''Chorlton and the Wheelies'' is an
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...
children's television series that ran from 26 September 1976 until 17 December 1978 on the British television channel
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
. 40 episodes were produced. The show followed the adventures of Chorlton, a fictional happiness
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
, in Wheelie World.
''Chorlton and the Wheelies'' was created by
Cosgrove Hall Films
Cosgrove Hall Films (also known as Cosgrove Hall Productions) was an English animation studio founded by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall; its headquarters was in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Cosgrove Hall was once a major producer of childr ...
for
Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
and broadcast on the
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
network.
The eponymous lead character gets his name from the suburb of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
in which the Cosgrove Hall studio was based: the legend "Made in
Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Chorlton (ward), Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, and Chorlton Park (w ...
" is found written on the inside of the egg from which he hatches in the very first episode of the series.
Synopsis
The series takes place in "Wheelie World", which is inhabited principally by the "wheelies", a race of
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
creatures who
locomote by means of wheels.
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
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...
, an evil witch who speaks in a very strong
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
accent and lives in Wheelie World but separately from the wheelies, in Spout Hall, an oversized
kettle
A kettle, sometimes called a tea kettle or teakettle, is a type of pot specialized for boiling water, commonly with a ''lid'', ''spout'', and ''handle'', or a small electric kitchen appliance of similar shape that functions in a self-contained ...
. Fenella hates happiness, and uses her powers primarily to make the wheelies unhappy. She has
magical capabilities, including a form of
teleportation
Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction literature and in other popular culture. Teleportation is oft ...
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
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
", 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
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
. 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
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
declined to purchase it as a graphic artist mistakenly drew a
Star of David
The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles.
A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...
instead of a
Pentagram
A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle aroun ...
on the front of the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
-accented spellbook, causing accusations of
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
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
Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown.
The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...
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
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
).
*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
Credits
*Narrator:
Joe Lynch (UK version)
*Written by: Brian Trueman
*Music: Joe Griffiths
*Animation: Joe Dembinski,
Jackie Cockle
Jackie Cockle (born 1950) is a British stop motion animation specialist, best known as the co-founder of the HOT Animation studio, which specializes in stop motion animation. She is the creator and creative producer of the pre-school animation T ...
*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 Production
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chorlton And The Wheelies
British children's animated fantasy television series
Chorlten and the Wheelies
1976 British television series debuts
1979 British television series endings
1970s British children's television series
Television shows produced by Thames Television
ITV children's television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television series by FremantleMedia Kids & Family
English-language television shows
1970s British animated television series
Television series by Cosgrove Hall Films