Chorlton and the Wheelies is an animated children's television series that ran from 26 September 1976 until 17 December 1978 on the British television channel ITV. 40 episodes were produced.[1] The show followed the adventures of Chorlton, a fictional happiness dragon, in Wheelie World.[2]
The eponymous lead character gets his name from the suburb of Manchester in which the Cosgrove Hall studio was based: the legend "Made in Chorlton-cum-Hardy" is found written on the inside of the egg from which he hatches in the very first episode of the series.[3][4]
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.[5] They have three wheels each: two large ones at the front (resembling feet), and a smaller centred one at the back (resembling a tail). The wheels are replaceable, and suitable wheels grow on vegetation found in Wheelie World.
The wheelies are in conflict with Fenella the Kettle Witch, an evil witch who speaks in a very strong Welsh accent and lives in Wheelie World but separately from the wheelies, in Spout Hall, an oversized kettle. Fenella hates happiness, and uses her powers primarily to make the wheelies unhappy. She has magical capabilities, including a form of teleportation which is her main mode of transport, and enchanted assistants including a magic book called 'Claptrap Von Spilldebeans' (who helps concoct her spells) and O'Reilly the Telescope, which gives her advice her on magic. 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).
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 old lady". Nevertheless, his presence negates the unhappiness magic, so the wheelies treat him as a hero. Being "Made in Chorlton-cum-Hardy" (Greater Manchester) he has a strong Lancashire accent, although this is probably due to the voice talents of Joe Lynch more than any planning by Cosgrove Hall.
Development
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 legs that needed fractionally moving many times for each second of filming. Similarly, choosing teleportation as Fenella's principal means of transportation means that usually Chorlton is the only character whose walking needs to be animated.
The show was sold to numerous countries around the (non-Wheelie) world. However Israel declined to purchase it as a graphic artist mistakenly drew a Star of David instead of a Pentagram on the front of the German-accented spellbook, causing accusations of antisemitism towards the programme's creators.
Characters
The characters include, amongst others:
Chorlton the Happiness Dragon - where he goes, happiness follows. His catchphrase is "Bye bye, little old lady!" at the end of every episode.
Fenella Fellorick, the Kettle Witch - who does not like anyone to enjoy themselves.
Zoomer - a wheelie boy, notable for his speed of locomotion.
Jenny - a wheelie girl with blonde hair who fancies Chorlton.
King Otto and Queen Doris - The monarchy of Wheelieworld.
The Minister of wheel estate - the political wheelie, who bears a striking resemblance to Harold Wilson, who had recently been Prime Minister of the UK. His real name is revealed to be Arthur in season 3.
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 & Queenie's giant nephew, 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).
Queenie Fellorick the Pink Suit - Fenella's sister, but who does not like anyone to enjoy themselves.
Joe Lynch narrated the show as well as providing all the voices for the characters and the show's theme tune was written and sung by Joe Griffiths.
^Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 46. ISBN9781476672939.
^Sheridan, Simon (2004). The A-Z of Classic Children's Television: From Alberto Frog to Zebedee. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. pp. 82–85. ISBN1903111277.
^"Happiness Is Hatched". Chorlton And The Wheelies. Season 1. Episode 1.
