Charlie Chalk

It's Charlie Chalk! Another classic stop motion cartoon from Ivor Wood!

It tells the story of Charlie Chalk - a jolly clown who, after falling asleep whilst fishing out at sea, ends up on a strange island by the name of Merrytwit. Characters had to be aware of coconuts which constantly fell from the trees on the island.
The pilot episode of the series (entitled 'Shipwrecked Charlie') finds Charlie having just landed on Merrytwit, and after making friends with some of its inhabitants, decides to stay and build a home there. The following episodes follow Charlie and his new friends on various adventures on the island.

Archer's Goon

Hooray it's the weekend! Time for another Saturday Matinee Serial! This week it is Archer's Goon!

Archer's Goon was adapted from the novel by Diana Wynne Jones in 1992.

Howard Sykes comes home from school one day to find a strange man in his kitchen -- a goon (he won't give his real name). He explains that Archer has sent him to pick up two thousand words from Howard's father, and he wont leave until he gets them. 

It transpires that thirteen years ago Howard's father agreed to write two thousand words of nonsense quarterly and give them to Mountjoy, a town official. In return he was promised an exemption from city taxes. The Goon says that the latest two thousand didn't get to Archer. Quentin irritably writes a replacement set and gives them to the Goon, who goes away—but the next afternoon, he is back, as they were a repeat of what had been done previously, and the agreement specified that they must not be a copy or paraphrase of anything he had done before.

So begins a quest involving time travel, magic, wizards, spaceships and all manner of awesome!

Bodger and Badger

Everybody knows, Badger loves... MASHED POTATO!

Bodger and Badger is a children's comedy programme which was first broadcast in 1989. It starred Andy Cunningham as Simon Bodger, who had a badly behaved companion, a talking badger with a love for mashed potatoes.

Series 1 featured Bodger and Badger working in Troff's Nosherama, a run-down café. Bodger worked in the kitchens as a chef. Both Bodger and Badger made friends with the waitress, Mavis. Troff's Nosherama was run by Mr Troff who was very arrogant. Troff had no idea of Badger's presence until the last episode in the series.

Visionaries - Knights of the Magical Light

A big post today, kind of forcing my hand to post more than one video in this post due to an over arcing story, its Visionaries - Knights of the Magical Light!

The story is set on the planet Prysmos, an advanced society where all electronics have failed and the people are forced to rely on the old magics. The Visionaries consist of two groups of knights — the Spectral Knights and the Darkling Lords. They are both called to for a competition by the wizard Merklynn. After surviving traps, dangerous creatures, and each other, the survivors on both sides are rewarded. Everyone of them is given a different animal totem which appears on the front of their armor, which they can turn into. The animals are selected by Merklynn based on their personalities.

I am including the first 3 episodes in this post, as they form one whole storyline, introducing the characters and their powers.

Bod

Today's second post is a short cartoon by the name of Bod. A classic for the older viewers!

The series follows the adventures of Bod and his friends (namely Aunt Flo, PC Copper, Farmer Barleymow and Frank the Postman).

Not a lot to say about this one, so here's a review from Amazon, which sums up Bod way better than I can!

Those who remember the children's animation Bod from the 13 episodes broadcast by the BBC in 1975 generally recall, with considerable precision, not stories but images. This is because the stories that constitute Bod, created by Joanne and Michael Cole, are mere wisps of narrative, in which, almost always, almost nothing happens (in "Bod and the Cake", for example, no cake arrives), serene anti-dramas which are elusive and thus hard to remember as stories. Its images, by contrast, are the heart of its minimalist charm and its unforgettable strangeness, from narrator John Le Mesurier's unvarying announcement, "Here comes Bod", to the moment the unvarying fivefold cast sashay towards the horizon at the end. Bod is small and bald, with a yellow dress and a Buddha-like imperturbability. He and his four eternal companions--Aunt Flo, Farmer Barleymow, Frank the Postman, PC Copper--are animated as sparely as a 60s cartoon from the Eastern bloc. In each episode, the five gather one by one, each arriving to their own characteristic perky jazz-folky theme, in their own characteristic gait (indeed, like a zen riddle, the walk itself is far more important than where they're walking to, or why).

Animaniacs

A later post than usual today, but as it is the first day of the New Year, is it any wonder? Kicking 2014 off in style, I give you an episode of Animaniacs, Warner Brother's collection of it's craziest characters, some of which were so mental, they had to be locked in the Warner Brothers tower. Not that it kept them from escaping regularly and causing total havoc!

