Denise Bryer (1955-1969; The Adventures Of Noddy and "His Master's Voice") Kathryn Beaumont (1963; Noddy Goes to Toyland) Pat Kerr (1971-1972; audio adaptations of Noddy Wins a Prize/Noddy and the Aeroplane and Noddy Goes To School/Noddy Gets Into Trouble) Richard Briers (1975-1976, Noddy) Susan Sheridan (1992-2000; Noddy's Toyland Adventures) Catherine Disher (1998-2000) Martin Skews (2002, Make Way for Noddy) Teresa Gallagher (2009, Noddy in Toyland) Louis Ashbourne Serkis (2016-2020; UK version) Valin Shinyei (2016-2020; US version) Brigitte Lecordier (1992-2020; France) Aleksandra Rojewska (1992-2004; Poland) Yuko Mita (1992-2009; Japan)
In-universe information
Species
Wooden toy
Gender
Male
Noddy is an English character created by English children's author Enid Blyton. He is a wooden toy doll depicted as having a childlike view of the world. Noddy first appeared in a book series published between 1949 and 1963, illustrated by the Dutch artist Harmsen van der Beek from 1949 until his death in 1953, after which the work was continued by Peter Wienk. Television shows based on the character have run on British television since 1955.
Noddy was created by Enid Blyton in 1949 as he appeared in the first book "Noddy goes to Toyland". Starting in 1962 since the character's success, the character was named in France called "Oui-Oui", meaning Yes-Yes in French.[citation needed]
It is said that Enid Blyton took inspiration for Noddy from the village of Studland in Dorset where she would holiday virtually every summer. PC Christopher Rhone whom Blyton met while he was on the job was the basis for Mr. Plod in the Noddy books.[1]
The first book explains Noddy's origins. He is made by a woodcarver in a toy shop but runs away after the man begins to make a wooden lion, which scares Noddy. As he wanders through the woods naked, penniless, and homeless, he meets Big Ears, a friendly brownie. Big Ears decides that Noddy is a toy and takes him to live in Toyland. He generously provides Noddy with a set of clothing and a house. While Noddy is quite happy to be a toy, the citizens of Toyland are not sure that he actually is one. They put Noddy on trial and examine whether he is a toy or an ornament. Eventually, Noddy is declared a toy, but still has to convince the court that he is a good toy. The judge accepts that Noddy is good after a doll tells the court that he saved her little girl from a lion, and he is allowed to stay in Toyland. Noddy gets his car in the second book. It is given to him after he helps solve a local mystery.
The other toys can hear him coming by the distinctive "Parp Parp" sound of his car's horn and the jingle of the bell on his blue hat. Often he uses his car to visit all of the places in Toyland. When his taxi business is not doing so well, or when he needs help, Noddy turns to Big Ears. Big Ears will often lend him what he needs. On occasion, Noddy will allow people to make his head nod, in exchange for small items such as his morning milk.
Noddy is kind and honest, but he often gets into trouble, either through his own misunderstandings or because someone, usually one of the naughty goblins Sly or Gobbo, has played a trick on him. He is very childlike in his understanding of the world and often becomes confused as a result. For example, in the first Noddy book, Noddy and Big Ears are building Noddy's house for one. Noddy suggests that they build the roof first, in case it rains. With no understanding of gravity or of the need for roof supports, this is perfectly logical to him. (In fact, this is not so silly. Some multi-story buildings start with the roof, which is then raised on hydraulic jacks, and the story beneath is built, and then the roof is raised again, and so on. This is the Upbrella method.) As the series continues, Noddy becomes wiser but without losing his charm and lovable naivety.
Noddy's best friends are Big Ears, Tessie Bear, Bumpy Dog, and the Tubby Bears. Big Ears, who brought Noddy to Toyland, is the most important figure in his life. Whenever he faces serious peril, it tends to be Big Ears who comes to the rescue, one way or another, and it is invariably Big Ears to whom Noddy turns for support and reassurance. Big Ears is not so much a parental figure, but more like a guardian, or perhaps Noddy's attorney. While kind to Noddy, Big Ears has an intimidating presence and voice that makes him feared by goblins. He is capable of facing down wizards with his own spells, and is able to plead Noddy's case to Mr. Plod, the local policeman, when Noddy finds himself in legal peril. On rare occasions, however, Big Ears finds himself in trouble, in which case Noddy comes to his aid. Big Ears and Noddy have rarely quarreled seriously. Examples of such quarrels are when Big Ears harshly scolded the very sensitive Tessie Bear for failing to control her dog and when Noddy ran his car into Big Ears's clothes post and then drove away, dragging Big Ears's clean washing behind him.
