Rex the Runt

Last updated

Rex the Runt
Rex the runt.jpg
Main characters from left to right:
Vince, Wendy, Bad Bob, Rex
Genre Live action
Stop motion animation
Clay animation
Pixilation
Comedy
Created by Richard Goleszowski
Developed byAardman Animations
Written byRichard Goleszowski
Alan Gilbey
Kevin Wrench
Andrew Franks
David Max Freedman
Andrew Viner
Peter Holmes
Ben Caudell
Ben Seymour
Directed byRichard Goleszowski
Dan Capozzi
Peter Peake
Christopher Sadler
Sam Fell
Creative directorsPeter Holmes
Richard Goleszowski
Voices ofElisabeth Hadley
Paul Merton
Steve Box
Arthur Smith
Andrew Franks (series 1)
Kevin Wrench (series 1)
Colin Rote (series 2)
Andy Jeffers (series 2)
Theme music composerStuart Gordon
Opening theme"Rex the Runt"
by Kevin Wrench
Andrew Franks
Ending theme"Rex the Runt"
by Kevin Wrench
Andrew Franks
ComposersStuart Gordon
Ben Jones
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Denmark
France (series 1)
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes26
3 (pilots)
Production
Executive producersMichael Rose
Peter Lord
David Sproxton
Colin Rose
Paul Kofod
Ulla Brockenhuus-Schack (series 1)
Mikael Shields (series 1)
Steve Walsh (series 1)
Tom Van Waveren (series 2)
ProducersMichael Rose (series)
Jacqueline White
Production location Bristol
CinematographyFrank Passingham
Fred Reed
Andy MacCormack
Chris Maris
EditorsBen Jones (dubbing)
James Mather (dubbing)
Jane Hicks
Andrew Ward (series 1)
Sheri Galloway (series 2)
Tim Bolt (online)
Nick Brooks (online, series 1)
Running time10 minutes
Production companies Aardman Animations
Egmont Imagination
BBC Bristol
EVA Entertainment (series 1)
Original release
Network BBC Two (1998–2001) BBC Four (2005)
Release21 December 1998 (1998-12-21) 
16 December 2001 (2001-12-16)

Rex the Runt is a stop-motion adult animated claymation pixilation comedy series, primarily consisting of a television show and two short films produced by Aardman Animations and Egmont Imagination for BBC Bristol, with EVA Entertainment co-producing the first series. Its main characters are four plasticine dogs: Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob and Vince. [1]

Contents

Rex was first introduced as a minor character in Ident (1989), a short film directed by Richard Starzak for the Lip Synch series. [2] During the seven years of development of the characters, Starzak produced three pilots, subtitled How Dinosaurs Became Extinct (1991), Dreams (1991) and North by North Pole (1996). [2] [3] [4] The 1991 pilots were unknown to the Aardman crew at the time, as Starzak created them during his free time. Because of this, the series wasn't pitched until the discovery of these shorts a year later, as the team found potential to turn these shorts into a full-fledged series. [5]

Thirteen ten-minute episodes of the series aired over two weeks on BBC Two from December 1998. [6] A second, thirteen-episode series aired from September 2001 on the same channel. As well as the core cast, guest voices included Paul Merton, Morwenna Banks, Judith Chalmers, Antoine de Caunes, Bob Holness, Simon Day, Bob Monkhouse, Jonathan Ross, Graham Norton, Arthur Smith, June Whitfield, Kathy Burke, Pam Ayres and Eddie Izzard.

The animation is unusual in that the models are almost two-dimensional and are animated to exaggerate this - they are flattened in appearance and animated on a sheet of glass with the backgrounds behind the sheet. This would be altered in the second series, as the models would become more three-dimensional.

Characters

Main

Others

Many one-off and recurring characters in Rex The Runt are voiced by various well-known UK celebrities. These include:

References to other Aardman productions

Several episodes of Rex the Runt contain inside references to other projects created by Aardman Animations:

Episode list

All airdates are sourced from the BBC Genome. [7]

Series 1 (1998–1999)

Series 1 was broadcast over the Christmas period of 1998, originally airing in the prime-time family slots, but after several outraged letters complaining about language and content in show, the last few episodes were burned off in later time slots. [8] Note:Episodes are ordered by their production number, not by their original air date.

# Production Number# Broadcast NumberTitleSummaryAirdate
11Holiday in VinceThe Runts try to cure Vince of his Random Pavarotti Disease (a Tourette syndrome-like singing of phrases of opera) by miniaturising a submarine to go on a journey through Vince's brain.21 December 1998
26Adventures on Telly, Part 1After their television gets broken, the Telly Man wants them to cover for him while he is fixing the family's TV. First, they need to find money to start their adventure, which causes Bad Bob to Rob a bank.23 December 1998
37Adventures on Telly, Part 2The Runts are short of money again, and lend themselves to Dr. Dogg's animal experiments. NOTE: This episode is an expanded version of the pilot "North by North Pole".24 December 1998
48Adventures on Telly, Part 3After accidentally destroying the Earth, the Runts head towards a black hole.25 December 1998
52Bob's International Hiccup CentreBob loses his comic timing, so he turns to medicine.21 December 1998
65Easter IslandThe Runts' helicopter crash lands on Easter Island, where they meet visiting aliens who resemble the local statues.23 December 1998
73Too Many DogsAfter Rex's house is stolen, the Runts go back in time to recover it, and meet parallel versions of themselves.22 December 1998
811The Trials of WendyWendy is arrested after shooting Vince. After she is proven not guilty, she starts to make a name for herself, causing Rex the Runt to get cancelled by the Telly.30 December 1998
94Stinky's Search for a StarThe Runts enter a talent contest hoping to win enough money to pay the gas bill.22 December 1998
1012Under the DuvetThe Runts visit the University of Love under their bed, while Vince falls in love with a vacuum cleaner.31 December 1998
119Johnny Saveloy's UndoingWendy joins Johnny Saveloy's following.27 December 1998
1210The City ShrinkersThe Runts win Birmingham in the lottery. After shrinking it with their shrinking gun, Bad Bob and Wendy go on a city-shrinking craze.29 December 1998
1313CarbonaraRex is accidentally run through a sausage mincer, and must avoid the attentions of a hungry Vince.1 January 1999

Series 2 (2001-2005)

Series 2 was aired between 23 September 2001 to 16 December 2001 on late nights. Each episode was then repeated the following Sunday, after CBBC on BBC Two.

