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The Herbs and The Adventures of Parsley Classic BBC kid's animation by Michael Bond
PARSLEY THE LION
Same book -2 print runs
LEFT
The 1st publication in 1972
By Armada Lion (William Collins)
RIGHT
A 1994 reprint,
published by Diamond Books.
It's a collection of 9 episodes
from The Adventures of Parsley
Written by Michael Bond
Drawings by Ivor Wood.
Drawings only.No series stills.
1. Dill's Dabbles
2. Egg Trouble
3. Parsley's Endurance Test
4. Parsley's Invention
5. Mr.Onion and Self-defence
6. Dill's Television
7. Parsley's Car
8. Parsley's Breakdown
9. Dill's "Who's Who" Entry.
A FEW THOUGHTS.
These books prove why The Adventures of Parsley struck such a chord with mums and dads as well as their kids.
Because The Herbs had been a Watch With Mother lunchtime series designed solely for pre-schoolers.But the sequel had to appeal to a much broader audience,as it filled the early evening slot vacated by The Magic Roundabout.
So,Michael Bond ensured the kids got plenty of gags & slapstick,but also gave the adults more of the sort of dry sardonic wit and philosophical musings they'd enjoyed so much from Dougal -whilst ostensibly just waiting for the news broadcast that followed of course !
Trivia
Question:- What links The Adventures of Parsley with The Magic Roundabout ?
Answer:- Apart from the timeslot,and the fact animator Ivor Woods worked on both,the slightly leftfield answer is the influence of 60's comic Tony Hancock.
Because Parsley's lines sound as though they could have been written for him. And Eric Thompson practically did a vocal impersonation of him for Dougal.
Which is a testimony to just how big a star he was around the time they were both written -something that's easy to forget all these years later.
PARSLEY PARADE
This was also brought out in 1972 to accompany the 'Parsley the Lion" version.And simply had some different stories lifted from The Adventures of Parsley.Although I've not seen any later reprints of this particular one.But all the other publishing details that apply to "Parsley the Lion" apply to "Parsley Parade", and the stories are as follows:-
1: The Sound of the Sea 2: Holiday Time 3: Looking into the Future
4: Exam Time 5: Looking for Work 6: Parsley's Telegram
7: Dill's Stately Kennel 8: Dill's Restaurant 9: Dill's Pop Group.
