Charlie and Lola
"I have this little sister Lola. She is small and very funny."
Charlie and Lola is a series of books by Lauren Child, later adapted into a cartoon. The original book was published in 2000. The stories focus on Lola and her older brother Charlie as well as their friends. Lola is an energetic, imaginative and random little girl; Charlie is a patient and kind older brother who has his work cut out (but is always willing) to help Lola learn and grow.
The TV show was seen on The BBC's CBeebies and on Playhouse Disney in the United States. The program was dropped from Playhouse Disney sometime before it became Disney Junior, but repeats were picked up for the 24/7 Disney Junior network. A number of DVD volumes were released. There was an album with music from the television show as well, though it was only released in the U.K. Neither the books nor the television show are currently in production, as far as new material goes.
- Adorkable - Lola Sonner, an annoying and eccentric but unfailingly adorable little twerp.
- Annoying Younger Sibling - Lola fits this trope sometimes, but Charlie is often patient and understanding with her.
- Morton, Marv's little brother.
- Black Best Friend - Lola's best friend Lotta.
- Bratty Half-Pint - Again, Lola.
- Captain Ersatz - Bat Cat, a character from Charlie and Lola's favorite comic.
- Children Are Innocent - No matter how many times Lola messes things up, Charlie forgives her.
- Death by Newbery Medal - "I Will Not Ever Never Forget You Nibbles" deals with Charlie helping Lola come to terms with the death of her pet mouse, Nibbles.
- Fear of Thunder - Lola has this.
- Full-Body Disguise - In "But I Am An Alligator", Lola wears, for a majority of the episode, a large, dark green alligator costume which covers her entire body, with the exception of her arms and legs. This embarrasses Charlie, as she wears it in public, and the size of the costume makes it difficult for Lola to perform basic tasks such as tying her shoelaces.
- Green Aesop - In "Look After Your Planet".
- Hilarity Ensues - Often as a result of Lola's actions.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming - The majority of the episode titles are essentially statements from Lola, often in a humorously protracted fashion. Examples include "I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato", "We Do Promise Honestly We Can Look After Your Dog" and "I Do Not Ever, Never Want My Wobbly Tooth to Fall Out".
- Imaginary Friend - Lola has this in Soren Lorenson, a character who is actually her conscience.
- Medium Awareness - In the Christmas Episode, the holiday grinds to a halt because Santa's elves have run out of paper to wrap the presents. As Charlie and Lola head home depressed, Lola notices that the starry sky is made of wrapping paper (see Stylistic Suck), and they tear it off and give it to the elves, thus Saving Christmas.
- The Other Darrin - Charlie and Lola have both had three different voice actors respectively, probably because they are all voiced by actual children.
- Recursive Adaptation: A number of books based on stories from the television show were released, with illustrations in the show's style.
- Stock Yuck - "I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato".
- Stylistic Suck - The characters characters are depicted as childish drawings and the backgrounds are paper collages, giving the series a unique visual style.
- There Are No Adults - While Charlie and Lola have parents and teachers, they are never seen and are always off-camera.
- Trademark Favorite Food - Lola loves pink (strawberry) milk.
- Write Who You Know - Lola is based off an inquisitive young girl that author Lauren Child met on a train.
- Your Tomcat Is Pregnant - In one episode, Lola brings home the class guinea pig, who is called Bert. Lola insists that Bert is a female guinea pig, even though everyone else insists it's male. At the end of the story, Bert has guinea piglets.