Roobarb and Custard; children's cartoon characters and legends of British cult TV and animation

Welcome to the Roobarb and Custard TV archives!

In the process of making a TV animation series, our team create a huge number of funny sketches, character studies, storyboards, environments, photos and quite a few random doodles of the cartoon characters as well! It's work that brings Roobarb and Custard and all their wobbly cartoon friends to life in a way that has kept them popular for decades on British television. We'll be digging through the animation archives regularly to find some of the most interesting items and things we love the most from the childrens animated series history.

Click on any picture for a larger version!


Animator doodles and cartoon TV character concept sketches

Custard the cat disguises himself as a crocodile Character sketches to plan out Roobarb's shed interior as an animation environment Animator's sketches of Roobarb's garden One of the many funny doodles; invasion of the shed monster!

Animation sketch of Custard the cat as a rabbit Wobbly cartoon sketch of fat Roobarb Dinosaur cat on fence! Design sketches for the exercise machine TV episode

Mouse in big lizard boots! Picasso stylings of a few of the retro British animation characters Roobarb being a dog and having a good shake Sketch for the typical Roobarb and Custard animated exchanges around the garden fence

The rocket shed! Chubby Roobarb the dog gets in shape Custard becomes the Sphinx of Egypt! Invasion of the guinea pigs!

The shed on the move! Custard meets the Egyptian cat god Roobarb's clockwork shoes, a classic TV episode Mrs Hedgehog


Cartoon character style sheet sketches

Notes on Roobarb's dog animation mode Style sheet sketches for Roobarb the retro cartoon character Sketches of Roobarb's facial expressions Character notes and animator's sketches for Custard the cult animated cat

Character sketches for cult cartoon character Custard the cat Sketches to show facial emotions of Custard from the Roobarb and Custard Too animated TV show Character sketches for mouse from Roobarb and Custard Too Retro British animation character sketches of the birds

Sketches of assorted wobbly extras from Roobarb and Custard's garden Sketches of the rabbit from Roobarb's neighbourhood Design sketch for Post Dog Height comparison reference for the childrens characters


Animated TV show cartoon storyboards

Storyboard for the title sequence of Roobarb and Custard Too Storyboard and notes for the animated British children's television series Roobarb in a first episode storyboard from Roobarb and Custard Too Episode 1 storyboard for Roobarb and Custard Too

The birds in a storyboard from episode 25 of R&C Too Storyboards the children's cartoon series Storyboard sketch for the animated 70s television series Storyboard for the cult British animation


Archive photos of the animation creators and character originals!

Roobarb and Custard creators; animator Bob Godfrey and writer Grange Calveley
Roobarb and Custard creators; animator Bob Godfrey and writer Grange Calveley 		The real Roobarb, Grange Calveley's dog
The real Roobarb, Grange Calveley's dog 		The inspiration for the house; one that Grange moved into before writing the animated cartoon series
Grange's familiar looking house! 		Creator Grange with Roobarb sitting in the conker tree, just like the cult TV show titles
Roobarb, Grange and conker tree.

The wonderful Richard Briers
Richard Briers 		Bernadette and Adam of A&B TV
Bernadette and Adam, who resurrected Roobarb for a second series 		The original refusal letter from the BBC
The BBC's original refusal letter to Grange 		Birth of a cartoon legend! The original line test animation to promote the Roobarb and Custard concept
Birth of a legend; stills from the original test animation

Title screen from the original line drawn test animation
Title screen from the test cartoon 		One of the earliest Roobarb sketches by Grange Calveley
Grange's first ever sketch of a Roobarb character 		Original sketches by Grange Calveley to work out how Roobarb looks when he stops running.
Grange sketches figuring out Roobarb's look 		Original sketches by Grange Calveley to work out how Roobarb looks from the side.
More sketches considering Roobarb's best angles!






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