The Shoe People is an animated

Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

 television series which was first broadcast in the UK in April 1987 on TV-am

TV-am

TV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast to the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 to 31 December 1992. It made history by being the first national operator of a commercial television franchise at breakfast-time , and broadcast every day of the week for most or all of the period...

. The Shoe People went on to be broadcast in 62 countries around the world.

It was the first series from the West to be shown in the former Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 and became so popular there that they sold over 25 million Shoe People books.

The Shoe People was created by James Driscoll, who got the inspiration for the show from noticing that the style and appearance of peoples shoes told you about their owners personalities. He then wondered what stories these shoes could tell about themselves when they were new and had gradually worn out.

The theme song for The Shoe People was written and sung by Justin Hayward

Justin Hayward

Justin Hayward is an English musician, best known as singer, songwriter and guitarist in the rock band The Moody Blues.Hayward was born in Dean Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, England...

 of The Moody Blues

The Moody Blues

The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....

.

The story

In a Shoe Repairs Shop, not too far away. The Shoe Mender tries to repair all the shoes he gets, but sometimes he cannot repair them all. But he does not throw away these shoes, he puts them in the back room of the shop.

These join the other shoes and boots he could not bear to throw away and the ones where their owners never came back for them but this room has a secret. Every night when the Shoe Mender locks up the shop, he makes sure the back room door is shut. This door does not shut very easily and when he slams it shut, the strangest thing happens. A large cloud of dust from the room fills the air and when it settles, the Shoes come to life and the back wall disappears and Shoe Town appears.

Just below Toecap Hill is Shoe Town, where all the Shoes and Boots live.

The characters were voiced by Philip Whitchurch

Philip Whitchurch

Philip Whitchurch is a British stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for playing Chief Inspector Philip Cato in The Bill from 1993 to 1995...

 and Jo Wyatt

Jo Wyatt

Jo Wyatt is an English voice actress known for her voice as Little Miss Helpful, Little Miss Naughty, Little Miss Scary and Little Miss Sunshine in The Mr. Men Show. She also voiced Daisy Kribotnik in Love Soup, a woman in bar in Extras, Natella in Bromwell High and a character in Guess with Jess...

.

The characters

• P.C. Boot - He is the policeman of Shoe Town and lives in 'Shoe Street Police Station'. Like any good policeman, he is dedicated to his duty of maintaining law and order. He is very formal and likes to over-explain things, to the annoyance of others. He talks with a little bit of a lisp.
• Charlie - On the corner of Shoe Street lives Charlie, a clown
  Clown
  Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
  
  . He lives in a circus tent called 'The Little Big Top'. He likes to perform magic tricks and juggling
  Juggling
  Juggling is a skill involving moving objects for entertainment or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, in which the juggler throws objects up to catch and toss up again. This may be one object or many objects, at the same time with one or many hands. Jugglers often refer...
  
  , but best of all, he likes to make people laugh. The Shoe People have to be careful when talking to him, as he either pulls a face, or squirts water at them through his fake flower. He seems to have lots of unusual ideas that are useful for helping others in Shoe Town.
• Trampy - He is a worn out Irish boot that has a hole in its toecap and he is a bit scruffy. He lives next door to Charlie in a house, with a crooked chimney, called 'Tumbledown House', which has not been painted or maintained in years and the garden is overgrown. He loves to relax and enjoy his natural garden and likes to keep the peace between the other inhabitants of Shoe Town. He likes to go on walks in the country with Margot and Baby Bootee and tell them stories. Plus he likes his friends from the countryside to come for tea. He has had a soft spot for Margot, ever since he laid eyes on her. It has been speculated that Trampy - being Irish and dishevelled - is actually a gypsy or pikey
  Pikey
  Pikey is a pejorative slang term used mainly in the United Kingdom to refer to Irish Travellers, gypsies or people of low social class. Pikey is also sometimes called a piker in the United States, but a piker in Australia and New Zealand means someone who refuses to do something within a...
  
   who has left his travelling roots behind.
• Sergeant Major - He lives in 'Drill Hall' and still thinks he is in the army
  Army
  An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
  
