rather shy of contact, more shy, calmer, not as expressive, younger, more vulnerable and somewhat weaker in character than Harold. A boy who can be wished for a great friend at his side - even more than Harold. Although he has a lot of theoretical knowledge, he basically needs someone who opens the door to reality for him.
Already at the beginning - in contrast to the beginning of the previous season with the farmer-smart but smart Harold - between Catweazle and Cedric it doesn't look like a real friendship, but rather a community out of necessity. Cedric seems arrogant, spoiled and his good family tree does not make him a person of sympathy at first . The relationship, especially with his father, is rather distant and cool. Harold, however, fully recognized his father as a person of respect. While Mr. Bennet has often approached his lively boy aggressively, Father Farthing would have preferred to have the vacation over and his son back in boarding school. Due to his upbringing, Cedric can do little with the suddenly appearing stranger. Catweazle violates all convention . In the now more familiar future, his recent journey through time, he is also deliberately clumsy. It seems to give him partial pleasure to demolish these stately structures. Cedric and Catweazle are both portrayed as outsiders who are neither emotionally nor intellectually close. The second season lacks rural simplicity and lacks human warmth. In the first season Catweazle acted as a mother substitute and only completed the family for Harold, now Catweazle and Cedric form their own parallel family or mutual substitute family.
In “ Sommerfreuden ” there is a renewed discussion on the topics of someone else's property and theft. Here Catweazle is obviously more stubborn than usual: submissive and devious at the beginning, almost aggressive in the second half of the episodes. This change in mood remains inexplicable, as does Cedric's lack of understanding of his ignorance about modern everyday life, although he certainly believes his new acquaintance has traveled through time and, above all, his inability to empathize with his situation. Communication between these two more different characters is noticeably more difficult than with Harold. Due to his personality, he often took the initiative and saved Catweazle from harm in advance. Cedric reacts more passively to his environment, can often only avert greater calamities in retrospect and generally appears rather phlegmatic . A fragile status quo develops between the friends, not least because of mutual distrust and knowledge of some mutual secrets . In the episode, an approach of technology skepticism can also be seen in parts . In this episode, Cedric explains the function of an alarm clock to the astonished magician. The defiant announcement of Catweazel in the direction of the alarm clock has an echo of skepticism towards this modern, technical aid: “I get up when I wake up, eat when I'm hungry, sleep when I'm tired! I am not afraid of you (...)! ”He does not want to be“ told ”by a clock what to“ do ”. An example of political joke can be found in this episode in the reaction of the antique dealer Mr. Pickle, in connection with a three-wheeled bicycle to be sold, to the basic statement of the servant Groom: “That belonged to the grandmother of your lordship. (...) She was a champion for women's rights , but had no sense of balance, ”listen out. Whereupon the dealer asks: "Fanatic blue stocking ?"
In the third episode " The Birthday Party " Cedric clearly disinhibits himself. According to his own admission, the celebration of his birthday is only a “pretext” for a ridiculous and staged “ cake fight ”. At the end - after a magic show sabotaged by Catweazle according to every trick in the book - for the first time this season, he shows childish / youthful emotions and no longer seems disaffected . In connection with his parents, this is a great achievement, because the script leaves no cliché to make them appear as unsympathetic, stiff and arrogant as possible. The conception of the birth celebration looks strikingly unbritish and shows more cliché parallels with extremely colorful parties in America, but in front of a picturesque castle backdrop.
