Jellabies

Last updated

Jellabies
Also known as
  • Jellikins
  • The Jellies
GenreChildren’s
Written byJan Page
Directed byRalph Tittley, Animation: Jonny Lewis (first 15 episodes)
Voices of Rik Mayall
Narrated by Rik Mayall
Music by
  • David Lowe
  • Vo Fletcher
Country of origin
  • Australia (Jellabies)
  • United Kingdom (Jellikins/Jellies)
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes97
Production
Producers
  • David Clement
  • Mike Prince
Animators
  • Richard Smart
  • Tony Tinsley
  • Meena Kumari-Pai
  • Andy Day
  • Andrew Lindsay
  • Mikel G Lewis
Running time5 mins
Production companies
  • Optical Image Broadcast
  • Winchester Entertainment
Original release
Network ABC for Kids (Australia) GMTV (UK)
Release1998 (1998) 
2001 (2001)

Jellabies (also known as Jellikins or The Jellies) is a British[ citation needed ] children's animated television series that first aired on the UK television network (GMTV), from 18 May 1998 until 2001. It was also shown in Germany, (Super RTL), U.S. (Fox Family Channel, now Freeform), The Netherlands (Kindernet), France (TF! Jeunesse), and Australia (ABC Kids). The target audience is for children ages two to six.

Contents

It was one of the first television series to be produced fully in CGI.

Format

The program was conceived and developed in Worcestershire, UK by Jonny Lewis, a 3d artist/animator and Optical Image Ltd, a small TV/video editing house, using CGI animation. The show was narrated by Rik Mayall. [1] The Jellabies are jelly-made children that live in the Jolly Jelly World, which is the magical land at the end of the rainbow, where their first job is to make rainbows. (for which they have a machine called the Jelliscope, a computer/teleporter/rainbow generator that is constantly monitoring weather conditions around the world) Although each Jellaby has its own vehicle to drive around in, their main use of travelling long distances around Jelly Land is on the "Jelly Train", a train that only consists of a cab (without any actual locomotive) and one passenger car. The show premiered in 1998 and ended in 2003.

Jellabies are also known as Jellikins in certain parts of the world, including the United Kingdom. This version is exactly the same as the Jellabies in every way, except the characters' heads were changed to look like gummy bears. However, Duffy the dragon remained the same. This version aired on GMTV in the United Kingdom until 2004.

History

Jonny Lewis designed and created the characters and developed the pilot episode with his brother Mikel Lewis, using 3D Studio Max software. It was loosely based on Jelly Babies candies. In the early months, before funding, Jonny Lewis lived in a dusty basement in Malvern so he could afford to develop the show on his home PC. The pilot led to the series being commissioned by GMTV and then in many other countries around the world. It was the first British fully 3D computer-animated series to make it on to television.

Optical Image sealed sponsorship from Basset's. Other animators who made significant input were Meena Kamurai Pai, Andrew Lindsay, Richard Smart, Andy Day, Ian Friend, Harjit Birdi, making each episode with only five days to complete each one in order to meet the schedule.

Music written and composed by Dave Lowe and Vo Fletcher.

Characters and voice cast

Each of the six Jellabies represent the colours of the rainbow.

Main


Supporting

Episodes

Season 1 (1998-99)

1. Caterpillar

2. Circus

3. Pepper's Den

4. Hide and Seek

5. Apple

6. Seeds

7. Burst Balloon

8. Snow

9. Music

10. Drum

11. Drumsticks

12. Waiting

Season 2 (1999)

1. Birthday

2. Echoes

3. Sky

4. Egg

5. Monster

6. Sheep

Season 3 (1999)

1. Train Trouble

2. Balloon

3. Jack in the Box

4. Lost Voice

5. Sneezes

6. Invisible

7. Runaway Train

8. Rescue

9. Seal

10. Super Jelly

11. Bridge

12. Race

13. Captain Jellybeard

Season 4 (1999)

1. Shadow

2. Sun

3. Jelly Day

4. Animals

5. Jelly Lake

6. Jellyphone


Season 5 (1999)

1. Shipwreck

2. Cave In!

3. Bouncy Ball

4. Camping

5. Tobbogan

6. Jelly Dance

7. Fancy Dress

8. Obstacles

9. Football

10. Sounds

11. Caves

12. House

13. Twins

Season 6 (1999)

1. Night

2. Bouncing

3. Butterfly

4. Parrot

5. Spring

Season 7 (1999-2000)

1. Baa!

3. Autumn

4. Nature

5. Zebra

6. Big

7. Magic

8. Where's Pepper?

9. Hot

10. Robot

11. Wheels

12. Chums

Season 8 (2000)

1. Rubbish

2. Silly Sax

3. Small

4. High

5. Tower

6. Footprints

7. Yuk

Season 9 (2000-2001)

1. Jelly Disco

2. Mountain

4. Jelly Christmas (special)

5. Paint

6. Feelings Rhyme

Newscreen era (2001)

𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘋𝘶𝘣𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘛𝘶𝘣𝘦

Strum's Concert [2]

Hats [3] (all characters have a version)

Magic Seeds [4]

Painting

Unconfirmed episodes

Fair [5]

Coral's Pet [6]

Jungle [7]

Kangaroo [8]

Theme song

The theme song Wobbly World Theme written by David Lowe and Vo Fletcher which featured an opening narration by Rik Mayall.

CD release

In 1999, a CD was released titled Jellikins: Songs from the TV series which featured songs performed by Mayall.

Ride(s)

Since 2000, there has been a Jellikins roller coaster at British theme park, Fantasy Island. Amutec had rights to make a Jellikins coin-operated ride featuring Bouncey in his bumper car from 2001 up until a currently unknown year/date.

