original_network the magic roundabout
Clay animation or claymation is ___MASK11___ of many forms of stop motion animation . Each animated piece , either character or background , is " deformable " made of a malleable substance , usually Plasticine clay . The Magic Roundabout ( known in the original French as " Le Manège enchanté ") was a children ' s television programme created in 1963 by Serge Danot , with the help of Ivor Wood and Wood ' s French wife , Josiane . The series was originally broadcast from 1964 to 1971 on ORTF ( ___MASK44___ ). Having originally rejected the series as " charming ... but difficult to dub into English ", the BBC later produced a version of the series using the original French - stop motion animation footage with new English - language scripts , written and narrated by Eric Thompson , which bore little relation to the original storylines . This version , broadcast in 441 five - minute - long episodes from 18 October 1965 to 25 January 1977 , was a great success and attained cult status , and when in 1967 it was moved from the slot just before the evening news to an earlier children ' s viewing time , adult viewers complained to the BBC . Stop motion ( hyphenated stop - motion when used as an adjective ) is an animation technique that physically manipulates an object so that it appears to move on its own . The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames , creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a fast sequence . Dolls with movable joints or clay figures are often used in stop motion for their ease of repositioning . Stop motion animation using plasticine is called clay animation or " clay - mation ". Not all stop motion requires figures or models ; many stop motion films can involve using humans , household appliances and other things for comedic effect . Stop motion using objects is sometimes referred to as object animation . The Magic Roundabout ( known in the original French as Le Manège enchanté ) was a French - British animated children ' s television programme created in France in 1963 by Serge Danot , with the help of Ivor Wood and Wood ' s French wife , Josiane . The series was originally broadcast between 1964 and 1971 on ORTF , originally in black - and - white . Having originally rejected the series as `` charming ... but difficult to dub into English '' , the ___MASK79___ later produced a version of the series using the original stop motion animation footage with new English - language scripts , written and performed by Eric Thompson , which bore little relation to the original storylines . This version , broadcast in 441 five - minute - long episodes from 18 October 1965 to 25 January 1977 , was a great success and attained cult status , and when in 1967 it was moved from the slot just before the evening news to an earlier children ' s viewing time , adult viewers complained to the ___MASK79___ . Object animation is a form of stop motion animation that involves the animated movements of any non - drawn objects such as toys , blocks , dolls , ___MASK50___ . which are not fully malleable , such as clay or wax , and not designed to look like a recognizable human or animal character . Eric Norman Thompson ( 9 November 1929  30 November 1982 ) was an English actor , television presenter and producer . He is best remembered for creating and performing the English narration for " The Magic Roundabout ", which he adapted from the original French " Le Manège Enchanté ".