The Forgotten Toys is an animated series made by Hibbert Ralph Entertainment, featuring the voices of Joanna Lumley and Bob Hoskins. The voice of Andrew Sachs is also featured. It is a poignant tale of abandoned toys who are searching for a child to love them.
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The first episode is a feature-length story that begins with Teddy and Annie in adjacent dustbins, sometime after Christmas. They have been thrown out to make room for new, more exciting toys. They cannot understand why this has happened to them. Before long, the refuse truck comes along and they narrowly escape being crushed. So begins their journey to find another child to love them. They meet an old stray dog, (voiced by Sir Clement Freud) who shelters them in the basement of a Hotel. They soon grow bored sitting there all day. Eventually the old dog inadvertently causes the basement to flood, and the toys have to escape again.
They meet up again with the old dog who takes them to see an old man with a long white beard (parallels with another such gentleman can be made). He deposits them outside a school, whereupon they are scooped up by the noisy children as they run out of school. The last sequence shows them happy in a new home.
Subsequent episodes show that the toys have again been abandoned and are each week seen searching for a new home, having all sorts of adventures on the way. The series is somewhat melancholy for children as there is never a "happy ending", the toys are always shown walking hand in hand in the sunset, forever searching for another child. Sometimes one or other of them succeeds, briefly, then something will happen to ensure they must leave and begin again.
However, despite the poignancy of the stories, there is often a lot of humour. Teddy is rather gruff and ill-tempered, with a heavy cockney accent. Annie is a "posh" rag doll, whom Teddy refers to as "Pigtails". They often have differences of opinion and it is usually Annie that gets him out of a scrape. Teddy has an aversion to a certain green vegetable... "Sprouts, I 'ate sprouts" he is often heard to say. He even encourages a baby to spit his sprouts out at mealtimes.
"The Forgotten Toys" received many awards. 3 were won for 'Best Short Film', 2 for 'Best Animated Film' and 1 for Best Children's Film 1996 and Children's Jury Prize, 1997. The majority of the critics reviewed the story from a children's point of view which meant that all of the comments were positive. 'The Telegraph' stated that it was, "An enchanting festive tale for children". The Daily Mail said that it was, "A real tear-jerker... Full of twists and turns, dramatic moments, and a great sausage stealing sequence". Other reviews were more or less the same, in that they were all positive (as mentioned before).
Teddy Teddy is a ill gruffed tempered scruffy bear sometimes he moans about everything sometimes when he passed or saw the green vegetables he saids Sprouts! I hate sprouts! In the episode called Baby when he encourages him when he spits his sprouts out at mealtimes sometimes he gets loads into trouble. Voiced by Bob Hoskins.
Annie Annie is an old rag doll. When she is in charge of Teddy, she gets him into trouble quite a lot. She is often interested in things & when she is, she gets very curious. Voiced by Joanna Lumley
Chauncey Chauncey is old stray grey dog. He only appears in The Night After Christmas. He likes sausages. When he gets hit by a car, Annie & Teddy came to the rescue. When Annie helps him, she rips a rag dress to makes a bandage for his leg, then took him the to the Hotel Basement. He went to steal some sausages from hotel kitchen when he gets caught by the chef when he tied the rope to his neck when he pulls the giant pipe out he causes the hotel basement to flood everywhere & letting Annie & Teddy to escape then he had to finds Annie & Teddy then he saw Annie's piece of ragdoll dress on a stick help us at the dumpyard then he fights against those guard dogs then he gives a lift on his back to sit on the wall in front of the school then he leaves them he saids goodbye to them when they went by some kids going on the school bus then mets the white bearded old man when the credits roll. Voiced by Sir Clement Fraud
Keef Keef is thinist burglar he wears a blue jacket a flat cap, thin trousers & a red waistcoat. When gets very stern with Kaff & sometimes he gets very moody & bored. Voiced by Andrew Sachs.
Kaff Kaff is the fattest burglar she wears a green coat with yellow wooly hat & a yellow scarf when gets very scared, anxious & nervous about anything with Keef. Voiced by Kate Sachs.
1. Forgotten Again;
2. Toy Boy;
3. Toy Stars;
4. Toys On Trial;
5. Hospital Toys;
6. On The Road;
7. Blazing Toys;
8. Cowboy Toys;
9. Spy Toys;
10. New Zoo;
11. Chicken;
12. Dolled Up;
13. Toy Boy 2;
14. A Fridge Too Far;
15. Close Encounters Of The Toy Kind;
16. Magic Teddy;
17. Teddy In love;
18. Toy Swap;
19. Cast Away Toys;
20. Circus Toys;
21. Baby;
22. Dog Days;
23. Trouble In Store;
24. The Night Before Xmas;
25. Not Fair;
26. Toys That Go Bump In;
27. Airport;
28. Funny little teddy.
"The Forgotten Toys" was first shown in 1995, and was repeated on Tiny Living, a TV channel that screened children's television programmes in the early morning. Numerous videos were released in or around 1995 and 1996 and a couple of DVD's followed in 2002. "The Forgotten Toys" has now been long considered dissolved, though 'the end' of the series was never officially announced. Therefore, nor Hoskins, Lumley or any of the other cast or crew ever plan to reunite for another episode/episodes disappointing some fans who would now be in their 'mid/late teens'.