The program changed from sepia to color film , and the toys in the shop would come to life . There was Gabriel the toad , a rag doll called Madeleine , and a wooden woodpecker which was a bookend ( something to stop a row of books falling over ) called Professor Yaffle . The program shifted from sepia to color stop motion film , and various toys in the shop would also come to life : Gabriel the toad ( who , unlike most Smallfilms characters , could move by a special device beneath his can without the use of stop motion animation ) and a rag doll called Madeleine .