^Hayward, Anthony (18 November 2011). "Mark Hall obituary, Animator whose TV cartoon series created with his friend Brian Cosgrove included Danger Mouse and The Wind in the Willows". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
^"Toonhound - Chorlton and the Wheelies (1976-1979)". www.toonhound.com. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
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Chorlton and the Wheelies is an animated children s television series that ran from 26 September 1976 until 17 December 1978 on the British television channel ITV 40 episodes were produced 1 The show followed the adventures of Chorlton a fictional happiness dragon in Wheelie World 2 Chorlton and the WheeliesGenreChildren sCreated byBrian CosgroveMark HallWritten byBrian TruemanDirected byChris TaylorVoices ofJoe LynchTheme music composerJoe GriffithsComposerJoe GriffithsCountry of originUnited KingdomOriginal languageEnglishNo of seasons3No of episodes40 list of episodes ProductionExecutive producersBrian CosgroveMark HallRunning time11 minutesProduction companyCosgrove Hall ProductionsDistributorThames TelevisionReleaseOriginal networkITVOriginal release26 September 1976 1976 09 26 17 December 1979 1979 12 17 Chorlton and the Wheelies was created by Cosgrove Hall Films for Thames Television and broadcast on the ITV network The eponymous lead character gets his name from the suburb of Manchester in which the Cosgrove Hall studio was based the legend Made in Chorlton cum Hardy is found written on the inside of the egg from which he hatches in the very first episode of the series 3 4 Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Development 3 Characters 4 Episodes 5 Credits 6 References 7 External linksSynopsis EditThis section possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed September 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message 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 5 They have three wheels each two large ones at the front resembling feet and a smaller centred one at the back resembling a tail The wheels are replaceable and suitable wheels grow on vegetation found in Wheelie World The wheelies are in conflict with Fenella the Kettle Witch an evil witch who speaks in a very strong Welsh accent and lives in Wheelie World but separately from the wheelies in Spout Hall an oversized kettle Fenella hates happiness and uses her powers primarily to make the wheelies unhappy She has magical capabilities including a form of teleportation which is her main mode of transport and enchanted assistants including a magic book called Claptrap Von Spilldebeans who helps concoct her spells and O Reilly the Telescope which gives her advice her on magic 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 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 old lady Nevertheless his presence negates the unhappiness magic so the wheelies treat him as a hero Being Made in Chorlton cum Hardy Greater Manchester he has a strong Lancashire accent although this is probably due to the voice talents of Joe Lynch more than any planning by Cosgrove Hall Development EditPlots 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 legs that needed fractionally moving many times for each second of filming Similarly choosing teleportation as Fenella s principal means of transportation means that usually Chorlton is the only character whose walking needs to be animated The show was sold to numerous countries around the non Wheelie world However Israel declined to purchase it as a graphic artist mistakenly drew a Star of David instead of a Pentagram on the front of the German accented spellbook causing accusations of antisemitism towards the programme s creators Characters EditThe characters include amongst others Chorlton the Happiness Dragon where he goes happiness follows His catchphrase is Bye bye little old lady at the end of every episode Fenella Fellorick the Kettle Witch who does not like anyone to enjoy themselves Zoomer a wheelie boy notable for his speed of locomotion Jenny a wheelie girl with blonde hair who fancies Chorlton King Otto and Queen Doris The monarchy of Wheelieworld The Minister of wheel estate the political wheelie who bears a striking resemblance to Harold Wilson who had recently been Prime Minister of the UK His real name is revealed to be Arthur in season 3 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 Dun Laoghaire East pier Clifford Fenella s giant son amp Queenie s giant nephew 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 Queenie Fellorick the Pink Suit Fenella s sister but who does not like anyone to enjoy themselves Joe Lynch narrated the show as well as providing all the voices for the characters and the show s theme tune was written and sung by Joe Griffiths Episodes EditMain article List of Chorlton And The Wheelies episodesCredits EditNarrator Joe Lynch UK version Written by Brian Trueman Music Joe Griffiths Animation Joe Dembinski Jackie Cockle Props Chris Walker Original Storyline Jo Kemp Camera Jim Noble Editing Dave Street Executive Producer John Hambley Produced by Brian Cosgrove Mark Hall Directed by Chris Taylor Cosgrove Hall Productions MCMLXXVI MCMLXXIX Thames Colour ProductionReferences Edit Crump William D 2019 Happy Holidays Animated A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas Hanukkah Kwanzaa and New Year s Cartoons on Television and Film McFarland amp Co p 46 ISBN 9781476672939 Sheridan Simon 2004 The A Z of Classic Children s Television From Alberto Frog to Zebedee Reynolds amp Hearn Ltd pp 82 85 ISBN 1903111277 Happiness Is Hatched Chorlton And The Wheelies Season 1 Episode 1 Hayward Anthony 18 November 2011 Mark Hall obituary Animator whose TV cartoon series created with his friend Brian Cosgrove included Danger Mouse and The Wind in the Willows The Guardian Retrieved 20 November 2011 Toonhound Chorlton and the Wheelies 1976 1979 www toonhound com Retrieved 20 November 2022 External links EditChorlton And The Wheelies at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chorlton and the Wheelies amp oldid 1127184330, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
