Morph (TV series)
- For other uses, see morph.
Morph is an animated Plasticine stop-motion character who appeared with Tony Hart starting from 1977 on several of his UK TV programs, notably Take Hart and Hart Beat. Morph was produced for the BBC by Aardman Animations, later famous for Wallace and Gromit in association with Link Licensing.
Morph's 30th Birthday was recently celebrated by creator Peter Lord and celebrity fan and comedian Phill Jupitus at events for the Encounters Film Festival in Bristol.
Morph appeared mainly in one minute "shorts" interspersed throughout the show. These were connected to the main show by having Hart deliver a line or two to Morph who would reply in gobbledygook but with meaningful gestures. Later on, Morph was joined by cream-coloured Chaz, who was much more badly behaved.
Morph lived in an artist's wooden pencil box.
Some of the early plasticine models of Morph were destroyed in a fire at the warehouse they were being stored at on 10 October 2005.
Morph and Chaz appeared in shorts on the British children's TV programme SMart from 1994-present.
Appearances
1977–1983 | Take Hart |
1980–1981 | The Amazing Adventures of Morph |
1984–1993 | Hart Beat |
1994–present | SMart |
1996 | The Morph Files |
1997 | Morph TV (with Tony Hart) |
1998 | On Your Marks |
1999–2000 | Smart Hart |
Characters
- Morph - the main character with terracotta skin
- Chaz - Morph's very cheeky cousin with cream skin
- Nailbrush - Morph's 'canine' companion (a nailbrush)
- Grandmorph - a long-bearded grandpa version of Morph
- Delilah - a bossy female character in a yellow dress with brown skin
- Folly - a tin-foil girl
- Gillespie - a blue, dimwitted but benign giant-like character
- The Very Small Creatures - an array of small plasticine balls with eyes
- Goobledygook - An alien (who arrived on the table by accident piloting a milk bottle-like craft)
Credits
1980
- Narrator: Tony Hart
- Animated, Scripted and Directed by: Peter Lord, David Sproxton
- Special Effects: Peter Harwood
- Editor: Alan Trott
- Producer: Patrick Dowling
- Executive Producers: David Hamilton, Claire Derry
1995
- Narrator: Neil Morrissey
- Animators for Aardman Animations: Mike Booth, Gary Cureton, Dave Osmond
- Computer Animation: Alan Snow
- Dubbing Editor: James Mather
- Special Sounds: Peter Harwood
- Writer: Andy Walker
- Editor: Andrew Hassenruck
- Special Thanks to: The Staff of Aardman Animations
- Producer: Jacqueline White
- Executive Producers: Peter Lord, David Sproxton
- For Link Licensing: David Hamilton, Claire Derry
- Directed by: Peter Lord
External links
- Official Morph web-site
- Information about Morph, with photograph
- B3ta interview with Tony Hart which discusses Morph
- A fond farewell to Morph: Tony Hart article about Morph
- Animation archive up in smoke: BBC News article about Aardman's warehouse fire
- Morph's page on Tony Hart's official site
- Limited edition Morph prints created for Morph's 30th anniversary