This season the element of the comedy of confusion with allusions to seemingly everyday situations comes to the fore more and more . In “ The Sign of Cancer ”, for example, Catweazle slips into suspicion of having stolen on a large scale. Cedric knows that the over-the-top magician repeatedly steals or "borrows" useless little things for his mission, but in this case he is innocent because the brazen break-ins into the manorial house are carried out by "crying Ted". The old magician finally unmasked this and above all against the growing distrust of Cedric. In this episode the British police are parodied, while in the next episode " Black Discs " Catweazle falls victim to typical British humor again. The dialogues are sharper in this episode. It can be seen that there is no real emotional connection between the two purpose-mates. At first there is little real sympathy for the boy. In the following more than 100 years after its invention, the record as a sound carrier has decisively changed media and cultural history. The Swinging Sixties is generally a cultural, political and fashion trend or the zeitgeist of society from the mid-1960s. The "black discs" and the music on them played an important role during this period. This is caricatured in this episode. Catweazle crushes the black plastic of the "slices" into powder and tries to inject it into the sleeping servant Groom - in order to treat a loss of speech caused by illness. The music from the popular band The Beatles - as well as the mushroom head hairstyle they made into youth fashion - was rejected by the adult world. Cedric's father therefore once expressed disparagingly about the length of his son's hair. At the end of the series, Cedric dances exuberantly, with the witcher, to record music. Catweazle shows sympathy for contemporary music culture together with his youthful companion like a Vitus dance .
“ There is no building here ” concludes the small “Carry On” season. A snobbish and superstitious building contractor is thinking of building houses for 200,000 residents on the stately property. Out of necessity, Cedric and Catweazle team up against this “progress”, which seems monstrous to them, while Cedric's parents freeze in awe of this major construction project. The interaction between the two very different characters of the friends works well here. As a result, the greedy building contractor who becomes too dangerous for friends and their activities is driven out. Catweazel's “magic power” only plays a role in combination. The weakness of the otherwise overpowering modernist entrepreneur, in the form of his manic dominating belief, in a very popular form, in supernatural powers in certain spiritual beings , situations and things , carries out a greater weakness . These as well as the episode “ Kühlwalda ” are prime examples of subtle humor.
In season episodes such as " Ghost Stories ", Catweazle gains in stature not least because of his idiosyncratic but lovable actions. He exposes the behavior of his fellow men there as an ambiguous farce . In “ The Philosopher's Stone ” the insecure magician searches for a final panacea because he cannot find the sign of Aries, which he considers extremely important for his search for the art of flying. He ends up in a maneuver by a reserve unit of the British Army on the castle grounds. This parody of the recreational military with its ossified officers and incompetent soldiers is in the end brought to the point in the interrogation of the avoidable spy Catweazle.
When Cedric went on the treasure hunt in the last episode more by chance and this time on his own initiative, he reached his goal. He can avert the impending bankruptcy of his parents' tourist business. Now the relationship, especially between father and son, is improving, while Catweazle cannot increase the degree of friendship with Cedric any further. In general, Cedric often helps the quirky owl out of trouble, but he doesn't necessarily like it and he is more afraid of punishment than the motivation to help a person in need. Catweazle, on the other hand, is noticeably less in awe of Cedric than of Harold, and his eccentric nature often just goes for him.
Stylistic means
Scientific knowledge - but above all clichés - on human history provide all the prerequisites for using the stylistic device of situation comedy in film products that revolve around this topic. They arise from the alienated situation which arise during these leaps in time into the past and from the fact that, for example, people who are supposedly equipped in the Stone Age - but nevertheless "modern" - have to find their way around unfamiliar aids in an unknown time and not from the outset always act very skillfully. In reverse, this type of humor was used by the television series Catweazle, back in the 1970s. Conversely, when the time-traveling druid collides with modern achievements there, he offers a lot of open ground for ridicule by trying to evade the pitfalls of modern technology with supposedly "medieval" behavior.
