Roobarb
Roobarb was a frantic, nervous, acid-green dog who was
constantly trying to better himself in the face of adversity.
Looking down on him was next door's lurid pink cat, Custard.
A
slothful, jaded creature, Custard could usually be found perched
out of the way, observing Roobarb's eager antics with a mixture of
cynicism and disdain.
The rivalry led the show's director, Bob Godfrey, to draw
parallels with the television comedy series, Hancock's Half Hour.
"It has a basic triangular structure. Roobarb is the Hancock
figure, a kind of holy fool," he said of writer Grange
Calverley's characters.
"Then there is the Sid James character, an
odious pink cat, and on the fence sit the lunatic birds, who will
always go with whoever is winning."
 The cartoon's trademark wobbly animation style was born of
necessity.
When the series was finally commissioned - after a year
of pitching for it - Bob Godfrey's Movie Emporium was granted only
a small loan.
Undaunted, he made the most of his resources by
using Magic Markers and paper, rather than acetate, for his
drawings.
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