The animated clay TV character Morph, who has delighted children with his antics for years, is celebrating his 30th birthday.
A special event - Happy Birthday Morph! - is being staged in Bristol, home to his creators, Aardman Animations.
Morph first appeared in 1977 in the children's programme Take Hart, with artist and presenter Tony Hart.
Co-creator Peter Lord dismissed rumours that Morph perished in a fire at Aardman's warehouse in 2005.
However, he told the BBC, the wooden pencil box Morph lived in may have gone up in smoke during the incident.
The birthday bash, at the Watershed on Sunday, is billed as a curtain-raiser to the Bristol's short film festival.
'Own show'
Mr Lord said the 30-year-old character was "very well presented".
Better than me for sure," he added.
"When we started, we worked in a tiny place in Clifton, Bristol, and never dreamt he would still be going strong.
"The idea came from a BBC producer on Take Hart, to make Morph live on the table top and wreak havoc.
"He was Tony's sidekick for three or four years and then got his own show, which was great news for us," he added.
Six-inch high Morph also appeared on Blue Peter.
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