Shampoozel Jackanory Junior

This is Jackanory Junior.

Hello! I'm Jo. Have you heard the story of Rapunzel,

the girl with beautiful long hair, who was locked in a tall tower

by an evil witch? Well, this is a seriously silly story

that sounds something like Rapunzel. It's called Shampoozel.

There once was a jolly hairdresser named Dan Druff.

Dan loved hair.

He loved the gleam of his mirrors

and the snippety-snick of his sparkling silver scissors.

Dan even sang about hair.

# Hair, hair, glorious hair

# It spreads from your head Nearly everywhere

# It grows on your toes Even inside your nose

# Hair, hair...hair, hair. #

Only one thing upset Dan's happiness -

his girlfriend, Tam O'Tei, who lived in the flat upstairs.

Unlike Dan, Tam was a sad person,

who hid away in her bedroom behind tightly drawn curtains.

From under the hairdryers,

Dan's customers could hear her wretched moans.

And Dan nearly tore his hair out with worry over her condition.

The awful truth was...

Tam had terrible hair!

She wailed, "My head is dull and lifeless!

"I have a flaky scalp and unsightly split ends!

"But no ordinary shampoo is effective!"

Dan could find nothing to help, and as the days passed,

Tam's hair grew as greasy as a chip-shop mop.

Now, not far from the barber's shop

was an evil Black Tower, which twisted into the sky

like a strange hairstyle. This was the home of the Bad Hair Witch.

High in her dark rooms,

the Bad Hair Witch mixed strange shampoos and hair oils

which were sold all over the world.

The secret ingredients came from rare plants,

which grew only in her private garden.

Above the barber shop, Tam became convinced

that one of these magical hair herbs would bring life back to her scalp,

and she pleaded with Dan to pick some.

At the mention of the Black Tower,

Dan Druff felt the hairs prickle at the back of his neck.

"I dare not go there!" he whispered.

"What if I should fall into the evil hairgrip of the Bad Hair Witch?"

But Tam complained so long and hard

that, at last, Dan could stand it no longer.

"All right! Keep your hair on!" he bristled.

"I will go to the tower and comb the gardens for the herbs!"

So, the next morning, the brave barber crept up the hairpin bends

that led to the tower.

# Hair, hair, marvellous hair

# The poor can have more than a millionaire

# You might think that... #

"What on earth was that?"

Before he could finish his song, Dan had almost walked into a huge sign

hanging on the wall before him.

"Dan Druff, use your head

"If you open this gate You'll wish you were dead."

Dan felt a shiver run along his moustache.

Only the thought of Sam's sad locks drove him on.

CR-R-REAK!

Ignoring the sign, he scrambled into the Bad Hair Witch's garden,

where he found a second sign - "Dan Druff, can't you read?

"Don't even think about nicking a weed."

Dan had never been in such a hairy situation,

but he tried to stuff his pockets with herbs.

Suddenly, before him, stood the Bad Hair Witch.

"Dan Druff, you must be crazy!

"You'll pay for those plants with your very first baby!"

"B-B-But I don't have a b-b-b-baby," stammered Dan.

"Let's not split hairs," snapped the witch.

"I will wait until your first child is born."

Grabbing a handful of herbs, Dan haired down the hill to the town.

He found Tam in her bedroom wearing a paper bag on her head.

And he poured out the story of his terrifying brush

with the Bad Hair Witch. But Tam was barely listening.

She seized the wonderful herbs,

crushed them, and lathered her scalp.

KAPOW!

As if by magic, Tam's hair turned into a glorious mass

of glossy curls.

Tam was cured! She tore downstairs into the sunny shop,

and as Dan shaved the bristly early-morning customers,

Tam happily set to work beside him,

sweeping up the fallen curls and locks.

That very week, Tam and Dan were married,

and the whole town joined them in this glorious hymn.

# Hair, hair, magnificent hair

# It grows on your chest like a big woolly nest

# Hair, hair, haa-a-a-air. #

Before a year was out, the happy couple's happiness was complete.

A beautiful baby daughter was born.

And after much thought, they called her...

Shampoozel.

But the Bad Hair Witch had forgotten nothing.

High in her tower, she worked day and night

on her most amazing invention yet,

something all barbers dream of -

a marvellous, magical hair-growing lotion.

"All I need is a helpless, hairless baby to test my invention!"

And so, the bad hair day dawned.

-BELL RINGS

-The bell in the little barber's shop tinkled cruelly,

as the Bad Hair Witch burst inside.

"Give me the child!" she shrieked.

"Have you got an appointment?" said Tam. "Let's see.

"I could fit you in Thursday."

"You don't understand, you fools!

"I need to test my new, improved formula -

"Ultimate 2-in-1 Hair-growing Lotion."

"Leave Shampoozel alone!" pleaded Tam.

"You can't try your hare-brained inventions on our child!"

Ignoring the tears of the unfortunate couple,

the Bad Hair Witch seized Shampoozel and carried her back to the tower.

To make sure the precious child would never be taken from her,

the Bad Hair Witch bricked up the front door behind them.

The days passed, and the Bad Hair Witch grew to love the baby

and looked after her as if she were her own.