  ; he was in the Foot Regiment. He likes everything to be neat and tidy and shouts a lot. The grass in his garden is mown in perfect lines, he even measures the width of them, and all the plants stand to attention. The trouble is, he lives next door to Trampy, and gets very cross when he sees the overgrown garden next door, and crosser when it grows into his garden. At least once a day he complains to Trampy about it. He keeps calling Charlie, "Stupid Clown", but he always comes to watch his circus act. He hates being called Sarge. Despite his grumpy, bossy manner, he does have a soft side which he rarely shows.
• Margot - She is a ballerina who lives in 'Swan Lake Cottage' and she loves to dance. She looks after Baby Bootee. When she first arrived at the Shoe Repair Shop, she had a big tear in her side and she thought she would never dance again. Luckily for her the Shoe Repairer had other ideas and he fixed her. She was then put back into the window of the shop to wait for the little girl who brought her in, to collect her, but she never came back. Now she has a new life in Shoe Town and she loves to put on shows for everyone.
• Wellington - He loves being wet and lives in 'Puddle Villa'. He loves water so much that he has drilled holes in the guttering of his house and stands underneath it when it rains. He hates being called a Welly.
• Baby Bootee - She is looked after by Margot at 'Swan Lake Cottage'. She does not do much else, apart from loving the Teddy that Charlie won for her at the fair.
• Sneaker - He likes to sneak around and he takes things without asking people, hence why he looks like a burglar and talks a sneaky tone of voice (which may sound a little like Michael Caine
  Michael Caine
  Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
  
  ). He also likes to do odd jobs for people. If you look closely, there is a wanted poster of him on the outside of 'Shoe Street Police Station'. He has his own yard.
• Gilda Van Der Clog - She is a Dutch clog
  Clog (shoe)
  A clog is a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood.The Oxford English Dictionary defines a clog as a "thick piece of wood", and later as a "wooden soled overshoe" and a "shoe with a thick wooden sole"....
  
   who lives in a windmill
  Windmill
  A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
  
   and needed Charlie and P.C. Boot's help to remove the nest from her windmill sails, and then made a picnic for all the shoes after their mystery tour.
• Flip Flop - a flip-flop that went to the seaside with Trampy, Sergant Major, Baby Bootee and Charlie. When she got swept away by the tide, Charlie (with his shoelace) and Trampy pulled her to safety on the rocks.
• Mr Potter - the station master of The Shoe Town Railway Station who rang up P.C. Boot to warn him about a tree fallen along the railway tracks and nearly cancelled the trip before cheeky Charlie bought an elephant called Bertha to help remove the tree.
• Sid Slipper - the elderly slipper who sometimes went to the park with The Shoe People like on that day when Baby Bootee crawls off to the flying kites whilst he was snoozing away under a tree and Margot was getting ice cream
  Ice cream
  Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
  
  .
• Marshall a cowboy who loves country and western music, loves Wild West films and does a safekeeping around Shoetown.

New Characters

• Beverley - She comes all the way from LA to Shoetown that she is a American beauty. Beverley likes cheerleading and wears a georgous ponytail in her hair and earrings.
• Bebop and Alula - The 1950's couple who loves to dance to rock 'n' roll music. Bebop has his hair likes Elvis Presley
  Elvis Presley
  Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
  
   and Alula has her hair up in a ponytail. They are a bit like Danny and Sandy from a musical Grease
  Grease
  Grease may refer to:* Grease , a type of industrial lubricant* Yellow grease, in rendering, used frying oils, or lower-quality grades of tallow...
  
  .
• Morris - Morris is a miner who works in the underground in Shoetown. He loves digging and he even has a light on his hard hat.
• Toby - He is the world's best actor and loves theatrical stuff. He always has a good personality about performs works of Shakespere.
• Dr. Merryweather - He's a doctor in Shoetown who takes care of the residents in Shoetown and make them feel better.
• Sacha - a Russian boot comes all the way from Russia.
• Farmer Fred - a farmer who works on the farm.
• Coach He likes sport like baseball.
• Officer Malone - a cop from New York City and works with P.C. Boot.
• The Boot Boys - The Boot Boys are Spike the leader, Ace the silly one and Rowdy the dopey one. They loves to cause trouble in Shoetown and they are up to no good.