Catweazle and the Merlin tradition
The screenwriter Carpenter took up the Merlin tradition and many aspects, but also parodied them to some extent. The name Merlin stands for one of the most famous mythical wizards of western culture. Tanja Lindauer points out the parallels between the two magicians in one of her books. The character Catweazle is one of several Merlin parodies in children's and youth literature. Merlin or characters similar to Merlin have a humorous effect in these stories, among other things through exaggerated characteristics. Merlin's appearance is partially adopted. However, his long, white and well-groomed beard, for example, is parodied by the deliberately comical representation in the Catweazle series. Catweazel's beard is rather unkempt and dirty, his body hair a bit matted, his body seems to be covered in a layer of dirt. It often seems to have a strong odor. But this also shows parallels to the Merlin tradition, because the powerful magician Merlin also appears occasionally as a beggar figure. However, Catweazel's appearance is often eccentric and also smelly. Carpenter also creates comedy through the fact that Catweazle is often associated with a beggar in the plot. This turns an omnipotent magician into a figure with human weaknesses, his magical abilities partially denied and he occasionally even declared to be more or less crazy. In places he is portrayed as infantile when his respective child / adolescent friend takes on the role of a mentor and teacher. It is noticeable that Catweazle is very often referred to in the plot as an "old man". Constant guesswork is triggered in the viewer as to whether he is really a wizard or if he is just a little bit crazy in his way. Another difference from Merlin is Catweazel's insecurity. With him, wizarding omnipotence and wisdom are not absolute. Merlin makes his time travel very confidently and rarely shows fear. Catweazel's leaps in time are not based on reliable magic, but rather on coincidences. Like Merlin , who sometimes appears as "crazy", he flees into the forest when there is danger. But Catweazle can look into the future and has the "eye of time". For example, his thumb and arm tingle when a person, “magic” or danger approaches. He has some negative traits, which Merlin also has. Catweazle is often in a bad mood, is irritable and appears arrogant, steals and curses. His grin has evil, goblin-like and demonic traits and intensifies his negative appearances. Like Merlin, he uses black magic .
As with Merlin, Catweazle's personal past remains completely in the dark. The poisonous son of the tyrannical housekeeper on the series is certainly not named Arthur by chance . As with Catweazle the magical witcher knife Adamcos plays a role, this is also the case in the Arthurian legend of King Arthur and the mythical sword Excalibur . Of Merlin the sword had been driven by a stone and anvil.
Permanent access to the Catweazle series
In the meantime, technology has developed rapidly and the viewer is looking into a technical past - mainly the 1970s. At this time, different fashion is worn and spoken less stilted than at later times, but the numerous still modern ideas make the seasons timeless. The series fulfills modern educational guidelines, because it does not require any depictions of violence. Many of the plots are based on timeless puns. The classic screwball comedy element has been used with great sensitivity - modernized in the script - and wrapped in a fantastic robe. This mixture can still be viewed without any problems - despite all traces of aging - and clearly demonstrates the differences in quality of the content of the original British television series for young viewers compared to the then uniform standard of public broadcasters in the Federal Republic of Germany, in the German " three-channel era ".
The translator of the book-rich, Sybil Countess Schönfeldt, also addresses the discrepancy between the technical achievements of the 1970s and our “computer age” in her foreword to the books. Due to this disproportion, the Catweazle stories are hardly made more difficult when reading or looking at - more recently than the time of origin - but only for a further journey through time, in addition to the Middle Ages and the immersion in the "Worlds of Catweazle". For example, cars in the stories are more or less what they currently are, and television or the telephone are not technically described in such detail that they could lose their reference to our time.