She would sing as she washed the baby's hair.

# No more tears, baby Shampoozel

# My magic shampoo is very unusual. #

And day by day, as Shampoozel grew, her hair grew too,

in great, long, golden tresses,

which tumbled across the floor, under the dog, round the fridge,

across the witch's table, and back upstairs again.

"Hair-hair-hair!" cackled the Bad Hair Witch.

"Look at all your beautiful golden hair!"

Sometimes hairy Shampoozel remembered her parents' barber shop

in the town, far away.

Now that their daughter had gone, Dan and Tam worked sadly,

and never sang any more. So, one by one, the customers went elsewhere.

Many years passed,

and as Shampoozel grew into a young woman,

the bad hair witch taught her the secret art of the hairdresser.

"Wash your hair and keep it sweet! Lather, rinse, repeat!

"Run and comb and keep it neat! Lather, rinse, repeat!"

Together, the Bad Hair Witch and Shampoozel created new hair products

which were more amazing than anyone could have ever dreamed of.

They became so famous that a young prince called Gary Baldy

heard about them from his home in a distant land.

The prince, although handsome and wealthy,

was as bald as a billiard ball.

Prince Gary had tried one wigmaker after another,

but without satisfaction.

So when he finally heard about Ultimate 2-in-1 Hair-growing Lotion,

he set out straightaway, and after many days, arrived at the tower.

Even a prince cannot enter a tower without a door,

so Prince Gary concealed himself beneath the walls,

and after a while, he saw an amazing thing.

The Bad Hair Witch appeared at the window with her shopping bag.

All of a sudden, a great mass of hair cascaded to the ground.

The witch slid down it and set off towards the town.

"I suppose that's what they call a hair slide," whispered Prince Gary.

Half an hour later, the old lady returned, and called out,

"Shampoozel, Shampoozel! Let down your hair!

"So I can climb to the top of your long, hairy stair."

Shampoozel let down her locks again,

and the old woman scrambled back up the tower.

Gary Baldy was no fool, and the next time the old woman went out,

the prince stood below the window himself, and called,

"Shampoozel, Shampoozel! Your hair is so curly!

"Let it hang down now! Be a good girly."

To his delight, a great coil of hair tumbled to the ground.

He seized it, and began to BALDLY go where no man had gone before.

The prince scrambled into Shampoozel's room,

and when his royal eyes fell on the lovely Shampoozel,

he was captivated by her hairiness.

He leaned towards her, and kissed her ruby-red lips.

There and then, Shampoozel and the prince fell in love.

Gary told her that he adored her limitless locks,

and how he would love to have some of his own.

To his amazement, Shampoozel replied that she was tired of her hair.

"It don't 'alf hurt when people climb up it," she complained.

"And it takes a week to wash."

But then, to the prince's joy,

Shampoozel pulled out a bottle of Ultimate 2-in-1 Hair-growing Lotion,

and began to massage his shiny scalp.

Almost immediately, a single hair popped out of the prince's head.

The first hair was followed by a second, the second by a third,

and within minutes, the prince had a mass of curls snaking down his back.

Gary Baldy seized Shampoozel and danced with joy.

"My prince! You must wash and go!" whispered Shampoozel.

She brushed away some stray hairs from his collar,

and with one final kiss, the prince climbed down Shampoozel's hair,

and slipped into the shadows.

It wasn't long before the Bad Hair Witch returned.

"Shampoozel, Shampoozel! Don't make me shout!

"Let down your hair, girl! Don't hang about!"

As soon as she entered the room,

the witch spotted Gary Baldy's little crown

that Shampoozel left hanging on the coat hook. The witch was furious,

and after a terrible argument, stormed into her bedroom,

leaving Shampoozel weeping.

The prince, meanwhile, had decided

that - witch or no witch - he had to see Shampoozel again.

He stood at the foot of the tower, and whispered,

"Shampoozel, Shampoozel! Here is your prince!

"Throw down your pigtail! My hair needs a rinse!"

Immediately, a long lock of hair curled out of the window

and tumbled to the ground.

But just as the prince was about to climb up,

he saw a figure sliding down.

"Free!" It was Shampoozel.

"I dunno why I didn't think of this before!" she said.

"All that hair. I cut it off and tied it to the bed.

"At last we've escaped from the Bad Hair Witch!"

"That was a close shave," replied Gary Baldy.

So, Shampoozel and her hairy prince ran away to his castle.

But she didn't forget her parents, Dan and Tam.

Although they were rich,

Shampoozel and Gary Baldy liked to work in Dan's shop on Saturdays.

Before long, the barber's shop wasonce again the busiest in the land.

"It's amazing how the customers keep coming back!" laughed Dan.

And it was true. Some of the customers

seemed to have as many as five haircuts a day!

Perhaps they loved having their hair cut by Shampoozel.

Or perhaps her secret shampoo has something to do with it.

High in her tower, even the Bad Hair Witch joins in.

# Hair, hair, sensational hair

# Shampoozel's the girl to share your hair care

# She can give you a shave or a permanent wave

# Hair, hair, haa-a-a-air! #

See ya.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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