Tessie is a gentle-hearted, gold bear who often wears a bonnet with flowers and a skirt. She is young like Noddy, and very loving towards all of her friends and neighbours. Bumpy Dog is Tessie's pet. He loves to run up and "bump" people over. Noddy frequently gets annoyed with Bumpy but still likes him. Whenever Noddy threatens Bumpy, Tessie gets upset, and sometimes even begins to cry. The Tubby Bears live next door to Noddy. They are gold and chubby teddy bears. Mr. and Mrs. Tubby Bear frequently help Noddy. It is clear that Mr. and Mrs. Tubby Bear are the superiors of Noddy, as if he were a child. Their first names are never mentioned and Noddy always refers to them as Mr. and Mrs. They have one son, also named Tubby, who is occasionally referred to as Master Tubby. Tubby is naughty and is usually in trouble for breaking rules, being rude, or doing something wrong. Noddy often attempts to scold or punish Tubby, with little result. On one occasion, Tubby gets tired of always being bossed around and being punished and decides to run away to sea. Noddy and Bumpy accidentally join with him. By the end of the journey, Tubby misses his parents and brings them back presents from his trip, as an apology.
Noddy has many run-ins with Mr. Plod. Some are caused by Noddy's lack of understanding of how Toyland works. Other times it is because of a case of mistaken identity, Mr. Plod is generally long-suffering towards Noddy and Noddy likes Mr. Plod and frequently goes out of his way to help him. Mr. Plod often catches the mischief makers on his police bicycle, by blowing his whistle and shouting "Halt in the name of Plod!!" before locking the culprits up in his jail.
Characters
Noddy and Big Ears
Current characters
Major characters
Big Ears, a wise, bearded brownie who lives in a toadstool house outside of Toyland and is Noddy's helper and father figure, as well as his best friend. He finds Noddy and brings him to Toyland at the start of the first book. Big Ears, while usually kind to Noddy, can be very fierce and is both feared and respected by goblins, wizards, and even Mr. Plod. Whenever Noddy is being mistreated, he invariably comes to his defence. Big Ears also has the power to cast magic spells, though he rarely uses it. His catchphrase is "You funny little Noddy!".
Mr. Plod (sometimes called PC Plod), the local policeman. He has an uneven relationship with Noddy, whom he thinks drives too fast and engages in other unwarranted behaviour. He has gone so far as to imprison Noddy at least once, and threatened him with imprisonment on other occasions. His catchphrase is "Stop, in the name of Plod!", as shown in Make Way for Noddy.
Tessie Bear, a clever young female teddy bear who is Noddy's friend. She has recently been replaced by a female panda named Pat-Pat.[citation needed]
Bumpy Dog, a dog from the original books who lives with Tessie Bear, but also accompanies Noddy on many adventures. Noddy first met the Bumpy Dog in Toytown because he was injured and Noddy used his scarf to help him. Noddy felt he was unable to have Bumpy Dog live with him, so Tessie Bear offered to keep him.
Dinah Doll, a china doll who sells all kinds of things in the market.
Sly and Gobbo, mischievous goblins. They usually steal things such as ice cream, coins or Noddy's car. They are based on various unnamed goblins that appeared in Enid Blyton's original books.
Recurring characters
Mr. Wobblyman, a roly-poly toy who has a round base which he wobbles about on. He rocks back and forth to get around. In the episode, Noddy's Perfect Gift, it is shown that he may be the owner of the fruit shop in the town square. His catchphrase is I hate it when that happens.
Master Tubby Bear, Mr. and Mrs. Tubby Bear's son who is sometimes called Bruiny. He was naughty in the books and older television series, but he was better behaved in Make Way for Noddy.
