Meg and Mog

Meg and Mog is a series of children's books written by Helen Nicoll and illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski. First published in the 1970s, the books are about Meg, a witch whose spells always seem to go wrong, her striped cat Mog, and their friend Owl.^[1] The first book was published in January 1972. Following the death of Helen Nicholl in 2012, the series was continued by Pieńkowski and David Walser.

TV series and adaptations

The first Meg and Mog animation appeared on the Halloween episode of the BBC children's educational series Words and Pictures in 1977.^[2]

In 2001, an animated TV series of 52 five-minute episodes was planned to be produced as a co-production between Telemagination, TV-Loonland AG and Absolutely Productions for a 2002–2003 delivery, with Loonland holding non-UK rights to the series.^[3]

For unknown reasons, this plan never came through, and Absolutely instead teamed with Happy Life and Varcara to produce the series instead for a late-2003 delivery, with CITV purchasing UK broadcast rights.^[4] The series was first broadcast in the UK within that time.^[5]

It was produced by Carl Gorham and directed by Roger Mainwood, featuring the voices of Alan Bennett as Owl, Fay Ripley as Meg and Phil Cornwell as Mog with additional voices by Morwenna Banks and Paul Shearer.

A successful stage play also ran in London in the 1980s, starring Maureen Lipman as Meg.^[6]

Titles

Book series

Meg & Mog
Mog's Missing
Meg's Mummy
Meg Up the Creek
Meg, Mog & Og
Meg at Sea
Meg on the Moon
Meg's Car
Meg's Castle
Meg's Eggs
Mog at the Zoo
Mog in the Fog
Meg's Veg
Mog's Mumps
Meg Comes to School (formally known as Owl at School)
Meg Goes to Bed
Meg And The Pirate
Meg & Mog Board Book
Meg's Cauldron
Meg's Fancy Dress
Meg's Treasure
Mog in Charge
Meg and the Dragon (first written by David Walser)
Meg's Christmas

Television series

Meg's Cauldron And Other Stories DVD:

Meg's Cauldron
Meg at the Funfair
Meg's Car
Meg's Treasure
Meg's Race
Meg's Music
Meg up the Creek
Meg and the Sheep
Mog's Mumps
Meg's Museum
Owl at School
Meg's Christmas
Meg and the Snow^[7]

Meg, Mog And Owl And Other Stories DVD:

Meg, Mog and Owl
Owl's Voice
Meg on the Moon
Meg's Tent
Meg's Cake
Meg At Sea
Meg At The Circus
Meg And The Baby
Meg's Veg
Mog's Hiccups
Mog In The Fog
Meg's Picnic
Meg's Eggs ^[8]

Others:

Mog's Mistake
Meg's Castle
Meg's Fancy Dress
Owl's Birthday
Mog at the Zoo
Meg and the Viking
Meg and the Cowboy

Name

"Mog" is a short form of moggy, a word for cat that is not a specific breed.

References

^ "The MEG & MOG Stories". www.janpienkowski.com. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
^ "Words and Pictures: Series 4 (Henry Woolf)".
^ "TV-Loonland and Absolutely ally for new ITV toon".
^ "Meg & Mog to fly again on ITV".
^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 187. ISBN 9781476672939.
^ "Meg and Mog Show homepage". www.davidwood.org.uk. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
^ Meg's Cauldron and other stories DVD.
^ Meg, Mog and Owl and other stories DVD.