Muffin the Mule is an animated puppet animal character in a British 1946 to 1955 television show for children. The puppet was made in 1933 for Ann Hogarth. The original TV shows featuring the animal character himself were presented by Annette Mills, and broadcast live by the BBC from their studios at Alexandra Palace from autumn 1946 to winter 1954. Mills and the puppet continued with programmes that were broadcast until 1955, when Mills died. The television series then transferred to ITV in 1956 and 1957. A modern animated version of Muffin the Mule aired on the British CBeebies channel between autumn 2005 and early summer 2011 in the United Kingdom.
History
The original mule puppet was created in 1933 by Punch and Judy puppet maker Fred Tickner for husband-and-wife puppeteers Jan Bussell (1909–1984) and Ann Hogarth to form part of a puppet circus for the Hogarth Puppet Theatre. The act was soon put away, and the puppet was not taken out again until 1946, when Bussell and Hogarth were working with TV presenter Annette Mills. She named the puppet mule "Muffin", and it first appeared on television in an edition of For the Children broadcast on 20 October 1946.
The character proved popular, and ran on BBC television until 1955 when the BBC decided to discontinue the show after Mills' death. Muffin reappeared on BBC television on 27 January 1957 with Jan Bussell as his companion.
Typically, Muffin danced on top of a piano as Mills played. Muffin was supported by a host of other puppet characters who appeared occasionally, including Kirri the Kiwi, Zebbie the Zebra, Hubert the Hippopotamus and Sally the Sea Lion to name just a few. A separate series of 15-minute episodes, Muffin the Mule, was broadcast from 1952, along with his signature tune, called "We want Muffin". Muffin became a television star, and a wide range of spin-off merchandise was made using the Muffin character, including books, records, games and toys. Muffin also was made into one of the first licensed children's rides. A die-cast movable puppet was produced by Lesney Products, "the first toy to be marketed under licence as a result of successful TV appearances."Label on the display at the Museum of Childhood, Edinburgh
In the early 1950s, a Fleetways weekly magazine, Woman's Illustrated, featured on its children's page (Gnomes Club) stories about Muffin the Mule and/or his friends. Some were written by Annette Mills and illustrated by Molly Blake, Annette's daughter, such as "Muffin meets the Rear Light" in 1953; others did not state who the illustrator was, such as in 1953 "Muffin's Good Deed" by Mills, and many stories were written and illustrated only by Blake such as "Willie Disappears" (a Muffin story) on 20 August 1955.
Bussell and Hogarth, and later their daughter Sally McNally (1936–2004), continued to use Muffin the Mule in their own shows. Surviving original episodes of Muffin the Mule remain available on digital media in the United Kingdom. Archive footage of the original BBC series was shown on a television set in the 2006 Doctor Who story "The Idiot's Lantern".The Idiot's Lantern, Doctor Who Episode guide, BBC, Retrieved 10 February 2017
Muffin was invited to take part in 2021's Children in Need night.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Book A book containing a selection of the stories was published in the Soviet Union in 1958. At least three cartoons based on it were made in 1974 and 1975. These cartoons and the book make Muffin a donkey rather than a mule.
A popular television series based on the book was produced in Soviet Estonia and was aired from 1968 to 1972 and again from 1974 to 1976. In the series, Muffin (spelt Maffin) was portrayed as a donkey, voiced by actor Hendrik Toompere Sr.https://www.ohtuleht.ee/melu/300093/hendrik-toompere-oli-nukuteatris-45-aastat The show achieved wide popularity, and several Estonian public figures who grew up during that period — among them filmmaker and author Mart Sander — have described Maffin as their childhood hero and inspiration.https://kroonika.delfi.ee/artikkel/89833593/mart-maffin-ja-mood
2005–2011 TV series The rights to Muffin the Mule were bought by Maverick Entertainment in 2003, and a new 25 episode animated version of Muffin the Mule was shown on the British CBeebies TV channel. First aired on September 14th 2005 and repeated until August 1st 2008. The new television series was also translated into Welsh as "Myffin y Mul" and broadcast in Wales on the S4C channel.
