Bagpuss

Once upon a time
Not so long ago
There was a little girl and her name was Emily
And she had a shop

The shop, Bagpuss & Co, was very unusual in that it never sold anything; it was full of things that people had lost and Emily had found. This business model is never called into question.

Bagpuss is an Oliver Postgate animation, which means it works at approximately three frames per second. Each episode begins with Emily leaving some item in the shop. When she has gone, Bagpuss and his friends wake up and try to figure out what the object is, and repair it.

Main characters:

• Emily, who only appears in the title sequence.
• Bagpuss, an old, saggy cloth cat, baggy and a bit loose at the seams. But Emily loved him.
• The mice, decorations on the Marvellous Mechanical Mouse Organ. The mice clean and repair the week's object whilst singing cheerfully.
• Professor Yaffle, a carved wooden bookend in the shape of a woodpecker. Yaffle lends his rather fusty expertise to working out what the object is.
• Madeleine the rag doll, who tells stories.
• Gabriel the toad, who plays the banjo.

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Tropes used in Bagpuss include:

• British Brevity: Thirteen episodes were made.
• Living Toys: all except Professor Yaffle, who is a bookend.
• Opening Narration: See the quote at top of page. There is also a closing narration.
• The Danza: Emily is played by Emily Fimin, the daughter of Postgate's partner.
• Stop Motion