Perception in the media
In the online magazine Phantastikon , Karin Reddemann emphasizes the uniqueness that Catweazle displayed back when television was still the simple “box of tricks of the 1970s”: “On that memorable Sunday afternoon, my mother shouted something profound like“ Eureka! ”And we four children joined us to her in a hurry, because we suspected that something monstrous was going on there on the screen. Something we'd love And that all of you, who were born too late for this, probably somehow not really understand. (...) Our dog is definitely not the most loyal companion here, but a toad named Kühlwalda, a somewhat cooler, only apparently indefinable quacking and therefore all the smarter house friend, whose pocky look should not distract from its special magical charm. "
The review of the online magazine "Phantastik-News.de" According to in 2006: "Do not (...) says the publication of the two" Catweazle "squadrons only the generation of the forties to the early seventies - 1974 in Germany - met the quirky magician for the first time, but also their children (s), to whom a down-to-earth, magical world without violence opens up. "
The Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote in 2010 in retrospect: "What was found for it even good? Embarrassing gags, blurry picture, bad cuts. It doesn't matter: The superstar of our children's hearts was called, no means forever Catweazle. "..." On the other hand: beautiful theme music. Great lead actor. Good feeling. ”And quoted Sybil Countess Schönfeldt , Zeit literature critic and translator of the long out of print books on the series:“ Catweazle was something special ”...“ He was about humor, fantasy, anti-racism and friendship. Today I get too much murdered in children's books and series. Do you know Twig or Artemis Fowl ? " ..." Whole peoples are being wiped out. "The former ZDF youth program director Josef Göhlen was also quoted as saying:" The success surprised many. The thing is made pretty primitive. "
When a young friend is placed alongside Catweazle on the adventures, the Süddeutsche Zeitung sees a relationship without generation conflicts being realized: “... in which the boundaries between old and young, teacher and student, friend and foe blurred wonderfully. The main question was: How can human coexistence succeed despite all the differences, despite all the problems? The answer: with humor. "
The Stuttgarter Nachrichten 2013: “'Catweazle' is funnier and more subtle than popular series like ' Lassie ' or ' Flipper '. Parents probably found the stories to be educationally valuable, which is why you never had to beg long to be allowed to turn on the telly. "
The online industry service Meedia reports: “From today's perspective, this TV series is a crazy mix of magician nonsense, technical skepticism and British anarcho-humor à la Monthy Python . In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, "Catweazle" quickly became a cult. "
In the 2017 article, Die Welt headlined in the obituary for the main actor “The man who was Catweazle is dead” and wrote: “That Catweazle could not do magic is a rumor. ... But the best thing about Catweazle was its failure ... Catweazle not only fell from walls and stuck to church spiers, he had made failure a religion: 'Nothing works' was his best spell, and it has been longer 'Catweazle' ran, the more the series was repeated, the truer this sentence became. "
Broadcasting and Publications
This series, produced by London Weekend Television (LWT) , was first broadcast nationwide on the British private broadcaster ITV from February 15, 1970 to April 4, 1972.
In Germany, Catweazle was shown for the first time on ZDF from April 28 to September 29, 1974. The series is repeated over and over again by different broadcasters. Since October 12, 2005, the first and since February 2006 the second season of the series has been available in German on DVD .
Episode lists
Title of the English and German dubbed versions of the two seasons:
| First season | Second season |
|---|---|
The Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons in 1066 and the Anglo-Saxon warlock Catweazle lives in fear as a hermit in a cave. There he is attacked by enemy warriors and wants to flee from them with the help of a spell. Instead, the magician and his toad Kühlwalda suddenly make a leap in time to Great Britain in the 1970s. There he meets Harold Bennett, the son of the owner of the witch farm. The boy is not impressed by his strange appearance. So that his father doesn't see the wizard, Harold hides him in the farm's barn. Catweazle cunningly uses hypnosis on Harold, which makes it impossible for Harold to tell anyone about the magician, which immediately gets the farmer's son into trouble.
Harold provides the magician with the essentials of life and tries to familiarize him with the civilization of the 20th century. Above all, Harold has to make sure that his father and the servant Sam Woodyard do not discover the strange guest. One day Harold smuggles his looking friend into the house so he can take a bath. When Sam later discovers the strange wizard, a wild chase ensues and Catweazle flees into the forest. There he discovers a disused water tower, in which he settles at home. He christened his new home Saburac Castle and continued to transform it into an alchemy laboratory .
Unfortunately the farm is in financial difficulties. Harold suspects that this could be because there is a curse on the farm. He asks Catweazle for help. He finds an old magic book in the local museum, which he finds very useful.