#TitleSummaryAirdate
1Mouse in Me KitchenUpon returning home, Rex finds that his kitchen has been occupied by a mouse.23 September 2001
2Wendy's Hot DateWendy gets a date with a handsome dog, who is also called Rex.30 September 2001
3PatioThe garden ants object when the Runts lay down a patio.7 October 2001
4A Crap Day OutA new garden centre is opening, and Bad Bob needs a new shed.14 October 2001
5Slim BobBad Bob consults Dr. Dogg about weight loss.21 October 2001
6Private WendyVince, Wendy, Rex and Bob join the army.28 October 2001
7Rocket RaymondThe inhabitants of a distant planet believe that Rex is their hero, Rocket Raymond.4 November 2001
8The Plasticene GeneDr. Dogg cons Rex out of his ear, and later clones Vince.11 November 2001
9Wendy's New HairdoWendy gets a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for her truth drug.18 November 2001
11Wayne the ZebraWith Rex on holiday, Bob is left in charge of a production involving "The Beast of Crannock Moore", but can his choice for the star character, Wayne the Zebra, fulfil expectations?9 December 2001
13The Art of CookingBad Bob steals Rex's food creations and enters them in an art exhibition.19 April 2005 [lower-alpha 1]
10Bob Joins a GangBad Bob joins a not-so-bad gang.25 November 2001
12Hole in the GardenBad Bob's lawn mower crashes through the garden and lands in Australia.16 December 2001

Cast

Main cast

Guest stars

These include:

Production

As previously mentioned, Rex the Runt consisted mainly of two short films that were entirely animated by Richard Starzak during his free time. The animation from these shorts were very crude and bizarre, and featured different designs for the gang. At the time, the team at Aardman had never known about these films, and didn't discover them until a year later, as they found potential to turn these shorts into a series. [5] Each episode of the series cost $166,000. [9]

The show was originally going to be on Saturday Zoo as comedy skits for the show, the main idea being that it was "like a cartoon strip". Soon after, the BBC got interested in the series. From here, the episodes slowly got longer, until the 10-minute episodes that it eventually used. [5]

With help from the crew, a third pilot (North by North Pole) was produced as a pitch for the BBC in 1996, this time with much smoother animation and a plotline that would later define how the series was going to be. Parts of this pilot were incorporated into the episode "The Adventures On Telly, Part 2" due to the footage being expensive to reshoot. Unfortunately, other than a screenshot of the title card, the full pilot has yet to be released to the public as it is lost media.

The production of Series 1 began between late 1997 and early 1998. It was produced at Wetherell Place, Aardman's smallest studio space. The production office was on-site. A storyboard artist continually sketched boards for episodes to be shot later in the schedule, and there was a model-shop attached to the studio (where the models and props would be made). The unusual animation technique was laying the characters on top of a sheet of glass with the backgrounds behind the sheet (with the backgrounds being below the sheet, to show depth) angled away from the animators at 45 degrees. At any point, two to three episodes could be in production at any time, with each episode taking around four to six weeks to make. Some scenes, such as most of "The Adventures On Telly, Part 3" were filmed in front of a blue-screen to show a different background, such as space. The animation of Series 1 took 10 months, then went into post-production, and finally aired in December 1998.

The models did not use armatures due to of the strange form of animation, making them much easier to move around.

Underdog

Underdog is an advertising character (voiced by Joe Pasquale), first appearing in 2010, animated by Aardman Animations, in the same style as the Rex the Runt figures, but wearing bandages, promoting the personal injury claims company National Accident Helpline. [10] [11]

Underdog also has a friend named Cindy

Reception

On IMDb, Rex the Runt received a rating of 7.9/10 from 367 users.

Merchandise

Rex the Runt was eventually popular enough to have its own merchandise. Some known items of merchandise include:

Cancelled content

There were many things that never happened, due to the series ending so quickly. The series’ creator, Richard Starzak, hoped to be able to do the following: [5]

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References

  1. "Toonhound - Rex the Runt (1998-2001)". www.toonhound.com. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Rex the Runt". Telepathy. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  3. "Aardman Animations". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  4. "Rex the runt "How dinosaurs became extinct", "Dreams"". Annecy. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Binding, Lee. "REX THE RUNT - THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE". TV Zone. No. Special Edition 35 Century Book. pp. 72–77.
  6. "Animation archive up in smoke". BBC. 10 October 2005. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  7. "BBC Genome". www.genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  8. "BBC - h2g2 - Rex the Runt". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  9. Hood, Duncan (January 1999). "The serious paradox of the successful teen comedy". KidScreen . Archived from the original on 8 October 1999. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  10. "Watch our TV ads". Underdog.
  11. "Video: Behind the scenes of National Accident Helpline Underdog ads with Aardman".

Notes

  1. This episode was supposed to air on BBC Two on December 2, 2001, but it didn't for unknown reasons. This episode was aired on BBC Four in 2005 though.