Mr. Sparks, Toyland's handyman who can mend anything. His catchphrase is "A challenge? I like it!"
Clockwork Mouse, a toy mouse who often requires winding up.
Miss Harriet the Pink Cat (aka Miss Pink Cat), a French pink cat who sells ice cream. She is portrayed as a fussy and neat cat with no patience for foolishness, even her own.
Mr. Jumbo, an elephant who is friends with Clockwork Mouse.
Martha Monkey, a mischievous tomboy who replaced naughty schoolboy Gilbert Golly.
The Skittles, a family consisting of Sally Skittle and her many children of various sizes. The Skittles are red and yellow in colour with black hands. They like being knocked down and frequently run out in front of Noddy's car so he will hit them and knock them over.
Mr. Train Driver, the train driver who drives the Toyland Express train.
Twinkly, a star who has appeared in "Catch a Falling Star."
Clockwork Clown, a toy clown who performs funny tricks. He stands only using his hands, not his feet, as he has "fused" feet like those of a sea lion.
Noddy's Car, the yellow car with red decals which Noddy drives. It has a mind of its own and can talk to other characters with its unique sounding "parp parp!" horn.
Minor characters
Bert Monkey, a shy and timid monkey with a sentient and mischievous tail.
Sammy Sailor, local harbour sailor.
Mr. Noah, lives on the ark with Mrs. Noah and the animals.
Mrs. Noah, lives on the ark with Mr. Noah and the animals.
Stinky, a tramp who has never washed in his life.
Mr. Tubby Bear, Noddy's next door neighbour. First name is unknown.
Mrs. Tubby Bear, Noddy's next door neighbour. In the original books, it was clear that she, like Mr. Tubby Bear, are the superiors of Noddy, as if they are adults and he is a child, mainly because Noddy always refers to them as "Mr. and Mrs. Tubby Bear". Like Mr. Tubby Bear, first name is unknown.
Teddy Tubby Bear, Mr. Tubby Bear's brother, Mrs. Tubby Bear's brother-in-law and Master Tubby Bear's uncle, who appeared in the third book, Noddy and His Car.
Little Ears, Big Ears' brother who looks just like Big Ears. However, his ears are much smaller. He lives in a very tidy toadstool just like Big Ears.
Bunkey, a thoroughly mischievous character who appears to be half bunny and half monkey. He is later exposed as a fraudulent monkey who escaped from a travelling circus.
Miss Prim, the school mistress who replaced the slipper-wielding Miss Rap.
Mr. Golly, in the books was the owner of the Toyland garage. He was replaced by Mr. Sparks in the TV series in the early 1990s and later editions of the original books on redrawn pages.
Tricky Teddy, a teddy bear and companion of Gilbert Golly of mischief; in later adaptations they were replaced by a pair of teddy bears and finally by the Goblins Sly and Gobbo.
Noddy Goes to Toyland Hurrah for Little Noddy Noddy and His Car Here Comes Noddy Again! Well Done Noddy! Noddy Goes to School Noddy at the Seaside Noddy Gets into Trouble Noddy and the Magic Rubber You Funny Little Noddy Noddy Meets Father Christmas Noddy and Tessie Bear Be Brave, Little Noddy! Noddy and the Bumpy-Dog Do Look Out, Noddy You're a Good Friend, Noddy Noddy Has an Adventure Noddy Goes to Sea Noddy and the Bunkey Cheer Up, Little Noddy! Noddy Goes to the Fair Mr. Plod and Little Noddy Noddy and the Tootles Noddy and the Aeroplane
Early Noddy books have become collectibles, along with other Blytons. The total number is hard to count: the Noddy Library (Sampson Low) of two dozen titles, which became the New Noddy Library when revised, was just part of a big production in the 1950s, with Big Noddy Books of larger format, and strip books. There were numerous spin-offs, also. Widely differing estimates can be found.[2]
The 24 original Noddy books by Enid Blyton were published between 1949 and 1963. Harmsen Van der Beek illustrated the first 7 Noddy books. After Beek's death in 1953 the original style was maintained by illustrators Robert Tyndall, Peter Wienk, Mary Brooks and Robert Lee.
