Fungus the Bogeyman facts for kids
First edition
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| Author | Raymond Briggs |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Raymond Briggs |
| Country | England |
| Genre | Children's |
| Published | 1977 Hamish Hamilton |
| Pages | 42 |
| ISBN | 0-241-89553-7 |
| OCLC | 4035276 |
| 741.5/942 19 | |
| LC Class | PN6737.B7 F8 |
Fungus the Bogeyman is a popular picture book from 1977. It was written and illustrated by the British artist Raymond Briggs. The story follows a day in the life of Fungus, a friendly Bogeyman. His job is to scare humans, but he's just a regular working guy! Today, the characters and stories from the book are owned by Vivendi's Studiocanal.
Contents
The Story of Fungus
The book shows a normal day for Fungus the Bogeyman. It starts when he wakes up and ends just before he goes to sleep. During his day, Fungus starts to wonder about his job. He thinks about why he scares people and if his work has a real purpose.
Bogey Life and Habits
Fungus is part of the Bogey society. This society is a lot like British society, but with some funny differences! Bogeymen love things that humans (who they call Drycleaners) would find uncomfortable. For example, they enjoy darkness, damp places, cold weather, and very old food.
The book shares many details about Bogey life. It explains their slang words and talks about their myths, pets, hobbies, books, clothes, and food.
Wordplay and Humor
A lot of the humor in the book comes from clever wordplay. For instance, Bogeymen enjoy eating and sharing flies. This is similar to how humans might share cigarettes. One type of fly is called the "strong French Gallwasp." This is a funny play on words, sounding like the cigarette brand Gauloises.
TV Shows and Stage Plays
Over the years, people tried many times to make a movie from the book. It was tricky because the book doesn't have a traditional story plot.
The 2004 TV Series
In 2002, the BBC started working on a three-part TV comedy series. It finally aired in November 2004 and is available on DVD. The show starred Clare Thomas as Jessica White and Martin Clunes as her father. Mak Wilson played Fungus.
This TV show was made by Gala Films. It mixed live-action humans with animated Bogeys. The series was nominated for five awards. It tells the story of Jessica, a human teenager, who finds her way into Bogeydom. There, she meets Fungus and his family. In this version, Fungus has a daughter named Mucus. His son, Mould (who was in the original book), is a teenager who likes to clean things instead of making them dirty!
The 2015 TV Series
A new three-part TV show aired on Sky1 in December 2015. Timothy Spall played Fungus. Other stars included Marc Warren, Keeley Hawes, Joanna Scanlan, Jimmy Akingbola, Paul Kaye, and Victoria Wood. This was Victoria Wood's last TV role before she passed away in April 2016.
This show was made by Andy Serkis's motion-capture studio, The Imaginarium. Andy Serkis also narrated the series.
Stage Production
A play based on the book was performed at artsdepot in North London. It ran from November 2007 to January 2008. This show was a team effort with Pilot Theatre. It was directed and adapted by Marcus Romer and designed by Ali Allen.
TV Series Aired
- Fungus the Bogeyman (Original) (28 November 2004 – 12 December 2004)
- Fungus the Bogeyman (Revival) (27 – 29 December 2015)
Fungus in Popular Culture
Fungus the Bogeyman has been mentioned in other TV shows and music.
- In the BBC sitcom Men Behaving Badly, there's an episode called "Babies." Gary (played by Martin Clunes) and his girlfriend Dorothy talk about having kids. Dorothy jokes, "Do I really want to have children with a man who still has a Fungus the Bogeyman pillowcase?" Fun fact: Martin Clunes later starred in the 2004 Fungus the Bogeyman TV series!
- The song "Bogey Music" by Paul McCartney was inspired by this book.
- In the ITV show "Primeval", during season 3, episode 5, a character named Lester warns his team, "I don't want any more Fungus the Bogeyman."
- You can see a picture of Fungus on the wall of the boy's room in The Snowman and the Snowdog.
