[VOICEINTHENIGHT]

Originally Posted by _SpeedRacer_

Pretty amazing that he managed to capture the imagination of 2 generations of children. Kids TV these days is absolutely abysmal.

my 13 year old lad and his 79 year old granny are sitting here watching captain scarlet (the animated version) at the moment. says something of the quality of the things Gerry Anderson created. remakes and another generation totally absorbed by the concept.

[Sniffle774]

Thank you Gerry for hours of entertainment your creations provided me as a child. From Thunderbirds to Space 1999 I loved them all.

[Spot]

Originally Posted by blueblade

RIP Gerry Anderson

Is Sylvia Anderson still alive ? They never mentioned her.

She is, but she and Gerry had split up in the 1970s and were divorced in 1981.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Anderson

[Glawster2002]

Originally Posted by M. Tourette

He should gain recognition for his work in overseeing special effects,
His main talent was getting the right team around him and letting them create.

His work in puppetry though was very negative and managed to really cast a negative shadow over that art form which hung around for a very long time.

Really?

At the time his work with puppetry on TV was seen as a great leap forward and far from negative, although he didn't always see it like that himself.

My favourite was Captain Scarlet as it was much darker than anything he'd done before, I also really loved UFO as well. Funnily enough I have both series on DVD!

RIP Gerry, you never really got the full credit you deserved.

[Saltydog1955]

RIP Gerry.

Childhood memories of Thunderbirds, Supercar, Fireball XL5....never to be forgotten.

Some forgotten Anderson here. Just a wee bit creepy......

http://ageofuncertainty.blogspot.co....-andy.html?m=1

[Andy2]

Originally Posted by Saltydog1955

RIP Gerry.

Childhood memories of Thunderbirds, Supercar, Fireball XL5....never to be forgotten.

Some forgotten Anderson here. Just a wee bit creepy......

http://ageofuncertainty.blogspot.co....-andy.html?m=1

Odd. I've done quite a lot of reading about Gerry Anderson and his productions over the years, but I've never come across this at all. Are you sure it isn't one of those nasty myths that people make up - like the 'rude names' in Captain Pugwash?

[Saltydog1955]

Originally Posted by Andy2

Odd. I've done quite a lot of reading about Gerry Anderson and his productions over the years, but I've never come across this at all. Are you sure it isn't one of those nasty myths that people make up - like the 'rude names' in Captain Pugwash?

My sister remembers having an annual of this programme, so it's real all right, but obviously something GA chose to forget..

Candy and Andy has been conveniently airbrushed out of Gerry Anderson's career history. There is no mention of them on Wikipedia and apart from one dedicated 1960s website, I can only find a few cursory references.

http://ageofuncertainty.blogspot.co....-andy.html?m=1

[Spiderpig]

I started my love of the work from Sylvia and Gerry with "Twizzle" and Four Feather Falls".It amazed me that with each new creation the advance in the technology and story lines was a pure joy to behold. Never boring always fantastic and for a small person just getting home from school the highlight of the day. R.I.P. Gerry and God bless you and you family, friends and loved ones.

[Gwen_PYC]

As a child, I loved the Thunderbirds and Space 1999.

Rest in peace, Gerry.

[Ray266]

Originally Posted by bidleybip

Was a big fan of Thundrbirds, Stingray and Captain Scarlett has kid but never saw Joe 90, Fireball XL5, or Supercar. Thank you for the childhood memories Gerry Anderson. R.I.P.

I don't think the new ITV Yorkshire Television showed Joe 90, I have seen some episodes but IMHO Thunderbirds was the best in fact Gerry Anderson said the only mistake he made was not to make a second series of Thunderbirds, Lew Grade told him to make a better series & that was Captain Scarlet but it didn't make as much money & was too ahead of its time back in 1967/8.

[Camino]

my son is a huge fan of Gerry, he got Torchy and Four Feather Falls dvs for Xmas, when I told him the news he was sad. RIP Gerry.