International Broadcast

North America

Australia

Asia

●Iran ○IRIB TV5

Europe

Related Research Articles

<i>Bottom</i> (TV series) British TV sitcom (1991–1995)

Bottom is a British sitcom created by Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson that ran for three series on BBC2 from 1991 to 1995. It focuses on Richard "Richie" Richard (Mayall) and Edward Elizabeth "Eddie" Hitler (Edmondson), two unemployed, crude, and perverted flatmates living in Hammersmith, London, who aspire to better themselves. Bottom became known for its chaotic, nihilistic humour and violent slapstick comedy. In 2004, Bottom was ranked 45th in a BBC poll for Britain's Best Sitcom.

The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series The Comic Strip Presents..., which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The core members are Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Jennifer Saunders, with appearances by Keith Allen, Robbie Coltrane, Alexei Sayle and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rik Mayall</span> English comedian (1958–2014)

Richard Michael Mayall, known professionally as Rik Mayall, was an English comedian, actor and writer. He formed a close partnership with Ade Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University, and was a pioneer of alternative comedy in the 1980s.

<i>Codename: Kids Next Door</i> American animated television series

Codename: Kids Next Door is an American animated television series created by Mr. Warburton for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a diverse group of five children who operate from a high-tech treehouse, fighting against adult and teenage tyranny with advanced 2×4 technology. Using their code names, they are Sector V, part of a global organization called the Kids Next Door.

<i>Pepper Ann</i> American animated television series

Pepper Ann is an American animated television series created by Sue Rose and aired on Disney's One Saturday Morning on ABC. It first premiered on September 13, 1997, and ended on November 18, 2000. Pepper Ann was the first Disney animated television series to be created by a woman.

Grim Tales is a British children's television program based on fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, featuring Rik Mayall as a storyteller dressed in pyjamas and a dressing gown. The twenty-two episodes were broadcast on ITV and Channel 4 from 1989 to 1991. There was also a release on video and audio cassette, with the slightly different title Grimm Tales.

<i>Cave Kids</i> American animated childrens television series

Cave Kids is an American animated preschool television series produced by Hanna-Barbera, and a spin-off of The Flintstones. The show aired from September 29 to November 17, 1996, with reruns available until 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musti (character)</span> Cartoon character

Musti is a cartoon character, created by Flemish Belgian graphic artist Ray Goossens.

<i>Strawberry Shortcake</i> (2003 TV series) 2003 TV series

Strawberry Shortcake is an American children’s direct-to-video animated series produced by DIC Entertainment Corporation and American Greetings based on the franchise of the same name that debuted in March 2003. The series consists of 45 episodes, plus one short and one movie. Part of the series was broadcast on television including by CBS, HBO, and HBO Family, and in broadcast syndication. None of the voice actors from the 1980s Strawberry Shortcake animated specials returned to reprise their roles, with producers instead opting for younger and lesser known voice actors.

<i>Zigby</i> Australian TV series or program

Zigby the zebra is an anthropomorphic children's fictional character created by Scottish-born English author Brian Paterson. Zigby appears in a series of picture books and board books as well as in a 3D-animated television adaptation. It aired on Treehouse TV from 2009 to 2011 in Canada and it was previously aired on CBeebies in the UK from 2009 to 2014.

<i>Ni Nis Treehouse</i> British TV series or program

Ni Ni's Treehouse is a preschool television series and was produced jointly by The Itsy Bitsy Entertainment Company and GMTV. It was originally aired on TLC and GMTV from 2000 until 2003.

Kindernet was a now-defunct, Dutch-language television network that aired classic and modern children's television series from the 1980s onward.

<i>Octonauts</i> Childrens animated television series

Octonauts is an animated children's television series, produced by Sony Pictures Television Kids for the BBC channel CBeebies. It is based on the children's books written by Meomi, the design team of Vicki Wong and Michael C. Murphy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Edmondson</span> English actor, comedian, musician and writer (born 1957)

Adrian Charles Edmondson is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series The Young Ones (1982–1984) and Bottom (1991–1995), which he wrote together with his collaborator Rik Mayall. Edmondson also appeared in The Comic Strip Presents... series of films throughout the 1980s and 1990s. For two episodes of this he created the spoof heavy metal band Bad News, and for another he played his nihilistic alter-ego Eddie Monsoon, an offensive South African television star.

Musti is a Flemish animated children's television series created by Ray Goossens. It first aired in 1968, but new episodes have been made over the decades in more sophisticated animation, even going to 3D animation from 2007 on.

Masha and the Bear is a Russian preschool comedy animated television series created by Oleg Kuzovkov and produced by Animaccord Animation Studio, loosely based on the oral children's folk story of the same name. The show focuses on the adventures of a very young girl named Masha and her caring friend, the bear that always keeps her safe from disasters.

Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt is a children's animated television series based on a series of books of the same name by Chris Monroe. The series is set in Blunderburg and revolves around Chico Bon Bon and his friends Clark the elephant, Rainbow Thunder the daredevil cat and Tiny the mouse trying to solve problems using STEM concepts.

<i>Almas Way</i> Childrens animated television series

Alma's Way is an animated children's television series from Fred Rogers Productions created and executive produced by former Sesame Street actress Sonia Manzano and animated by Canadian animation studio Pipeline Studios. The series premiered on PBS Kids on October 4, 2021.

References

  1. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 444. ISBN   978-1476665993.
  2. trailer
  3. Coral's version is at https://youtube.com/watch?v=G5WI7Uveql4?si=PniumZRiBd-Dkfbq&t=260 (at the timestamp provided)
  4. (not to be confused with Seeds or Apple)
  5. https://www.amazon.com/Great-Jelly-World-Jelly-Flap-Books/dp/1575846896
  6. storytape cassette
  7. storytape cassette
  8. storytape cassette