Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett in the late 1950s, which incorporates primarily television and stage shows. The franchise was born in the wake of the success of his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in 1955, with the franchises focused around the adventures of the character – a mute yellow bear with black ears and nose, who is kind-hearted but also cheeky, performs magic tricks and practical jokes, and infamously squirts his handler and other people with his iconic water pistol, including on other television programmes he guest stars on. The franchise itself also includes several other puppet characters who were created for television, some of whom became the backbone to performances, and features additional elements