'The Teapot' by Oliver Postgate

Small Clanger is fishing. He lands a small silver teapot. They do not know exactly what it is for. They try it for a hat but it is not a hat. Small Clanger knows what it is, it is a soup-jug. He takes it to the soup-wells and fills it with three jugfuls of soup. He takes it home on the trolley and pours the soup into the Clangers' mugs from it. The spout gets bunged up. He blows through it and it makes a loud trumpet-like noise. Small Clanger is delighted but the Clangers are displeased because he is spraying soup about. They tell Small Clanger to take it outside if he wants to make loud noises. Small Clanger takes it outside on the trolley and blows it. An answering sound is heard. He blows it again. The answering sound is closer. He blows it a third time and has to run as a cloud of assorted tin hollow-ware falls around him. Teapots, coffeepots, jugs cafes-filtres, cans lie all around. They do not seem to be alive. Small Clanger brings in the teapot and tells the others. Major Clanger blows the teapot and the cloud of metal pots flies in and lands all around them. Tiny Clanger poles away through a cloud of falling teapots. She comes to the soup-well and tells the soup-dragon what has happened. The soup-dragon insists on blowing it. The teapots come sailing into the soup-dragon's cave. The soup-dragon retires into her well and refuses to emerge until they get rid of the plague. Small Clanger takes the teapot outside. Tiny Clanger makes a helicopter with a branch of a ring tree. She makes a ring of music notes and fixes it to the teapot. They take the teapot to a high place, blow it and spin the wheel. The teapot rises and sails away on the music. The other pots follow.

Original Conception:
Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin

Scenery and Puppets:
Peter Firmin

Music:
Composed by Vernon Elliott

Filming and Editing:
Oliver Postgate

Film Company:
Smallfilms

TX:
9th May 1971 @ 5.00pm

Notes:
*This synopsis is the original outline written by Oliver Postgate for the BBC prior to production, and may differ slightly from the transmitted version.

*The Clangers voices were played on swannee whistles by Oliver Postgate and Stephen Sylvester.