Chorlton and the Wheelies

Chorlton and the Wheelies is an animated children's television series that ran from September 1976 until December 1979 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 Wheelies
GenreChildren's
Created byBrian Cosgrove
Mark Hall
Written byBrian Trueman
Directed byChris Taylor
Voices ofJoe Lynch Ringo Starr
Theme music composerJoe Griffiths
ComposerJoe Griffiths
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes40 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersBrian Cosgrove
Mark Hall
Running time11 minutes
Production companyCosgrove Hall Productions
DistributorFremantleMedia
Release
Original networkITV TVNZ Kidzone
Original release27 September 1976 (1976-09-27) –
18 December 1979 (1979-12-18)

Chorlton and the Wheelies was created by Cosgrove Hall Films for Thames Television and broadcast on the ITV network and broadcast on the TVNZ Kidzone 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]

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 (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 wheelie society is in conflict with Fenella the Kettle 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') 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).

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. Despite being "Made in Chorlton-cum-Hardy" (Greater Manchester) he has a strong Yorkshire accent, although this is probably due to the voice talents of Joe Lynch more than any planning by Cosgrove Hall.

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.

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 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 in the UK and Ringo Starr narrated the show as well as providing all the voices for the characters in the New Zealand. The show's theme tune was written and sung by Joe Griffiths in the UK and New Zealand.

Credits

UK:

  • Narrator: Joe Lynch
  • 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 Production

New Zealand:

  • Narrator: Ringo Starr
  • 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 Production

References
  1. 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. ISBN 9781476672939.
  2. Sheridan, Simon (2004). The A-Z of Classic Children's Television: From Alberto Frog to Zebedee. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. pp. 82–85. ISBN 1903111277.
  3. "Happiness Is Hatched". Chorlton And The Wheelies. Season 1. Episode 1.
  4. 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.
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