[Gwylfa]

I interviewed Gerry at his 'Collinswood' home in the early eighties. I and honestly say he was the loveliest interviewee that I ever encountered. He let us spend the day with him and it was fantastic, particularly as he discovered that I was a big fan. He was genuinely surprised! RIP Gerry, thank you for the wonderful memories, Tony

[QWERTYOP]

Never saw the big deal - you could clearly see the strings ffs!

[Sadiecat]

Originally Posted by elasticlove

Such an important part of my childhood, I only got the Thunderbirds entire collection on DVD last Christmas

Same here

[stvn758]

Had a cast toy of Thunderbird 2 as a kid, the bay came down and everything. Can't believe I threw it away.

[Lily_M]

Such sad news. Like many people, Thunderbirds was part of my childhood. He was such a talented man and will be missed.

Rest in Peace, Gerry.

[Prince Monalulu]

Originally Posted by M. Tourette

He should gain recognition for his work in overseeing special effects,
His main talent was getting the right team around him and letting them create.

His work in puppetry though was very negative and managed to really cast a negative shadow over that art form which hung around for a very long time.

Missed this post in the thread merge.
BIB what was negative about his work in puppetry?

[Ray266]

Originally Posted by QWERTYOP

Never saw the big deal - you could clearly see the strings ffs!

Its all about imagination you have it or you don't.

[Eddie Badger]

The strings never bothered me in the slightest. I loved the stories. I loved the wonderful models and I loved the explosions! Gerry Anderson really knew how to blow stuff up. Dr Who would have some crappy cheap effect where they would turn the lights up - Anderson had armageddon every week!

[zx50]

Originally Posted by Ray266

Its all about imagination you have it or you don't.

Precisely. It's not meant to be the height of realism. I think it's meant to purely fun. Ignore the strings and just enjoy the storylines.

[scumble]

Originally Posted by zx50

Precisely. It's not meant to be the height of realism. I think it's meant to purely fun. Ignore the strings and just enjoy the storylines.

The realism of his Supermarionation days and his models was actually ground-breaking when they first appeared. His puppets were lip-synching, sweating, gun-battling, bleeding, car-crashing, even exploding suicide bombers*. The fact that the storylines were exciting was just another part of the package, like the attention to detail, and like Barry Gray's amazing music. As a small child, the start sequence to Captain Scarlet was too realistic for me!

As has been said already, Doctor Who of the time couldn't even start to compete, and that never had strings, it just looked more plasticky than Gerry Anderson's productions.

The crapheads at the Mail have published a negative-slanted article that I won't link to, but it does contain some interesting (and relevant) family background.

I'm another one who is going to claim that Gerry Anderson wasn't given the credit he deserved (because his main audience was children?). The mainstream media seems intent on Thunderbirds and pigeonholing him as 'a bit handy with a puppet'. His live-action series was also gripping and innovative. The moonbases were entirely believable. Because of the tense storylines his shows age well - from the '60s to the '90s is several childhood generations of fans.

In Captain Scarlet, UFO and Space:1999 he allowed his writers stories that didn't always end neatly, or even always end in favour of the 'good guys'. Hollywood still struggles with that today.



*an assassin in a Captain Scarlet episode

[Saltydog1955]

As a kid back in the 60's Thunderbirds was the talk of the playground. We never worried about seeing the strings.

[zx50]

Originally Posted by scumble

The realism of his Supermarionation days and his models was actually ground-breaking when they first appeared. His puppets were lip-synching, sweating, gun-battling, bleeding, car-crashing, even exploding suicide bombers*. The fact that the storylines were exciting was just another part of the package, like the attention to detail, and like Barry Gray's amazing music. As a small child, the start sequence to Captain Scarlet was too realistic for me!

I think that will be another very good puppet series.

[Ray266]

Originally Posted by Saltydog1955

As a kid back in the 60's Thunderbirds was the talk of the playground. We never worried about seeing the strings.

Same here it was made just at the right time, Space race & all that wish we could have seen it in colour back then first time around

[whedon247]

RIP

enjoyed thunderbirds and stingray when i was younger