Charley Says is a series of short cut-out animated cartoon

public information film Public information films (PIFs) are a series of government-commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the United Kingdom. The name is sometimes also applied, ''faute de mieux'', to similar films from other countries, ...

s for children, produced by the British government's

Central Office of Information The Central Office of Information (COI) was the UK government's marketing and communications agency. Its Chief Executive reported to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. It was a non-ministerial department, and became an executive agency and a ...

and broadcast in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. Six films were made in 1973.

Overview

Most of the topics dealt with everyday safety issues children face, such as not going off with

strangers A stranger is a person who is unknown to another person or group. Because of this unknown status, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity and character can be ascertained. Different classes of strangers have been identified f ...

or not playing with matches. They featured a little boy called Tony (voiced by the seven-year-old son of one of the neighbours of producer Richard Taylor) and his cat, named Charley, voiced by

Kenny Everett Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English comedian, radio disc jockey and television presenter. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the mid-1960s, he was one of the fi ...

, who would "miaow" the lesson of the episode, which the boy would then translate and explain. Often Charley served as the boy's conscience, similarly to ''

Davey and Goliath ''Davey and Goliath'' is a Christian clay-animated children's television series, whose central characters were created by Art Clokey, Ruth Clokey, and Dick Sutcliffe, and which was produced first by the United Lutheran Church in America and la ...

'' or

Jiminy Cricket Jiminy Cricket is the Disney version of the " Talking Cricket" (Italian: ''Il Grillo Parlante''), a fictional character created by Italian writer Carlo Collodi for his 1883 children's book ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'', which Walt Disney adap ...

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

's film ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan ...

''. When Charley and Tony did the right thing, they were rewarded with something for Tony and a fish for Charley, which he ate rapidly. However, on other occasions, Charley suffered the consequences of doing the wrong thing (e.g., in ''Charley's Tea Party'' he pulled a tablecloth and a teapot fell on him and scalded him).

Production details

The films were produced by Richard Taylor Cartoons which also produced ''

Crystal Tipps and Alistair ''Crystal Tipps and Alistair'' is a British cartoon produced for the BBC. The title characters are a girl and her dog who are joined by their friends Birdie and Butterfly. There are 50 five-minute episodes and a 20-minute Christmas special, all fi ...

'' and the '' Protect and Survive'' series. Six films were produced:
Charley – Falling in the Water

References in popular culture

The electronic dance music group

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional ...

famously sampled the episode "Mummy Should Know" for their UK 1991 hit single "

Charly ''Charly'' (marketed and stylized as ''CHAЯLY'') is a 1968 American drama film directed and produced by Ralph Nelson and written by Stirling Silliphant. It is based on ''Flowers for Algernon'', a science-fiction short story (1958) and subseque ...

", which reached number 3 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The sample was of Charley miaowing and Tony saying, "Charley says, 'always tell your mummy before you go off somewhere'". In 2005 the ''Charley Says'' series was voted #95 on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

TV special '' 100 Greatest Cartoons'', and in 2006 was voted the UK's favourite public service advertisement] by readers of the BBC News website. In 2014 Electrical Safety First (formerly known as the

Electrical Safety Council Electrical Safety First (formerly the Electrical Safety Council, or ESC) is a registered UK charity working with all sectors of the electrical industry as well as local and central government to reduce deaths and injuries caused by electrical a ...

) launched a brand new ''Charley Says'' film.http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/news-and-campaigns/campaigns/charley-says/ featuring the voice of award-winning comedian and actor David Walliams. This was created to promote staying electrically safe in the home and not overloading power sockets. A second film was also created, on the subject of the dangers of buying counterfeit electrical goods.

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.

References

External links

The National Archives with the 6 Charley Says films to download.Electrical Safety First
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429183707/http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/news-and-campaigns/campaigns/charley-says/ , date=29 April 2014 1970s animated short films 1980s animated short films 1970s in the United Kingdom 1980s in the United Kingdom British animated short films Public information films Stop-motion animated short films Fictional cats 1973 films 1970s educational films 1970s British films British educational films