The Sooty franchise is focused upon the adventures of Sooty, a fictional glove puppet character created by magician and puppeteer Harry Corbett in the 1950s, alongside his other friends Sweep and Soo. Although fundamentally focused upon programmes for British children's television, Sooty also incorporates stage shows, both of which make use of a mixture of slapstick comedy, prop comedy – ranging from gunge, cream pies and water pistols – magic tricks, and music. All routines in both are primarily aimed at providing family-friendly entertainment suitable for young children. In addition, the franchise also include merchandising, ranging from annuals to toys. One such product that was sold was a toy musical instrument – referred to as a "xylophone", but in reality a toy glockenspiel – based upon the same instrument use by Sooty up until the 1980s