Sales of Noddy books are large, with an estimated 600,000 annual sales in France alone, and growing popularity in India and Portugal, a large market for Blyton books. The Noddy character was formerly owned by Chorion, who sold the rights on to DreamWorks Classics (a part of DreamWorks Animation which now a subsidiary of NBCUniversal) in 2012.
Noddy Goes to Toyland (1949)
Hurrah for Little Noddy (1950)
Noddy and His Car (1951)
Here Comes Noddy Again! (1951)
Well Done Noddy! (1952)
Noddy Goes to School (1952)
Noddy at the Seaside (1953)
Noddy Gets into Trouble (1954)
Noddy and the Magic Rubber (1954)
You Funny Little Noddy (1955)
Noddy Meets Father Christmas (1955)
Noddy and Tessie Bear (1956)
Be Brave, Little Noddy! (1956)
Noddy and the Bumpy-Dog (1957)
Do Look Out, Noddy (1957)
You're a Good Friend, Noddy (1958)
Noddy Has an Adventure (1958)
Noddy Goes to Sea (1959)
Noddy and the Bunkey (1959)
Cheer Up, Little Noddy! (1960)
Noddy Goes to the Fair (1960)
Mr. Plod and Little Noddy (1961)
Noddy and the Tootles (1962)
Noddy and the Aeroplane (1963)
(Only 24 in the set)
Separate Book: Noddy and Big-Ears (1952)
On 17 November 2008, it was announced that Enid Blyton's granddaughter, Sophie Smallwood, was to write a new Noddy book to celebrate the character's 60th birthday. Noddy and the Farmyard Muddle (2009) was illustrated by Robert Tyndall, who has drawn the characters in the Noddy books since 1953,[3] ever since the death of the original illustrator, Harmsen van der Beek.
Television adaptations and other incarnations
In the 1990s and early 2000s TV series adaptation, as well as a new series of books, Noddy has been updated, with the original Golliwog characters replaced by other sorts of toys. For example, Mr. Golly who ran the Toyland garage was replaced by Frenchman Monsieur Polly in the 1975 series, and, during the 1992–2000 series, by Mr. Sparks. Dinah Doll, a black female character, was added to the franchise by then.
The Adventures of Noddy (1955–1962) – a black and white puppet series on ATV.
Noddy Goes to Toyland (1963) – An animated short film made by the works of Arthur Humberstone Films.
Noddy (1975–1976) – A series produced for ITV by Cosgrove Hall Films' predecessor company Stop Frame Productions.
The Further Adventures of Noddy (1983) – A stop-frame animated pilot made by the works of FilmFair.[4]
The Noddy Shop (1998–1999) – Canadian/American adaptation featuring redubbed animations from Noddy's Toyland Adventures, released in other territories as Noddy in Toyland.
Noddy in Toyland (2009) – The second Noddy series to be made in CGI for the 60th anniversary of the franchise. Produced by Chorion in association with Brown Bag Films.
Noddy, Toyland Detective (2016–2020) – DreamWorks' reimagining of the franchise and overall the third CGI incarnation of the character to be produced to date.
Stage productions
Programme of Noddy in Toyland at the Stoll Theatre, London
Noddy first appeared on stage at the 2660-seat Stoll Theatre in Kingsway, London, in 1954. The very large cast were all children or teenagers, mostly from the Italia Conti acting school. There was a full theatre orchestra. The finale was a scene at the "Faraway Tree", with many of the children dressed as fairies, flying on wires. It ran for several years, but the Stoll was knocked down and replaced by an office block in the late 1950s.[5] The Peacock Theatre was built in the basement of the new building, but Noddy did not return.
In 1963, Noddy was featured in the animated short film Noddy Goes to Toyland, it was produced by Arthur Humberstone for Enid Blyton.[6]
In 1993, a stage production of Noddy opened at the New Wimbledon Theatre, followed by a long UK national tour, including a Christmas season in London at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, and was released on home video in 1994. The production was presented by Clarion Productions. The production was written and directed by David Wood with scene and costume designs by Susie Calcutt. The original cast included Eric Potts as Big Ears and Karen Briffett as Noddy. The show was very well received among critics, audiences and even Enid Blyton's daughter Gillian Baverstock. David Wood adapted a successful sequel to the play entitled "Noddy and the Tootle" which opened at the Wimbledon Theatre and endured on a long UK National Tour in 1995–1996. Karen Briffett reprised her role as Noddy and Big Ears was played by Jonathan Broxholme. This production was too presented by Clarion Productions.
