Stoppit and Tidyup
Encyclopedia
Stoppit and Tidyup was a British
children's
animated cartoon
series originally broadcast by the BBC
in 1987. The series was created by Charles Mills and Terry Brain, the duo behind CMTB Animation who had previously created a claymation called The Trap Door
. Apart from the main characters Stoppit, a red ball of fluff, and Tidyup, a gherkin-loving purple lump, the supporting characters included Comb Your Hair, Wash Your Face, Hurry Up, Go and Play and his favorite toy, poor little Calm Down, nasty little Not Now, the two bees (Beehave and Beequiet), sleepy old Go to Bed, Don't Do That, Take Care, Eat Your Greens, Clean Your Teeth and the big, bad I Said No, not to mention Say Please And Say Thank You. There were also extra characters called Naughties and Sit Downs, and they all lived in the mythical land of Do As You're Told. Each episode was five minutes in length. The series was part funded by The Tidy Britain Group, a Wigan
-based organisation whose aim was to reduce the amount of unsolicited rubbish in and around the United Kingdom
.
who has since had independent success via Aardman Animations
, animating Wallace and Gromit
's nemesis Feathers McGraw and directing BAFTA-winning short Stage Fright. Both he and Terry Brain were key animators on Aardman's Chicken Run
feature.
The show follows the exploits of the frequently immature Stoppit and the hard done-by Tidyup in their native land, filled with giant gherkins. None of the characters actually speak decipherable words as such. Instead they gabble, grunt, squeak and hum whilst series narrator Terry Wogan
unravels the tale for viewers. (There is one character who does not have an episode named after him — Not Now, who is I Said No's pet.)
The storylines are notable for their random, abstract nature, and the fact that frequently an episode will end without any moral message at all. For example, in the twelfth episode "Clean Your Teeth", snow falls in the middle of summer, and Stoppit is left behind on his own while Tidyup and Clean Your Teeth play on sledges at the end, even though he loves the snow.
There were also twelve tie-in books published by Price Stern Sloan
Ltd, and an illustrated annual
was released in 1987. All the 13 episodes were released on VHS
by the BBC (Cat No. BBCV 4207) in that same year, but this is now out of print. All 13 episodes were released on DVD
by Rights Entertainment in 2004.
A new series is currently in development which will be released in 2011. Nothing else is known at this time.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
children's
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...
animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
series originally broadcast by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 1987. The series was created by Charles Mills and Terry Brain, the duo behind CMTB Animation who had previously created a claymation called The Trap Door
The Trap Door
The Trap Door was a claymation-style animated television series, originally shown in the United Kingdom in 1984. The plot revolves around both the daily lives and the misadventures of a group of monsters living in a castle...
. Apart from the main characters Stoppit, a red ball of fluff, and Tidyup, a gherkin-loving purple lump, the supporting characters included Comb Your Hair, Wash Your Face, Hurry Up, Go and Play and his favorite toy, poor little Calm Down, nasty little Not Now, the two bees (Beehave and Beequiet), sleepy old Go to Bed, Don't Do That, Take Care, Eat Your Greens, Clean Your Teeth and the big, bad I Said No, not to mention Say Please And Say Thank You. There were also extra characters called Naughties and Sit Downs, and they all lived in the mythical land of Do As You're Told. Each episode was five minutes in length. The series was part funded by The Tidy Britain Group, a Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
-based organisation whose aim was to reduce the amount of unsolicited rubbish in and around the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
General information
The short running series is about cartoon characters who live in the land of Do As You're Told, which is a strange and colourful place whose inhabitants are named after all those little chastising phrases, comments, commands and demands directed at children by their overbearing parents. The episodes in which these characters appear in are named after their character; only one series of thirteen episodes was produced. Stoppit, Tidyup and friends were cel-animated, but the design of the show suggested it may have worked better as a 3D stop-motion production, like its predecessor. The third hand in CMTB Animation was animator Steve BoxSteve Box
Steve Box is an English animator and director who works for Aardman Animations.His early work in animation included the popular British claymation television series The Trap Door for Bristol-based animation studio CMTB Animation.Box joined Aardman Animations in 1990. He directed the video for the...
who has since had independent success via Aardman Animations
Aardman Animations
Aardman Animations, Ltd., also known as Aardman Studios, or simply as Aardman, is a British animation studio based in Bristol, United Kingdom. The studio is known for films made using stop-motion clay animation techniques, particularly those featuring Plasticine characters Wallace and Gromit...
, animating Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit are the main characters in a series consisting of four British animated short films and a feature-length film by Nick Park of Aardman Animations...