A certain Miss Bonnington often turns up on the farm. Harold doesn't like her. He thinks she wants to marry his father. The real reason for their frequent visits is different, however, because Father Bennett has applied to the ward to build new stables and is consulting with Miss Bonnington on how to influence the ward council. Harold plots with Catweazle to get rid of Bonnington. Catweazle explains to Harold how he wants to witch the measles on to the unloved Bonnington with the help of a small doll, but he needs the Miss's hair to do so. So it's a good thing that Bonnington is about to go to the hairdresser. There the magician performs a wild elf dance in front of the frightened customers as a diversionary maneuver.
Catweazle overhears a conversation between Harold and the servant Sam, which is about horse betting: Sam hopes for "the" big win at the horse race and asks the fortune teller Madame Rosa for predictions. Catweazle knows that horse racing can be won by someone who, like him, has the magical "Eye of Time". He gives Harold a practical demonstration, but Harold only realizes the sense of Catweazel's “magic” when he sees on television that the magician actually predicted the winning horse of the first race in coded form. Harold wants to bet on the next races because he knows that his father urgently needs money for the farm. But his father, who doesn't want his son to be in betting shops, thwarted his plan. Catweazle now also visits Madame Rosa, but quickly realizes that she is a cheat. He initially insults the alleged clairvoyant for being in league with the betting shop and then hypnotizes them. Before she can recover from it, Catweazle is gone again - together with her crystal ball.
The American photographer Eleonor Derringer has moved into a house near the witch farm. During a walk with the farm owner she meets the catweazle and is fascinated by its bizarre appearance. Derringer thinks Catweazle is the most interesting photo motif that has ever come before her lens. She really wants to photograph him and tries to invite him to her home. Catweazle has no prior knowledge of what photography means. He is horrified when he finally sees himself shown in the photos and is convinced that he has fallen under the spell of a powerful witch. He begs Harold to free him.
When Catweazle tries again to get into his time by means of magic, something goes wrong again and he hangs on a church spire. Pastor Potts from Bandon, a place near the witch farm, brings him down there, first in the belief that he is saving a suicide. Later he thinks the stranger is simply crazy and calls Mr. Bennet from the farm to pick up Catweazle. The magician is completely amazed at where the pastor is speaking. He thinks the telephone receiver is a magic bone. He absolutely wants to bring this “magic tool” into his power.
Rehearsals for a theatrical performance take place in Westborne, a place near the witch farm. All of this is confusing for Catweazle, because the play is set in the Norman era, from which he fled. When he meets amateur actors disguised as Normans in the forest, who broke down their car on the way to the rehearsal, he is horrified. Panicked, he flees from them and loses his magic knife Adamcos , which he believes is vital. Catweazle and Harold feverishly search for Adamcos and finally suspect it is in an antique shop. There is some turbulence between the two of them and the owner.
Catweazle tries Harold for a dispute on the thieving behavior of the mage in a toad to hex. When a little monkey, who had previously run away from Colonel Upshaw, appears in his alchemy laboratory, Catweazle believes that this animal species, unknown to him, is the enchanted Harold. He immediately regrets his actions and tries to transform the supposed Harold back. He is increasingly desperate when he fails to do this and realizes that he urgently needs help. He's looking for this at Upshaw, whom he once saw firing a hunting rifle. He considers the bang of the rifle to be the magical power of a magician, so he considers Colonel Upshaw to be magical to "save" Harold. His visit leads to mix-ups and some chaos.
On his forays into the woods, Catweazle comes across an ornithologist named Cyril Fitton, who is trying to record bird calls in a trailer full of tape recorders. When Fitton shows the magician his devices, he believes in magic that locks “souls” in tapes. He tries to free the trapped bird sounds from the devices. Harold also suspects that Sam was murdered by Fitton. After all, Catweazle has vaguely noticed that the voices are trapped in the tapes and that they can be heard when they run along the tape head. Back in his alchemy workshop, Catweazle immediately pulls a tape stolen by Cyril over his own head, of course without having any success with this approach.