Characters and voice cast (UK only) Muffin the Mule (voiced by David Holt) – The title character who lives in a caravan and often acts like a big brother to all his friends in Muffinham village, who he loves dearly. Muffin enjoys trying to help all his friends, but he does still tend to sulk or get cross if things do not go his way. He is, however, easily "jollied" out of these moods and is with masses of enthusiasm for life. He is also rather partial to a cup of tea and a slice of carrot cake. His friends all look to Muffin for guidance and despite his little "mischievous" nature, they would do anything for him too. Although Muffin can be quite cheeky, he puts on his red and yellow thinking cap whenever a problem occurs and always does his best to think of a possible solution. Peregrine the Penguin (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – Muffinham's inventor who lives in an igloo. Peregrine is one of Muffin's closest friends and has appeared in virtually all the episodes along with Muffin. He is very keen to help out, but he does tend to interfere and comes across as quite short and bossy, although he always means well. Peregrine is a very clever and important-but flightless bird, and spends most of the day working, occasionally on top secret things like, "How many sardines a living penguin can fit into his mouth". He does not suffer fools gladly, and is always more than capable of telling them so. Louise the Lamb (voiced by Sue Elliot Nicholls) – Monty's best friend with a very unknown accent who lives in a pink and red knitted house of her very own, is also very close friends (and often goes out on walks through and sometimes around the village) with Grace. Peter the Dog (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – Muffin's best friend who lives in a kennel, and (mostly) has so much energy that he just cannot sit still. He has a very good sense of smell and always wants to use it to try and help solve the mystery or the problem of every show. Although his enthusiasm to help out can get him into big trouble on occasions, like the time when he decided to bury all the precious things that his friends had, as he wanted to protect them and keep them safe from getting lost – on the face of it this does sound like a good idea, but only if he can remember where he buried them in the first place. Oswald the Ostrich (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – Willie's partner with a thick British accent who is flightless and lives in a garden shed, but has a tendency to walk around the village along with his beak wide open, and so it is often heard in the village of Muffinham that his friends, (particularly his clever friend, Willie the Worm) are calling out "Don't gape, Oswald!" to which Oswald generally replies with a "Duh", even though he is caring and kind. He and Willie the Worm are the best of friends and inseparable and like to bury both their heads in the sandpit for hours on end. Willie the Worm (voiced by David Holt) – Oswald's partner with a memorable accent who is often carried around on top of Oswald's back. Grace the Giraffe (voiced by Maria Darling) – Louise's closest friend with a soft, light English accent who lives in a lighthouse near Muffinham Beach and is incredibly elegant with her long neck and long eyelashes. Grace is still very good friends with Louise, but whenever they go out for walks in (or around) the village of Muffinham, they make sure that each other are always looking their best. Although Grace's age is not made clear, Grace herself loves nothing more than a good natter with her friends "chewing the cud" over a spot of tea and a really good muffin – the edible variety. Monty the Monkey (voiced by Sue Elliott Nicholls) – Muffin's first mate with a memorable British accent who not only lives in a tree house, but has a long tail and can frequently cause mischief in the village. The accidents that Monty sometimes causes are a continuous threat to the calm of Muffinham. If there is either chaos or a mishap anywhere in Muffinham village, the chances always are that Monty will not be "far away". Morris Mouse (voiced by David Holt) – One of Monty's neighbours with a memorable upper-class English accent who lives in a straw house with his wife, Doris Mouse. He enjoys digging his potato patch as well as gardening and is ever eager to try and solve problems, as opposed to Muffin. Doris Mouse (voiced by Maria Darling) – Morris Mouse's wife and Monty's other neighbour with an English accent who lives in the straw house near Muffinham Village's orchard with Morris Mouse.
Episodes (2005–2011 TV series) 1. Wish Upon A Star (first-ever episode) – Despite stargazing one cool winter's night with Muffin the Mule and Monty the mischievous monkey making a five-pointed "star" out of "silver paper and cardboard" as well as Peregrine the penguin building a "highly powerful telescope" to study the stars and then seeing an alien that looks just like Willie the Worm, Louise the lamb learns that all real wishes must always be kept secret. Episode Animators: Brian Larkin, Paul Cowen
2. The Party – After Grace the Giraffe receives a grammophone from Postman Kangaroo, Louise the Lamb decides to prepare a party in her garden. She invites everyone in the village, including Monty the cheeky monkey. However, when Muffin agrees to help organize the party for Louise and make preparations, Monty the Monkey himself overhears and, after being given the job of delivering the invitations to everyone in Muffinham, he becomes too curious and opens up the six invitations whilst delivering them across the farm, causing him to disorganize them all by mistake. In the end, after Monty eventually apologizes to all the other animal residents for (accidentally) mixing up all the party invitations, Morris and Doris Mouse and the other Muffinham Village pals do the jobs that they were meant to do in the first place, allowing the party itself to take place without any chaos at all. Episode Animator: Laurent Grisel
3. Muffin's Day Off – It is a sunny spring day in Muffinham Village, and Muffin the Mule is looking forward to a relaxing picnic in the woods. However, just about all of the other residents of Muffinham need Muffin to help him solve all their problems. Monty the Monkey cannot cross the raging river unaided, Peregrine the Penguin has lost his only pair of blue "reading glasses", Morris and Doris Mouse cannot decide whether to have red or pink roses beside their straw house's front door, and Grace the Giraffe's hooves are purple instead of grey and black. Muffin the Mule comes to the rescue before sharing his afternoon picnic with all his friends, including Monty the cheeky Monkey. Episode Animators: Brian Larkin, Paul Cowen