's nemesis Feathers McGraw and directing BAFTA-winning short Stage Fright. Both he and Terry Brain were key animators on Aardman's Chicken Run
Chicken Run
Chicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animation film made by the Aardman Animations studios, the production studio of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit films...
feature.
The show follows the exploits of the frequently immature Stoppit and the hard done-by Tidyup in their native land, filled with giant gherkins. None of the characters actually speak decipherable words as such. Instead they gabble, grunt, squeak and hum whilst series narrator Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
unravels the tale for viewers. (There is one character who does not have an episode named after him — Not Now, who is I Said No's pet.)
The storylines are notable for their random, abstract nature, and the fact that frequently an episode will end without any moral message at all. For example, in the twelfth episode "Clean Your Teeth", snow falls in the middle of summer, and Stoppit is left behind on his own while Tidyup and Clean Your Teeth play on sledges at the end, even though he loves the snow.
There were also twelve tie-in books published by Price Stern Sloan
Price Stern Sloan
Price Stern Sloan or PSS! is a publisher that was founded in Los Angeles in the early 1960s to publish the Mad Libs that Roger Price and Leonard Stern had concocted during their stint as writers for Steve Allen's Tonight Show and also the Droodles...
Ltd, and an illustrated annual
Annual publication
An annual publication, more often called simply an annual, is a book or a magazine, comic book or comic strip published yearly. For example, a weekly or monthly publication may produce an Annual featuring similar materials to the regular publication....
was released in 1987. All the 13 episodes were released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
by the BBC (Cat No. BBCV 4207) in that same year, but this is now out of print. All 13 episodes were released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
by Rights Entertainment in 2004.
A new series is currently in development which will be released in 2011. Nothing else is known at this time.
Episode list
| # | Title | Air Date | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beequiet and Beehave | 12th September 1988 | Tidyup accidentally loses the roof of his house. |
| 2 | Eat Your Greens | 19th September 1988 | Eat Your Greens loves eating flowers and gherkins! |
| 3 | Comb Your Hair | 26th September 1988 | Stoppit and Tidyup head for their favourite picnic spot — and what better way to get there than riding on Comb Your Hair. |
| 4 | Wash Your Face | 3rd October 1988 | It's a rainy old day in the land of Do As You're Told, and Stoppit and Tidyup have forgotten who comes out after it rains... |
| 5 | Go And Play | 10th October 1988 | Go And Play decides to do something exciting, and rounds up everybody in the land for a great game of football... |
| 6 | I Said No | 17th October 1988 | It's the Day of the Great Gherkin Feast and everybody is out collecting gherkins. |
| 7 | Hurry Up | 24th October 1988 | When Tidyup catches Naughtypox, Stoppit and Hurry Up have to race to the valley of the Sit Downs to find a cure. |
| 8 | Calm Down | 31st October 1988 | It's a windy day in the land of Do As You're Told and Calm Down is being blown about all over the place, until Tidyup has one of his famous bright ideas...! |
| 9 | Don't Do That | 7th November 1988 | There's something nasty in Tidyup's garden, and it's making rude noises! It's Don't Do That! Whenever Don't Do That is around, that means trouble. |
| 10 | Go To Bed | 14th November 1988 | Go To Bed just can't stay awake. But today he can't find anywhere to sleep without being disturbed — or can he? |
| 11 | Say Please And Say Thank You | 21st November 1988 | Tidyup meets Say Please And Say Thank You at the bottom of a hole. |
| 12 | Clean Your Teeth | 28th November 1988 | Tidyup likes Clean Your Teeth because he can do clever things — but Stoppit thinks he's just a big show off! |
| 13 | Take Care | 5th December 1988 | It's Birthday Day in the land of Do As You're Told, and Take Care has the job of delivering the presents — but unfortunately he mixes them all up! |
Credits
- Narrated by: Terry Wogan
- Series Devised by: Charles Mills, Terry Brain
- Written and Directed by: Charles Mills, Terry Brain, Steve Box
- Animation: Charles Mills, Terry Brain, Steve Box
- Editing: Robert Copeland
- Dubbing: Glentham Studios
- Produced by: John Howson
- Copyright owned by: © CMTB Animation/Queensgate Productions 1987
See also
- The Trap DoorThe Trap DoorThe Trap Door was a claymation-style animated television series, originally shown in the United Kingdom in 1984. The plot revolves around both the daily lives and the misadventures of a group of monsters living in a castle...
(also created by Charles Mills and Terry Brain) - Jimminy Lummox (also created by Dwight SchultzDwight SchultzWilliam Dwight Schultz is an American stage, television, film actor, and voice artist. He is best known for his roles as Captain "Howling Mad" Murdock on the 1980s action show The A-Team, and as Reginald Barclay in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and the film Star Trek: First...
)