Noggin and the Ice Dragon

Our story opens in a great hall where a man tells the tale of Noggin.  He begins his story with the great green bird, Graculus, flying near the mountains.  Graculus is a talking bird and chief advisor to Noggin, King of the Nogs.  Graculus flying near the castle one morning when he spots something moving about and dives, expecting to catch a tasty rabbit.  Instead, he finds a diminutive man who claims to be from the Hot Water Valley.  He has traveled far to meet with Noggin.  Graculus takes the little man to Noggin.  The little man declares that an Ice Dragon is terrorizing the Hot Water Valley and he asks that Noggin slay the dragon.  Noggin, who is something of a noble bumpkin, agrees and brings Thor Nogson with him.  So it is that Noggin, Thor Nogson, Graculus, and the little man set out on a dogsled to reach the distant Hot Water Valley.  A party more unsuited for the task at hand would be hard to assemble.  However, they overcome each obstacle and manage to return peace to the Hot Water Valley.

 

The story is told in 4 parts, each ending with a new cliffhanger.  Of note, there is never any fighting since it is targeted at children.  The story is told with very basic animation and only a couple of voice actors provide all the voices and narration.  Troubles are resolved with the tools at hand, be it large birds to get over a mountain, geysers to thaw from being frozen, ice to disable a cannon, and so forth.

 

The Saga of Noggin of the Nogs is a long-running British series that began in the late 50s but has been revived a couple of times since.  It is only vaguely Viking.  The main villain seems to be Noggin’s uncle, the aptly named Nogbad the Bad.

 

I like the idea of the show more than the actual show.  A hobbit comes to ask a distant king for aid against a rampaging Ice Dragon sounds like a good story hook.  The magic forest where the trees move and thus erase any path or road is a cool location.  Also, the Glass Mountains that are nigh-impossible to scale because they are smooth as glass is good stuff.  Great intelligent green birds – that might be friend or foe and can, when working in concert, carry a man aloft – make for an interesting encounter.  That it turns out the dragon was driven from his cave by the true villain provides an opportunity for hasty characters to fight the dragon rather than assist it.  This is a really good adventure that has sapped of its dangers to appeal to a young audience.