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From a planet far, far away...

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If you go down to an exhibition this weekend make sure you don't drop a clanger.

Because a display of some of the most well-known children's cartoons opens in Canterbury on Saturday.

Among the displays at the Sidney Cooper Gallery, St Peter’s Street, are the original Clangers puppets, created by Peter Firmin from a combination of meccano and wood, with the 'skins' knitted by his wife.

Peter, along with co-creator and narrator Oliver Postgate, animated the 1960s children’s stories, from his barn,cow shed and even pig stye in Blean.

The Bagpuss creators also made the equally popular Ivor The Engine and Noggin The Nog through their Small Films productions.

“It was Oliver’s company that I worked with him on and we went right through from the sixties through to the eighties,” said Peter.

“We were working on a very small budget, but Oliver was able to adapt almost anything to take film, using a 16mm camera and we made pretty much everything from scratch."

Work from fellow animator Bob Godfrey, best known for Roobarb and Henry’s Cat, is also on display. The exhibition runs until December 13.

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Factfile

• The first episode was broadcast on November 16 1969

• A further 25 episodes were made, with the last episode broadcast in 1972

• They ate Blue String Pudding, made by the Soup Dragon

• The name Clangers derives from the sound made when opening one of the metal covers on their burrows.

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