The Story of Muffin the Mule
and the Hogarth Puppet Theatre
Ann Hogarth was the skilful puppeteer who gave Muffin the Mule his own endearing personality in TV performances. Many will remember Muffin's constant craving for attention and his clattering of hooves in accompaniment to Annette Mills' singing:
"We want Muffin. Muffin the Mule.
Dear old Muffin, playing the fool..."
Jan Bussell subsequently created further "Friends" to accompany Muffin the Mule. The first of these was "Mister Peregrine the Penguin", or "Mr Peregrine Esquire" as he preferred to be known. "Louise the Lamb" followed on soon afterwards, and then "Oswald the Ostrich", who featured with his best friend "Willie the Worm". Other characters, who were already in the puppet theatre's repertoire, joined the motley crew: "Peter the Pup", "Sally the Seal", "Katie the Kangaroo", "Grace the Giraffe", "Hubert the Hippo", "Monty the Monkey", "Kiri the Kiwi", "Poppy the Parrot", and "Morris & Doris the Fieldmice".
Until recently, Muffin the Mule lived with Jan and Ann's daughter Sally McNally and her husband Derek, who kindly granted exclusive rights to Latinor Designs to create and market cross-stitch embroidery kits of "Muffin the Mule" and "Friends of Muffin the Mule". We are sorry to say that Sally died in May last year after losing her battle against cancer. She was a very warm-hearted and benificent lady who will be greatly missed.
The kits are now offered in tribute to Jan (who designed the original puppets) and to Ann (who pulled all the strings and brought Muffin the Mule and his friends to life when he was on television). and to Sally who kept Muffin busy making guest appearances at exhibitions and in TV documentaries. Muffin the Mule is still the icon representing early television. He was the first television super star.
Muffin the Mule and Friends of Muffin the Mule are just as appealing to youngsters today (and the young at heart) as they were when they first made television famous.