Animaniacs featured an ensemble cast of off-the-wall Warner Brothers characters, appearing in a wide variety of roles.
Wakko, Yakko, and Dot Warner, are WB Studio creations who were just too "zany" to be of any use to the studio.
Pinky and the Brain are two mice bent on world domination.
Rita and Runt are a cat and dog team, who get into perilous situations every episode, put always seem to find time to sing a song.
Bobby, Pesto, and Squit are the Goodfeathers, part of a New York mob of pigeons, who worship Martin Scorsese.
Slappy the Squirrel is a late middle-age squirrel; she starred in a series of popular cartoons in the Golden Age.
Buttons is a watch-dog, charged with watching the mischievous toddler, Mindy.
Chicken Boo is a giant chicken trying to integrate into human society.
Flavio and Marita are two urbane hippopotami.

BattleTech!

Today's second post is a fan request. BattleTech! Based upon the popular Role Playing game of the same name, this short series gained a loyal following!

The series takes place in the year 3050 as the Inner Sphere, the central region of settled interstellar space, is suddenly invaded by a powerful human faction identifying itself as the Clans. One of the many planets that falls to the Clan onslaught is a small, mostly unimportant world in the Federated Commonwealth called Somerset.
Far away on the planet Tharkad, Major Adam Steiner, a teacher at the Nagelring Military Academy and native of Somerset, receives word of the attack on his homeworld and the loss of all communication with the forces there, including his brother Andrew. Using his relationship to one of the Federated Commonwealth's ruling family, he gains permission to assemble a force to gather intelligence on the Clans and, if possible, liberate Somerset.

 As this the last post of 2013, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and all the best for 2014!

The Care Bears Movie

It's the 100th post!! So, to celebrate, it's time for a movie! 

Today I bring you The Care Bears Movie!! Settle in people, and don't leave your feelings behind!

In the film, orphanage owners tell a story about the Care Bears, who live in a cloud-filled land called Care-a-lot. Travelling across Earth, the Bears help two lonely children named Kim and Jason find new parents, and also save a young magician's apprentice named Nicholas from an evil spirit's influence. Deep within a place called the Forest of Feelings, Kim, Jason, and their friends soon meet another group of creatures, the Care Bear Cousins.

Enjoy, and here's to the next 100 posts!

Robotech The Movie

More mecha action for you guys now, with Robotech The Movie! 

 

In the year 1999, an alien battle-fortress crashes on an island in the Pacific. Over the next ten years, mankind repairs and refits this fortress, using the advanced "robo-technology" found aboard it to create fighter planes that can transform into giant robots. As soon as the repaired fortress is ready for launch, the aliens to whom it belongs finally discover its location. Thus begins a series of wars that will devastate the Planet Earth.

The series is actually three different series from Japan edited into one show as three different story arcs. The original shows were Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada.

Voltron - Defender of the Universe

Time for a little Mecha action today I think. First up we have Voltron, Defender of the Universe!

Voltron is the name of a giant robot in a series that features a team of space explorers known as the Voltron Force. The space explorers pilot robot lions who join together to form the giant robot with which they defend their galaxy from evil.

Voltron features a team of five young pilots commanding five robot lions which could be combined to form Voltron. In this undefined future era, the Voltron Force was in charge of protecting the planet Arus (ruled by Princess Allura) from the evil King Zarkon (from planet Doom), his son Lotor, and the witch Haggar, who would create huge Robeasts to terrorize the people of Arus.

There's something about combining robots that have always fascinated me. Star Fleet, Voltron, even Transformers. Merging together to make what was once awesome into something epic? Who doesn'r love that??

Superted

Hand's up who thinks they know what Superted's secret magic word was that let him transform? No, me neither! Oh well, at least we can watch the effects of such a closely guarded secret!!

SuperTed is a teddy bear found to be defective in the toy factory where he was made, and "threw him away like a piece of rubbish! Into an old dark storeroom." A Spotty man found him there and brought him to life with his "cosmic dust". He was then taken to Mother Nature and given superpowers that enabled him to fight evil. SuperTed's powers are activated by his "secret magic word", which remains a secret. SuperTed whispers it every time he or someone else is in peril and he transforms into a superhero with Superman-like red suit with rockets built into the boots.
The evil invariably takes the form of Texas Pete and his gang; Bulk and Skeleton. Texas Pete's plots are generally aimed at advancing his own wealth, ruling the world and the power or the destruction of SuperTed, his nemesis.

WizBit

Okay guys, let's take a trip to Puzzleopolis and see Wizbit!

Wizbit is a show in which an alien magician called Wizbit and a large rabbit called Wooly had adventures in a place called Puzzleopolis.
Wizbit was to learn about everyday life on earth by solving puzzles in a town inhabited by walking, talking  sponge-balls, dice, magic wands, playing cards and 7-foot-tall rabbits. The show made an attempt to be semi-educational. The puzzles Wizbit was set were usually presented to the audience at home, with the solutions being revealed towards the end of the episode.
It starred magician Paul Daniels and his assistant (and wife) Debbie McGee.