plik

PHOTOCOPIABLE

around

English

A long way from Dragonball and Pokemon...

Wolves, Bandits, Trolls and
Strange White Lines...

It is quite a collection. Where

can you find such a strange group
of characters?  What can they all
have  in  common?    Well,  all
of them  have  delighted  children
for  many  years  -  and  are  still
popular today, even though some
of  them  are  old  enough  to  have
retired long ago!

A Hoj!

One of the oldest children’s

cartoons  is  The  Little  Mole,
which  was  first  made  in  1957
in Czechoslovakia.    The  mole
and  his  friends  (a  small  mouse,
a hedgehog  and  a  hare,  amongst
others)  have  adventures  in  their
forest

and

outside

it,

but

everything always ends happily,
of course.

A Forest Bandit

With his wild black hair,

bushy  black  beard  and  gruff
manner,  you  could  be  forgiven
for  thinking  that  this  character
was

not

suitable

for

little

children.    In  fact,  though,
Rumcajs  the  Bandit  was  a  very
helpful character who lived

quietly  in  the  woods  with  his
wife  Hanka  and  their  son
Cypisek.    Like  Krecik,  this
cartoon

was

made

in Czechoslovakia, but it was
made a decade later.

“I’ll show you...”

We’re all familiar with Tom

and  Jerry’s  mad  chases,  where
the poor cat never quite manages
to  catch  the  little  mouse.    Well,
in The  Soviet  Union  in  1969
an Eastern  Bloc  version  was
made:  The  Wolf  and  the  Hare.
It was very similar: the poor wolf
tried everything to catch the hare,
but never did.  Ever the optimist,
the wolf ended each episode with
“Nu, Zajec!  Pogodi!”  He never
did, though.

Busy as a...

...bee,  of  course.    In  this  case,
a bee called Maja.  Maja the Bee
was  first  seen  in  an  old  German
book,  written  in  1912,  but  the
Japanese cartoon version was not
made  until  63  years  later.    Little
Maja  and  her  friends,  Gucio,
Filip,  Bzyk,  amongst  others,  will
soon  be  celebrating  their  one
hundredth birthdays!

Balum Balum!

Balum balum is not the name

the

cartoon,

even

a character  from  the  cartoon,  but
it  is  the  thing  many  people  best
remember  about  it.    The  cartoon
was  La  Linea  from  Italy,  first
produced  in  1972,  and  balum
balum  is  the  music  which
accompanied  it.    Now  the  little
man,  made  up  of  just  a  single
white  line,  is  more  famous
for appearing  in  a  telephone
company’s  advertisements  than
for the  original  cartoon,  but
if you hear the music once it will
stay in your head forever.

Brotherly Love

Two little brothers exploring
the world, sometimes as friends,
sometimes

fighting,

Bolek

and Lolek was first made in 1963
and is still the most popular
Polish

children’s

cartoon.

The little boys have been to the
Arctic,

jungles

and

to mountains - and they’re still
going strong today!

How well do you know your
cartoon characters?

Try to match the characters to
the right cartoons >>>>

Humpal

Tola

Tekla

Hippopotamus

The Hedgehog

PETER MORAN
MAY 2007

PHOTOCOPIABLE

around

English

A long way from Dragonball and Pokemon...

Wolves, Bandits, Trolls and
Strange White Lines...

It is quite a collection. Where

1. ____________________

One of the oldest children’s

cartoons is The Little Mole
(Krecik), which was first made
in 1957

Czechoslovakia.

The hero  of  the  stories  and  his
friends  (a  small  mouse,  an  owl
and a hare, amongst  others) have
adventures  in  their  forest  and
outside  it,  but  everything  always
ends happily, of course.

2. ____________________

With his wild black hair,

bushy  black  beard  and  gruff
manner,  you  could  be  forgiven
for  thinking  that  this  character
was

not

suitable

for

little

children. In fact, though,
Rumcajs was a very helpful

character  who  lived  quietly
in the woods with his wife Hanka
and  their  son  Cypisek.    Like
Krecik,  this  cartoon  was  made
in Czechoslovakia,  but  it  was
made a decade later.

3. ____________________

We’re all familiar with Tom

4. ____________________

...bee,  of  course.    In  this  case,
a bee called Maja.  Maja the Bee
was  first  seen  in  an  old  German
book,  written  in  1912,  but
the Japanese  cartoon  version  was
not  made  until  63  years  later.
The  little  bee  and  her  friends,
Gucio,  Filip,  Bzyk,  amongst
others, will soon be celebrating

their one hundredth birthdays!

5. ____________________

Balum balum is not the name

the

cartoon,

even

a character  from  the  cartoon,  but
it  is  the  thing  many  people  best
remember  about  it.    The  cartoon
was                  La  Linea  from  Italy,
first produced in 1972, and balum
balum  is  the  music  which
accompanied  it.    Now  the  little
man,  made  up  of  just  a  single
white  line,  is  more  famous
for appearing  in  a  telephone
company’s  advertisements  than
for the  original  cartoon,  but
if you hear the music once it will
stay in your head forever.

6. ____________________

Two  little  brothers  exploring
the world,  sometimes  as  friends,
sometimes  fighting,          Bolek
and Lolek was first made in 1963
and  is  still  the  most  popular
Polish  children’s  cartoon.    The
little

boys

have

been

to the Arctic,

jungles

and to mountains - and they’re
still going strong today!

How well do you know your
cartoon characters?

Try to match the characters to
the right cartoons >>>>

Humpal

Tola

Tekla

Hippopotamus

The Hedgehog

PETER MORAN
MAY 2007

PHOTOCOPIABLE

around English

activities sheet

Discussion

What were your favourite cartoons when you were a child? What can you remember about them?

First reading - for gist

Read the text quickly and try to match the titles to the correct paragraphs.

HOJ

ALUM

ROTHERLY

OVE

USY AS A

...

OREST

ANDIT

I’

LL SHOW YOU

Second Reading - for specific information

Try to complete the table without checking with the text, first, and then check to see how much you

remembered.

Title

Country

Date

Characters

Rumcajs

Bolek and Lolek

Maja the Bee

The Little Mole

The Line

The Wolf and the Hare

Vocabulary 1

Find words or phrases which mean the same as these:

Paragraph 1
make someone very happy...
finished working because of your age...

Paragraph 3
not controlled, not civilised...
sticking out like a brush...
unfriendly-sounding or -looking..

Paragraph 6
go with something...

Paragraph 7
not finished yet...

PHOTOCOPIABLE

around English

activities sheet

Vocabulary 2 - character adjectives

Match the words on the left to the definitions on the right:

1. retiring

a. good at finding ways of dealing with practical problems

2. resourceful

b. think or worry about them all the time and you cannot think about anything else

3. inquisitive

c. providing useful help in making a situation better or easier

4. helpful

d. someone who is cunning is clever and good at deceiving people in order to get
what they want

5. hopeful

e. always thinking of the things you can do to make people happy or comfortable

6. obsessed (by)

f. someone who is... does not want to be with other people

7. cunning

g. believing that what you hope for is likely to happen

8. imaginative

h. determined not to change your mind, even when people think you are being
unreasonable

9. thoughtful

i. good at thinking of new and interesting ideas

10. stubborn

j. interested in a lot of different things and wanting to find out more about them

(all definitions from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Practice

Work with a partner. Think of a character from one of the cartoons in the text and describe that character
to your partner without giving the name away, of course. Try to use some of the adjectives above.

Writing

Work in small groups. You’re going to create your own cartoon. Think about the characters, the story,
the setting, the music and, perhaps, which actors you might choose to play your characters.