I watched that film, divided into short episodes, at the start of the 1990s, through the second channel of our national TV in Egypt.
How wonderful to teach by drama. And this time, it's a sci-fi with some romance aimed at teaching the English language's basics to the very young children I suppose. It wasn't the best animated work I have seen, but its imagination was distinct. You have a furry huge extraterrestrial Muzzy that feeds on metallic stuff, especially clocks. A very cool princess Sylvia who loves Bob the gardener. And a wily Corvax who looks like a magician while doing all of his evil by computer, with a program that clones people!
It's a simple tale that mixes elements from the old traditional legacy of stories (king, queen, loving princess, evil minister..), with new elements (spaceship, extraterrestrial, computer, cloning..). Furthermore, it turned the classic scary-looking ghoul into friendly and advanced alien.
After 20 years, I still memorize the opening credits, with introducing every character by its costume, place, reaction and name nicely. The vocal performance of every one was his / her personality's stamp; for instance, Sylvia was a smile of a girl. Back then, I imitated them, perfectly by the way, non-stop. And till now, I find myself saying in unexpected times, with deep voice, and after 2 decades that I have never seen a glimpse of this series during them--"I'm Muzzy, *BIG* Muzzy!". It's what made me remember its title for all of these years, and hence made searching for it on line easy.
True the title character's form wasn't catchy, the pace was a bit slow, but the real bugging factor was Norman's character, not for being in charge of the "teaching" side, but for the design of it; a tasteless outline drawing for a boy on a bicycle that interrupts the events while wiping off the image ridiculously with blackness!
(Jack May) played Muzzy too serious. The voice of (Derek Griffiths), as Corvax, resembles a bit the voice of the American actor (Wallace Shawn), who was a comic evil man in several movies such as (The Princess Bride - 1987). Ironically, the least important character around, the Queen, was voiced by the veteran (Miriam Margolyes) who - presently - has high fame by playing professor Pomona Sprout in the (Harry Potter) cinematic series. Let alone playing notable voice roles in famous movies lately like (Cats & Dogs - 2001), (Happy Feet - 2006) and (Flushed Away - 2006).
I won't say there is a naivety all over it. Instead, a beautiful simplicity. So, when I love Muzzy, it's not for my nostalgia to my childhood only, it's rather for a lovely childish sense it has. Just see the musical finale, when all the characters say goodbye to the space creature, and us, even the evil Corvax.. So cute!
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