The characters returned during September 2002 for an animated series, which was named Make Way for Noddy. This was created by Chorion, in association with SD Entertainment and the 100 episodes were produced in 2001 externally.
In 2004, A live show called "Noddy Live!" that takes a live tour around the UK from December 21, 2004 until March 5 2005, and returns on December 21 until December 29 in the same year.
In 2005, a set of 100 new two-minute TV interstitials were created by Chorion. These interstitials, entitled Say it with Noddy, feature Noddy learning words in a variety of foreign languages. They also introduced Noddy's new friend Whizz from Robot Village, who presses a button on his chest to play recordings of native speakers saying the new foreign words Noddy was to learn. The interstitials were featured on commercial breaks on Five and featured as segments for the American release of the show on PBS and Sprout.
A CG animated series, called Noddy in Toyland, was made in 2009 by Chorion and produced by Brown Bag Films in Ireland. This series incorporates Whizz from "Say it with Noddy" as a full-time character. Sly and Gobbo's cousins, Sneaky and Stealth, are introduced and usually work alongside them. The full series is available digitally on iTunes.
In 2012, Chorion sold the Noddy character to ClassicMedia, which in turn was bought out by DreamWorks Animation, leading to another CG animated series, named Noddy, Toyland Detective was produced by French producer/distributor Gaumont Animation, in association with DreamWorks Animation Television, and in partnership with France Télévisions. It premiered on Channel Five's preschool block Milkshake! on 18 April 2016.[7][8]
There was a spoof page of "Noddy-ana" in Hot Rod magazine (U.K.), in about 1976–1978; Noddy had a hot rod, and Big Ears smoked, and was very disrespectful to Mr. Plod.
IDW's The Transformers introduced the character of "Tappet", a robot who is based on Noddy visually and clearly transforms into Noddy's classic car.
The puppet of Big Ears from the 1955–1963 Noddy television series appeared as a member of the "Puppet Government" in The Goodies episode "The Goodies Rule – O.K.?".
Noddy, Big Ears and PC Plod are referred to in the Two Ronnies crossword sketch where Ronnie Corbett thinks their names are "Roddy, Big Ears, and PC Plop!"
In an episode of Last of the Summer Wine, all of the characters are dressed up as fairy tale characters for a parade. Smiler is dressed as Noddy complete with a smaller version of his car in order to tow a bouncy castle with the rest of the characters on it, but it deflated while they were taking part.
Noddy being associated with small children's reading has led to "Noddy" being sometimes used as an adjective meaning "petty or trivial" (compare with "Mickey Mouse"), for example, in computer programming: "This simultaneous linear equationsubroutine crashes out on the Noddy case when n = 1, but otherwise it works." or "Remember to check all the Noddy cases."
In the United Kingdom, the word "plod" became a slang term to describe a police officer, or the police service, due to the success of the Noddy franchise, and its character Mr. Plod. For example, somebody could say, “I’m not having a good morning, I was driving to work and got pulled over by the plod for driving too fast”. The Ministry of Defence Police is also nicknamed "MOD Plod".
See also
Toytown was a BBC radio series for children, broadcast for Children's Hour on the Home Service from 1929. It featured Larry The Lamb as its chief character.[9]
Related Research Articles
Enid Mary Blyton was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been translated into ninety languages. As at June 2019, Blyton held the 4th place for the most translated author. She wrote on a wide range of topics, including education, natural history, fantasy, mystery, and biblical narratives. She is best remembered for her Noddy, Famous Five, Secret Seven, the Five Find-Outers, and Malory Towers books, although she also wrote many others, including; St. Clare's, The Naughtiest Girl, and The Faraway Tree series.
The Faraway Tree is a series of popular novels for children by British author Enid Blyton. The titles in the series are The Enchanted Wood (1939), The Magic Faraway Tree (1943), The Folk of the Faraway Tree (1946) and Up the Faraway Tree (1951).
