Stoppit and Tidyup
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Stoppit and Tidyup was a BBC television series released in 1988, created by Charlie Mills and Terry Brain, the duo behind CMTB Animation who had previously created a cartoon called The Trap Door. The series was narrated by Terry Wogan. Apart from the main characters Stoppit, a red ball of fluff, and Tidyup, a gherkin-loving purple lump, the supporting characters included Comb Your Hair, Wash Your Face, Hurry Up, Go and Play, Calm Down, Not Now, Bee Have, Bee Quiet, Go to Bed, Don't Do That, Take Care, Eat Your Greens, Clean Your Teeth and the big, bad I Said No, not to mention Say Please And Say Thank You. There are also extra characters called Naughties and Sit Downs, and they all live in the mythical land of Do As You're Told. Each episode was five minutes in length.
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[edit] General Information
The short running series is about cartoon characters who live in the land of Do As You're Told. Do As You're Told is a strange, colourful place whose inhabitants are named after all those little chastising phrases, comments, commands and demands directed at children by their overbearing parents. The episodes which these characters appear in are named after their the character; only one series of thirteen episodes were produced. Stoppit, Tidyup and friends were cel-animated, but the design of the show suggested it may have worked better still as a 3D stop motion production, like its predecessor. The third hand in CMTB Animation was animator Steve Box who has since had independent success via Aardman Animation, animating Wallace and Gromit's nemesis Feathers McGraw and directing BAFTA-winning short Stage Fright. Both he and Terry Brain were key animators on Aardman's Chicken Run feature.
Stoppit is a small pink-red furball. He lives in the Do As You're Told dump and has has a famously short temper. Tidyup is always neat and tidy, as his name implies, and he lives in a neat and tidy gherkin house with a neat and tidy garden full of more gherkins. He likes gherkins, does Tidyup. He also likes Stoppit and knows that if his furry friend is throwing a fit then a good basketball-style bounce will usually calm him down.
The show follows the exploits of the frequently immature Stoppit and the hard done-by Tidyup in their native land, filled with giant gherkins. None of these creations actually speak decipherable words as such. Instead they gabble, grunt, squeak and hum whilst series narrator Terry Wogan unravels the tale for viewers. (There is one character who does not have an episode named after them - Not Now, who is I Said No's pet)
The storylines are notable for their random, abstract nature, and the fact that frequently an episode will end without any moral message at all. For example, in episode twelve "Clean Your Teeth", snow falls in the middle of summer, and Stoppit is left behind on his own while Tidyup and Clean Your Teeth play on sledges at the end, even though he loves the snow.
There are also twelve tie-in books published by Price Stern Sloan Ltd, and an illustrated annual was released in 1989.
[edit] Episode list
- Bee Quiet and Bee Have (tx 12.09.88) Tidyup accidentally loses the roof of his house.
- Eat Your Greens (tx 19.09.88) Eat Your Greens loves eating flowers and gherkins!
- Comb Your Hair (tx 26.09.88) Stoppit and Tidyup head for their favourite picnic spot - and what better way to get there than riding on Comb Your Hair.
- Wash Your Face (tx 03.10.88) It's a rainy old day in the land of Do As You're Told, and Stoppit and Tidyup have forgotten who comes out after it rains...
- Go And Play (tx 10.10.88) Go And Play decides to do something exciting, and rounds up everybody in the land for a great game of football...
- The Big Bad I Said No (tx 17.10.88) It's Great Gherkin Feast Day and everybody is out collecting gherkins.
- Hurry Up (tx 24.10.88) When Tidyup catches Naughtypox, Stoppit and Hurry Up have to race to the valley of the Sit Downs to find a cure.
- Calm Down (tx 31.10.88) It's a windy day in the land of Do As You're Told and Calm Down is being blown about all over the place, until Tidyup has one of his famous bright ideas...!
- Don't Do That (tx 07.11.88) There's something nasty in Tidyup's garden, and it's making rude noises! It's Don't Do That! Whenever Don't Do That is around, that means trouble.
- Go To Bed (tx 14.11.88) Go To Bed just can't stay awake. But today he can't find anywhere to sleep without being disturbed - or can he?
- Say Please And Say Thank You (tx 21.11.88) Tidyup meets Say Please And Say Thank You at the bottom of a hole.
- Clean Your Teeth (tx 28.11.88) Tidyup likes Clean Your Teeth because he can do clever things - but Stoppit thinks he's just a big show off!
- Take Care (tx 05.12.88) It's Birthday Day in the land of Do As You're Told, and Take Care has the job of delivering the presents - but unfortunately he mixes them all up!
Media Stoppit and Tidyup on DVD
13 episodes / 66mins / R2 / 4 Front / April 2004
[edit] Credits
- Narrated by: Terry Wogan
- Series Devised by: Charles Mills, Terry Brain
- Written and Directed by: Charles Mills, Terry Brain, Steve Box
- Animation: Charles Mills, Terry Brain, Steve Box
- Dubbing: Glentham Studios
- Produced by: John Howson
[edit] See also
- The Trap Door (also created by Charles Mills and Terry Brain)
