[Open the door / Close the door]
Roary the Racing Car
“You bend it, you mend it”
Roary is one of a new breed of advertisements thinly veiled as television programs. In the 80’s they tended to be aimed at 8-12 year olds, but these days the market has been expanded to include the pre-school demographic. Dora the Explorer, Fifi and the Flowertots, Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine, all of these franchises make more money from merchandising than they do program sales. Walking round Toy’s R Us the other day I was struck by how hard it was to buy a toy that wasn’t linked in to a film or TV show. A sad state of affairs.
Roary is the newest of these programs, and to be fair it is of pretty high quality. The show centers around Silverhatch racetrack and a variety of talking cars, caravans, tow trucks, and rabbits. It’s made by Cosgrove Hall so it has good pedigree, and it features the voice of Peter Kay and Sterling Moss – two well known names in the UK (although not, I imagine, in the US).
These are the shows that Evan and Amy will be blogging nostalgically about in thirty years time. And that’s all well and good. But they don’t seem a patch on Chorlton and the Wheelies or Dangermouse to me.
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on Dec 15th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
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on Dec 16th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Because last year, it was all about Cars (the cartoon movie). We could outfit a Cars display at any good sized toy store.
Contrary’s last blog post..I don?t live my life like a candle in the wind, so much as I live my life like a flashlight with dying batteries
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on Dec 16th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
In this context, Dan, what’s a rabbit? I know that a caravan is a motor home or RV.
One of my peeves about kids toys at this time of year is the commercials. They make toys look wondrous and fascinating (yes, I realize that is their job). So your kid begs for the toy and asks Santa for the toy and you buy the toy and it does one thing and one thing only. Your kid is bored after three minutes and they go back to playing with the box. Toys should do more than one function, for pete’s sake.
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on Dec 16th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
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on Dec 17th, 2007 at 2:30 am
It’s a cartoon rabbit. Oh, for pete’s sake.
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on Dec 19th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Maybe I’ll discover the truth on Petee Kaye’s next tour.
Steve’s last blog post..BBC NEWS | England | Tyne | Maternal side has ’stronger bond’
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on Dec 19th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Oliver is a little young as yet, but make sure he stays best friends with this guy’s kid until he’s around five.
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