Chorion Limited was a multinational media production company with offices in London, New York, and Sydney. The company produced TV shows and feature films, and was best known for its portfolio of entertainment brands. These included children's characters such as Paddington Bear, Peter Rabbit, Mr. Men, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Olivia, Gaspard and Lisa and Noddy. The company also owned the rights to the Agatha Christie Estate, Raymond Chandler, and Georges Simenon.
Susan Haydn Thomas, better known as Susan Sheridan, was an English voice actress. Her roles included Noddy in Noddy's Toyland Adventures, Princess Sylvia in Muzzy in Gondoland, Trillian in the BBC radio series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Serafina Pekkala in the BBC audiobooks of His Dark Materials and Princess Eilonwy in the animated film The Black Cauldron.
Gobbo is an Italian surname meaning "hunchback".
The children's books of Enid Blyton were illustrated by a large number of artists, ranging from figures known for other work to humbler commercial artists, who in some cases were anonymous. Since the Blyton texts mainly used very simple language, the work of the illustrators was an important part of the appeal of many of the works.
Make Way for Noddy is an animated television series produced by British studio Chorion in conjunction with American studio SD Entertainment. Based on Enid Blyton's Noddy character, it was originally broadcast on Channel 5 from 2 September 2002 to 7 April 2006. It features music and songs composed by Steven Bernstein and Julie Bernstein, with the musical direction done by Sharon Sampson and Terry Sampson.
Milkshake! is a British children's television programming block on Channel 5 and is currently aimed at children aged 2 to 7.
Toytown is the name given to a series of radio plays written by S.G. Hulme Beaman and broadcast by the BBC from 1929 to 1932, 28 of which regularly repeated on Children's Hour until 1964, by which point it had expanded into a media franchise.
This is a list of 762 books by Enid Blyton (1897–1968), an English children's writer who also wrote under the pseudonym of Mary Pollock. She was one of the most successful children's storytellers of the 20th century.
Babes in Toyland is a 1997 American Christmas animated musical-comedy fantasy adventure film based on the 1903 operetta. Directed by Charles Grosvenor, Toby Bluth and Paul Sabella, the film stars the voices of Joseph Ashton, Lacey Chabert, Raphael Sbarge, Cathy Cavadini, Charles Nelson Reilly, Jim Belushi, Bronson Pinchot and Christopher Plummer. It was released direct-to-video in the United States.
Noddy is a Canadian live-action/animated children's television series based on Enid Blyton's children's book series of the same name featuring the animated episodes from Noddy's Toyland Adventures. The show was broadcast from 7 September 1998 to 11 December 1999 and broadcast on TVOntario and CBC Television in Canada.
Noddy may refer to:
Noddy's Toyland Adventures is a British children's television programme that was broadcast from September 1992 until April 1994 and December 1994. The show stars the voices of Susan Sheridan and Jimmy Hibbert. Each episode was written by Julia and Chris Allen respectively during its broadcast run. Paul K. Joyce composed and performed the show's opening theme.
The Young Adventurers is a collection of books written by Enid Blyton, also known as The Riddle Series.
Peter Wienk was a Dutch illustrator and painter.
Big ears refer to prominently-sized ears, or preferably protruding ears.
Noddy, Toyland Detective is a French-American animated television series featuring the character Noddy created by Enid Blyton. The series was produced by DreamWorks Animation Television and Gaumont Animation. Commissioned by France Télévisions, it premiered on March 26, 2016, on the platform Zouzous, and aired on France 5, on April 2, 2016, the first 26 episodes are on WatchCartion.
Noddy and the Birthday Party is a children's video game released only in Europe for the Game Boy Color in 2000. It was developed by Tiertex Design Studios and published by BBC Multimedia. The game is based on the character Noddy by Enid Blyton, as well as the fictional universe in which he resides. The focus of the plot and gameplay is the preparation of the character Big-Ears' upcoming birthday party. The game received mixed to negative reviews from critics.
James Christian Hibbert is an English actor and writer. He is best known for his voice work with the animation studio Cosgrove Hall Films.
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