The local police and Sergeant Bottle are at a loss. Again and again, thefts of brushwood are reported to her. A kind of witchcraft madness is suspected to be the background to Bottle's superiors. The sergeant is asked to put an end to the haunted house. The harmless and personable Sam is suspected of all. However, some of the stolen brooms were found in a place where the farm worker had parked his car. The sergeant has him arrested. Harold is outraged. He is certain that Catweazle selfishly stole the broom for his magical rituals. The magic of Catweazel can ultimately turn everything for the better.
Mr. Bennett has hired a new housekeeper, Mrs. Skinner, who has brought her son. The new court employee has a two-faced character: she is amiable in the presence of Mr. Bennet, but Harold and Sam suffer. Her son of the same nature also contributes to this. Catweazle brews a magic potion to help his friend - a kind of truth serum.
After Mr. Bennett injured his foot and stayed in bed, Harold has little time for his friend, because he has to help Sam out with the farm work. Fortunately, Aunt Flo has come to look after her brother. She has a spiritistic touch and believes in ghosts. Catweazle takes the opportunity to hang around the yard without being put in place by Harold. He is working harder to get back into his time and goes to the lake from which he came into the present. But when he is afraid of meeting Normans again, he wants to get himself a modern “magic weapon” before going back in time. When Aunt Flo discovers Catweazle in the house, she is convinced that she has encountered the ghost of a deceased childhood friend. The magician tries in vain to hypnotize them too. Both have a short conversation in a bizarre way, which basically only consists of misunderstandings, but Catweazle gains courage to return to his ancestral times. |
|
synchronization
- Catweazle: Hans Hessling
- Mr. Bennet: Helmo Kindermann
- Harold Bennet: Steffen Müller
- Sam Woodyard: Peter Kirchberger
- Cedric Collingford: Friedrich Hey
- Lord Collingford: Werner Bruhns
- Lady Collingford: Renate Pichler
- Mr. Groome: Wolfgang Völz
- Ms. Gowdie: Jo Wegener
Remake
In September 2019 it was announced that there will be a German remake of Catweazle. Catweazle is played by comedian Otto Waalkes . The film is scheduled to open in cinemas at Christmas 2020. Directed by Sven Unterwaldt .
literature
- Richard Carpenter : Catweazle, the great magician. Special edition. from the English by Sybil Countess Schönfeldt . Ravensburger Buchverlag , 2008, ISBN 978-3-473-36988-1 .
Web links
- Catweazle in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- Episode guide on fernsehserien.de
- Catweazle the great wizard , PDF reading sample (208 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Martin Zips: Catweazle - But the toads are all dead. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . May 11, 2010. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
- ↑ kinderbuch-couch.de
- ↑ welt.de
- ↑ welt.de
- ↑ phantastik-news.de
- ↑ phantastik-news.de
- ↑ dailymotion.com
- ↑ Bodo Mrozek : History in Discs: Records as Contemporary Historical Sources. In: Contemporary historical research. Issue 2, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, p. 295. (zeithistorische-forschungen.de)
- ↑ aurora-magazin.at
- ↑ industriemuseum.lvr.de
- ↑ planet-wissen.de
- ↑ phantastik-news.de
- ↑ Patricia Rahemipour: Archeology in the spotlight: The visualization of prehistory in film 1895-1930. Dissertation. Free University of Berlin, 2008, OCLC 520962747 , p. 333. (d-nb.info)
- ↑ Tanja Lindauer: But I thought all witches were wicked: Witches and wizards in the fantastic children's and youth literature in England and Germany. Tectum Wissenschaftsverlag, 2012, pp. 164–170.
- ↑ books.google.de
- ↑ phantastik-news.de
- ↑ kinderbuch-couch.de
- ↑ phantastikon.de
- ↑ sueddeutsche.de
- ↑ Michael Deufel: Catweazle "Salmei, Dalmei, Adomei!" , Stuttgarter-nachrichten.de, October 26, 2013.
- ↑ meedia.de
- ↑ Wieland Freund: The man who was Catweazle is dead , welt.de, May 12, 2017.
- ↑ First photos of the cult comedian as Catweazle