Sport Billy

Some Cartoons are hazy memories from childhood, almost dream-like you're not even sure they even existed. Cartoons like Bagpuss - or the Moomins

Everyone will have their own one of theses cartoons. For me it is "Sport Billy"

As with many cartoons of the 1970's it originated from abroad - Germany to be precise. in common with cartoons of that era, it also has a lot of semi-historical muddled facts in it. "Sport Billy" comes from the Planet "Olympus" a place filled with semi-god like figures.

Also of it's era it has a social and moral message. Sport Billy travels the earth, in order to promote teamwork and sportsmanship (Olympus - you see...).

Sport Billy, is in continual conflict with a "baddie" the evil queen Vanda (a lot like Skeletor from He-man - though there were no sports billy toys like in He-man :( )who is disgusted by the fairness of competitive sport. These days she might be cast as being from a planet called "it's political correctness gone mad". Her mission "to destroy ALL sports in the Galaxy!!!" Well if you're going to have a crazed purpose in life you may as well reach for the stars... as it were.

Of course, all of these things went above me, through me, or are maybe stored in some unconscious part of my brain waiting to pop out when I have children and they begin match-fixing. The thing that absolutely captivated me was the fact that Sports Billy has....

A magic sports bag!

Yes! From which he can take out anything he likes - however big or small. Like Mary Poppins' bag, only totally pimped up. Now, if there's one thing that speaks to a child's desire for wish fulfillment, it's most definitely a magic holdall that they can produce anything they so wish.

Oh dear, I wanted that so much back then. Of course I wouldn't sniff at owning one now. But now of course I recognize that in a the world of Newtonian and Particle physics, such material generation is not possible. My mother tried to tell me this when I was younger, but i didn't believe her.

They made 26 Episodes of Sport Billy altogether, but I never felt that I saw it enough. I pined for it, you know. Pined.

Still, there's that lack of wish fulfillment again. At the time, if I'd had a magic holdall that i could take anything out of, one of the first things i would have taken out of it would have been a TV that was playing "Sport Billy". Oh the sweet irony.