Charley Says
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Charley Says was a series of very short cel-animated cartoon Public Information Films for children, shown in the United Kingdom in the 1970s for London's Central Office of Information.
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[edit] Overview
Most of the topics deal with everyday safety issues children face, such as not going with strangers or not playing with matches. They featured a little boy (whose name was later revealed to be Dominic) and his cat, named Charley, voiced by Kenny Everett, who would "miaow" the lesson of the episode, and the boy would translate and explain it. Often Charley served as the boy's conscience, similarly to Davey and Goliath or Jiminy Cricket of Disney's Pinocchio film. When Charley and the boy did the right thing they were rewarded with something for the boy and a fish for Charley which he rapidly ate. However, on other occasions, Charley suffered the consequences of doing the wrong thing (e.g. in Charley's Tea Party he pulled the table cloth and the teapot fell on him and scalded him).
[edit] Production details
The films were produced by Richard Taylor Cartoons who also produced Crystal Tipps and Alistair. They also produced the controversial Protect and Survive series, narrated by Shakespearean actor Patrick Allen.
Six films were produced:
- Charley – Falling in the Water (60 s)
- Charley – In The Kitchen (45 s)
- Charley – Matches (30 s)
- Charley – Mummy Should Know (60 s)
- Charley's Tea Party (45 s)
- Charley – Strangers (60 s)
The boy in the films was named after the young boy who did the voice for him, called Dominic.
[edit] References in popular culture
The British group The Prodigy famously sampled Charley for their UK 1991 hit single Charly, reaching number 3 in the UK Singles Chart.
In 2005, the Charley Says series was voted #95 on the Channel 4 TV special 100 Greatest Cartoons, and in 2006 was voted the UK's favourite public service advertisement by readers of the BBC News website.
[edit] Video Release
The Charley Says films have been released in the UK (along with other public information films) as both a DVD-video and a two-volume set of VHS tapes.