Episodes

Only 26 episodes were broadcast on TV-am as part of its 'Wide Awake Club' from April 1987.

#	Title	Summary
1	Can You Keep a Secret	The introduction of the Shoe People and Their places in their world of Shoe Town
2	Sergeant Major	We are introduced to Sergeant Major, his penchant for smartness and drill practice, and his trouble with his neighbour, Trampy.
3	A Day at the Seaside	Some of the Shoe People take a trip to the seaside, but Flip Flop gets washed out to sea and Charlie and Trampy must rescue her.
4	Trampy	We are introduced to the kindly and generous Trampy, and his untidy lifestyle.
5	Trampy's Birthday Surprise
6	Margot	Margot, the ballerina at Swan Lake Cottage, is fully introduced, and performs a garden ballet for her friends.
7	Charlie	We are introduced to Charlie the clown, who lives at the Little Big Top. It also turns out that Sergeant Major wants a word with Charlie - has Charlie squirted him with his flower once too often?
8	A Rainy Day Problem
9	Tea at the Little Big Top
10	Fun and Games in the Park
11	Charlie's Car
12	P.C. Boot to the Rescue
13	Trampy's Dream
14	The Fair Comes to Shoetown
15	Delay at Shoetown Railway Station	A tree falls across the track at the railway station, and Mr Potter, the station master, calls on the help of PC Boot and Sergeant Major. In the end, however, it is Charlie who comes up with the right solution.
16	Sneaker
17	The Windmill Has Stopped
18	A Job for Wellington
19	Margot's Mirror
20	The Missing Jumble
21	The Paper Chase
22	Where's Baby Bootee
23	Trampy Mows the Lawn
24	The Great Sledge Race
25	The Mystery Tour
26	Our Very Own Circus

VHS Releases

Since their broadcasts on TV-am in 1987, Tempo Video (with it's 'Children's Stories' range of cartoon shows on video and distributed by M.S.D Video Ltd) released 24 of the 26 episodes on video, except for The Mystery Tour and Our Very Own Circus which went on a 30 minute video in 1988 (Cat No.V8805) with Sgt Major, Margot, Sneaker and Trampy's Dream

VHS video title	Year of release	Episodes
The Shoe People (V9026)	1987	Can You Keep A Secret, Sergeant Major, A Day at the Seaside, Trampy, Trampy Mows the Lawn, Margot, Charlie, A Rainy Day Problem
The Shoe People- P.C. Boot to the Rescue (V9061)	1988	Tea at the Little Big Top, Fun and Games in the Park, Charlie's New Car, P.C. Boot to the Rescue, Trampy's Dream, The Fair Comes To Shoe Town, Delay at Shoe Town Railway Station, Sneaker
The Shoe People- Shoe Town Stories (V9114)	1988	The Windmill Has Stopped, A Job for Wellington, Margot's Mirror, The Missing Jumble, The Paper Chase, Where's Baby Bootee?, The Great Sledge Race, Trampy Mows the Lawn

Between 1989 and 1990 W.m. Collins Sons and Co.Ltd released a couple of special edition videos

VHS video title	Year of release	Episodes
The Best of The Shoe People (92562)	1989	Charlie's Car, Trampy's Dream, The Fair Comes to Shoe Town, Delay at Shoe Town Railway Station, Sneaker, Can You Keep A Secret, A Day At the Seaside, Margot, A Rainy Day Problem, Where's Baby Bootee?, The Great Sledge Race, Trampy Mows the Lawn
The Shoe People Bumper Video (94012)	1990	The Mystery Tour, Sneaker, Trampy Mows the Lawn, Margot's Mirror, Trampy's Birthday Surprise, Trampy's Dream, Sergeant Major, The Windmill Has Stopped, A Day at the Seaside, Charlie's Car, The Missing Jumble, Our Very Own Circus, Where's Baby Bootee?