Farewell to Pugwash…(and Seaman Staines and Master Bates)
On hearing that the cartoonist John Ryan, best known as the creator of the popular childrens cartoon series Captain Pugwash passed away on 22nd July at the ripe old age of 88 I was reminded of that old well-travelled urban myth from the late 1980s/early ’90s. According to this myth Captain Pugwash was laden with sexual innuendo and included characters with double entendre names like Seaman Staines, Master Bates and Roger the cabin boy. Totally untrue, but quite widely believed.
According to his obituary in the Guardian Ryan was a devoutly religious man with conservative views who preferred the old style traditional Latin mass and was a regular contributor to the Catholic Herald newspaper. So it’s not surprising that wasn’t happy about the slandering of his creations in this way and got his lawyers to order the papers which published these scurrilous falsehoods to issue a full retraction.
Still, it was funny though.
Alright then, mildly amusing.
I ‘ve heard about Captain Pugwash, but never seen it. It was banned in South Africa back in the ’70s because the pirate ship in it was called the Black Pig. The government of the day saw this as an affront to their racial purity and didn’t want to put ideas in people’s heads.
May he rest in peace. I think that the world could do with more people like John Ryan. A true gentleman by the sounds of it. I certainly enjoyed Captain Pugwash as a child, and despite the fact that his innocent natured illustrations have now long been technologically overtaken, I am sure that Pugwash and friends will be rediscovered by future generations of parents and children, seeking something authentic and pure from the past.
I couldn’t agree more Phil. I hope you didn’t think I was being disrespectful to the man!
He certainly lived a healthy and fulfilling, prolific life. Although Pugwash was undoubtedly his most famous creation, of more groundbreaking significant was Mary, Midge & Mongo, a cartoon about a young girl living in a high rise tower block which broke the mould in portraying an alternative environment to the cosy, middle class settings which had typified most children’s literature and TV up to that point. John Ryan RIP.
As a footnote to the “urban myth” mentioned above, it’s worth noting that there is a character in Oliver Twist called Charlie Bates, a member of Fagin’s gang of juvenile delinquents. Dickens regularly refers to him in the narrative as “Master Bates”. You can imagine the hilarity this caused when I was studying the text for GCSE English lit. A bunch of sniggering 15 year old boys and an angry, and somewhat bemused female teacher.
Now, did Dickens intend this as a deliberate innuendo in the hope of shocking (or perhaps slipping it innocently over the heads of) a prudish Victorian readership? The evidence certainly points this way in terms of the inconsistencies of the narrative . The title character is always referred to by Dickens as Oliver, but never “Master Twist” for instance. So it’s nothing new!
And don’t worry I haven’t forgotten about “Dynamite”! I’ll publish it as soon as I can.
Master Bates, leaves Seaman Staines, then goes over to Roger the Cabin Boy.
Myth? … Don’t make me laugh!
Are you so naive to think that everybody else is naive?
It was funny before, and even funnier when he got found out!