Oliver Postgate Dies at 83

Oliver Postgate, 83, died Monday near London. Postgate was best known for the British children's television animation he made with Peter Firmin in the 1960s and 1970s.

Postgate and Firmin first created IVOR THE ENGINE, followed by THE SAGA OF NOGGIN THE NOG, BAGPUSS and THE CLANGERS. Bagpuss, the "saggy old cloth cat," became an overnight licensing phenomenon nearly 20 years later, after being voted the top children's series of all time. Bagpuss and Clangers toys became firm favorites with original fans of the characters and a new generation.

Postgate and fellow artist Firmin established production company Smallfilms in the late 1950s, writing scripts, creating puppets and backgrounds and filming their shows in stop-motion animation. Postgate would provide voices and narration.

Per THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Postgate is survived by his partner Naomi Linnell and several children from his marriage to the late Prudence Myers.