Cartoon
Purple and Brown
The story
Purple and Brown is a British stop-motion animated short television series made in collaboration with Nickelodeon and Aardman Animations, the creators of Wallace and Gromit. The series was devised and directed by Rich Webber and edited by Mike Percival, who also offered the voices of the characters, and first aired in February 2006, on Nickelodeon's UK and Ireland channel, and then later became a staple on the US Nickelodeon network as part of its former Nick Extra short program.
Background
The series was devised and was directed by Webber and edited by Mike Percival. They also provided the voices of the characters, Webber being Purple and Percival voicing Brown. The series was originally set to launch on 13 February 2006, on Nickelodeon's channel in the United Kingdom. Despite the series' conclusion in 2007, a 7-minute special, titled Space, was made in 2009 but left unaired. According to Percival's public CV, the 7-minute episode was made for a cancelled US special of Purple and Brown. In September 2022 Webber published the episode on his YouTube channel. Photos of the making of Space can be seen on the blog of sculptor Dhimant Vyas, who was involved in the creation.
Purple and Brown is a creation of Aardman, who also animated Wallace and Gromit, Creature Comforts, Angry Kid and Morph.
Storyline
The storyline is led by the characters of two clay blob friends, one purple and the other brown and named after their colours, who are caught in ridiculous situations. Purple and Brown never speak, but they understand everything. Despite any given predicament, the duo can never help but giggle with a low, recognisable laugh.
Reception
In 2007, Cartoon Brew offered a mild criticism of Aardman's recent work, but wrote that Purple and Brown marked "a wonderful return to their roots", and that the concept is "beautifully animated and hilariously executed".
Episodes
Snowman (2006) - 15 seconds
Spaghetti (2006) - 19 seconds
Weewee (2006) - 21 seconds
Irish Jig (2006) - 54 seconds (shortened version), 2 minutes and 8 seconds (extended version)
Seagull (2006) - 22 seconds
Christmas (2006) - 59 seconds
Speedy (2006) - 1 minute and 2 seconds
Big Green Thing (2006) - 1 minute and 2 seconds
Alien 2 (2006) – 11 seconds
Magic Ball (2006)
Beardly (2006) - 11 seconds
Sleep (2006) - 1 minute and 2 seconds
Balloon (2006) - 22 seconds
Whistlers (2006) - 1 minute and 5 seconds
Hammer (2007) - 11 seconds
Beach Ball (2007) - 12 seconds
Colour (2007) - 7 seconds
Sun Screen (2007) - 9 seconds
Paint (2007) - 11 seconds
Unused
Mix Together
Cheese Heads
Fire Against Water
Space
Awards
2006, Won BAFTA award for best Children's Short