Chorlton and the Wheelies
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Chorlton and the Wheelies was a British children's animated television series that ran between 1976 and 1979.
It was created by Cosgrove Hall films for the ITV station Thames Television and named after the location of the studio, Chorlton-cum-Hardy in Manchester (in fact, Chorlton gets his name in the series because the legend "Made in Chorlton-cum-Hardy" is found written on the inside of his egg).
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[edit] Synopsis
The series takes place in "Wheelie World", which is inhabited principally by the "wheelies", a race of anthropomorphic creatures who locomote by means of wheels. They have three wheels each: two large ones at the front, and a smaller centred one at the back. The wheels are replaceable, and suitable wheels grow on vegetation found in Wheelie World.
The wheelie society is in conflict with Fenella the Kettle Witch, who lives in Wheelie World but separately from the wheelies, in Spout Hall, an oversized kettle. She has magical capabilities, including a form of teleportation which is her main mode of transport, and enchanted assistants including a talking book (called 'Claptrap Von Spilldebeans') and O'Reilly the Telescope, which advise her on magic spells. Minions include spikers (sinister looking objects like conker shells with baleful eyes, which roll everywhere) and toadies (pointed toadstools with similar eyes, which travel by bobbing through the ground as though it were water and who speak with a Chinese accent). Fenella hates happiness, and uses her powers primarily to make the wheelies unhappy. She also has a very strong Welsh accent.
The wheelies have adopted into their society a "happiness dragon", Chorlton, who appears in Wheelie World at the very beginning of the series, hatching out of an egg. Chorlton is perpetually good-natured and perpetually clueless. For example, he fails to perceive Fenella as a villain, and affectionately refers to her as a "little ol' lady". Nevertheless, his presence negates the unhappiness magic, so the wheelies treat him as a hero. He has a strong Yorkshire accent and often says 'Aye Up'.
Plots are extremely simple, mainly revolve around Fenella's schemes to make the wheelies unhappy and Chorlton's accidental rectification of everything that goes wrong. Around these events, the characters' simple and exaggerated personalities are on show.
The idea of 'wheelies' came about after the difficulties of moving many different characters using stop-frame animation. Characters on wheels were easier to manipulate than those with limbs that needed fractionally moving many times for each second of filming.
The show was sold to numerous countries around the world. However it was never sold to Israel after a graphic artist mistakenly drew a Star of David instead of a Pentagram on the front of the talking spellbook, which spoke with a Germanic accent.
The characters include amongst others:
- Chorlton the Happiness Dragon - where he goes happiness follows
- Fenella Fellorick the Kettle Witch - who does not like anyone to enjoy themselves
- Zoomer - a wheelie, notable for his speed of locomotion
- Jenny - a wheelie girl with blonde hair who has a crush on Chorlton
- King Otto and Queen Doris - The monarchy of Wheelieworld
- The Chamberlain - the politico wheelie, who bears a striking resemblance to Harold Wilson, Prime Minister at the time
- Claptrap von Spilldebeans - A German spellbook who often speaks in rhyme and comes up with Fenella's schemes
- O'Reilly the one eyed telescope - An Irish telescope that Fenella stole from the end of Dún Laoghaire East pier
- Clifford - Fenella's giant son, who is so tall the only part of him that ever is in shot is his leg
- Pablo Perdito - A world famous Latin American dancing duck
- Floyd - The only toady to have pink spots rather than green (first called by name in the series two episode "Toady Trouble" - possible hidden reference to the band Pink Floyd)
Joe Lynch provided all the voices for the characters. The show's theme tune was written and sung by Joe Griffiths.
[edit] Episode Listing
Series 1
- Happiness is Hatched
- Happiness is Dragon-Shaped
- Chorlton says it with Flowers
- The Lost Wheelie
- Chorlton and the Crime Wave
- Chorlton gets his Wheels
- The Great Drought
- The Wheel Hockey Derby
- Many Happy Returns
- The Dancing Lesson
- The Day of the Grand Race
- When the Band Played on and on
- Chorlton's Gift of Happiness
Series 2
- The Up and Down Plants
- Toady Trouble
- Tyred Out
- Chorlton and the Silence Spell
- Chorlton and the Singing Stones
- Inside the Kettle
- The Day of the See-Through Chorlton
- Double Trouble
- The Keep-Fit Class
- The Wishing Tree
- Take Your Partners
- Octoblob
- Chorlton and the Snow Dragon
- Chorlton and the Iceworld (Xmas special)
Series 3
- Fenella and the Face Fungus
- Spot the Happiness Dragon
- Queen Doris' Silver Jubilee
- Chorlton and the Spinning Spell
- The Day the Lights Went Out
- Free-Wheeling Fenella
- Hop, Skip and Crunch
- Hide and Shriek
- Octoblob at Twilight
- Pablo's World
- Skateboard Special
- Some Like it Hot
- Royal Wheelyworld Pipe Band
[edit] Credits
- Written by: Brian Trueman
- Music: Joe Griffiths
- Animation: Joe Dembinski, Jackie Cockle
- Props: Chris Walker
- Storyline: Jo Kemp
- Camera: Jim Noble
- Editing: Dave Street
- Executive Producer: John Hambley
- Produced by: Brian Cosgrove, Mark Hall
- Directed by: Chris Taylor
[edit] References
Simon Sheridan The A to Z of Classic Children's Television (Reynolds & Hearn books, 2004, reprinted 2007) ISBN 1-903111-27-7. Includes a chapter on the making of the series and an interview with Brian Cosgrove.
