Penny Crayon

Penny Crayon is an animated children's television series that tells the adventures of a very intellectual and well-meaning (but occasionally mischievous) schoolgirl who loves to draw, and her escapades accompanied by her best friend Dennis. Using the magic crayons she always carries with her she brings everything she draws to life, to aid them on their adventures or to get them out of tricky situations, and usually creating a world of chaos until it's either rubbed out or washed away.

Penny Crayon
Penny Crayon title screen
Created byPeter Maddocks
Voices ofSu Pollard
Peter Hawkins
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes12[1] [2]
Production
Executive producer(s)Maddocks Animation
Parkfield Publishing
Running time10 mins
Release
Original networkBBC1
YTV
TV2
BBC Kids
BFBS
SSVC Television
Original release14 September 1989 –
1 October 1990
Chronology
Related shows

The origins of Penny's crayons was never explained or hinted at in the series; however series creator Peter Maddocks released a prequel story, along with an adaptation of the episode 'Dickens of a Mess', in digital format in 2012, which told the story of how Penny came to have her magic crayons.[3]

Characters
  • Penny Crayon is a highly intelligent and resourceful schoolgirl, with a Northern accent and who loves drawing. She has magic crayons and pencils that can draw on any surface including brick walls, cave interiors and even the inside of a whale's mouth. She is voiced by comedy actress Su Pollard, whose face Penny visually resembles.
  • Dennis Pillbeam (his surname is never given on-screen but is mentioned in literature accompanying the series) is Penny's best friend, an excitable, good-natured simple boy who can often to be heard praising Penny's cleverness or bravery. The only other regular character in the series, he is voiced by Peter Hawkins, who had also done voice-work for Maddocks Animation's previous television series.

Pollard and Hawkins voice all other characters. Several episodes feature Cousin Tara (also voiced by Pollard), Penny's nemesis who owns a magic rubber that can erase Penny's drawings.

Origin and production

Penny Crayon was produced for the BBC in the United Kingdom and YTV in Canada. first broadcast weekly as part of Children's BBC on BBC One from 14 September 1989. It was made by Maddocks Animation, which had previously produced Jimbo and the Jet-Set and The Family-Ness, and utilized much of the same production staff, as well as featuring the vocal talents of Peter Hawkins in all three series.

Twelve episodes were produced in a single production run, although spread across two separate broadcast runs in 1989 and 1990 respectively.[4] The series was subsequently repeated a number of times, airing into the early 2000s and was also later repeated on GMTV2 with Bertha.

Penny Crayon had first appeared read as a story in an early episode of Playdays (broadcast at that time under its original title of Playbus, and before the show's rotation of stories featuring recurring characters had fully set in place).[5] In that story, not animated but read out over static images drawn by Peter Maddocks, when a school trip to the zoo is rained off, Penny tries to entertain her disappointed classmates stuck inside school by drawing zoo animals on the walls of the school hall (including a Tyrannosaurus Rex), which come to life and cause havoc around the school. When she and Dennis can't catch them to erase them, she eventually draws a huge cage to put them all in, thus allowing her to rub them out. This early version of Penny had darker hair - she was given blonde hair in the following series to match that of Su Pollard, and both her and Dennis' appearance was modified for the subsequent series. One of Dennis' lines ("Mum will be furious when we get home and she hears about this!") suggests that Penny and Dennis might be siblings, though this was never mentioned in the series. The story was one of several submitted by independent writers for the new daily series, and although a selection of rotating story characters was soon picked for Playbus, it was well-enough received that then-Head of Children's Programmes Anna Home recommended that Hawkins might develop it as a series.

Due to the original Penny Crayon story appearing on Playbus, some episode guides to the series erroneously list thirteen episodes.

Episodes
  1. Tower of London (14 September 1989)
  2. The Cookery Class (21 September 1989)
  3. Circus Lion (28 September 1989)
  4. Amusement Park (5 October 1989)
  5. Waxworks Museum (12 October 1989)
  6. Pantomime (19 October 1989)
  7. Haunted House (26 October 1989)
  8. Silly Daydream (9 November 1989)
  9. Camping Holiday (10 September 1990)
  10. Treasure Hunt (17 September 1990)
  11. A Dickens of A Mess (24 September 1990)
  12. Dog Show (1 October 1990)

Note: Circus Lion was the first episode produced; and shares some story elements of the original Penny Crayon story read on Playbus.

VHS releases

In 1989 Parkfield Publishing released two videos from the first Penny Crayon series.

VHS video title Year of release Episodes
Penny Crayon: Volume 1 (MKC 0001) 1989 The Circus Lion, Waxworks Museum, Cookery Class, Pantomime,
Penny Crayon: Volume 2 (MKC 0002) 1989 Tower of London, Amusement Park, Camping Holiday, Treasure Hunt

In 1992, Tring Video UK released three Penny Crayon videos with four episodes on each tape.

VHS video title Year of release Episodes
The Adventures of Penny Crayon: Camping Holiday 1992 Camping Holiday,
The Adventures of Penny Crayon: Dog Show 1992 Dog Show, A Dickens of a Mess, Pantomime, Tower of London
The Adventures of Penny Crayon: Treasure Hunt 1992 Treasure Hunt, Amusement Park, Circus Lion, Silly Daydream

In 1994, Carlton Home Entertainment released a single video with only four episodes.

VHS video title Year of release Episodes
Penny Crayon: As Seen on TV (30073401430) 1994 Camping Holiday, Waxworks Museum, Haunted House, and The Cookery Class

Several book adaptations and a 1990 annual annual were also released.

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References
  1. "Toonhound website listing". February 2020.
  2. "Classic Kids Tv website listing". February 2020.
  3. "Amazon.co.uk - 'Penny Crayon (the Prequel...)'". February 2020.
  4. "Toonhound broadcast dates of episodes". February 2020.
  5. "BBC One London, 24 October 1988". February 2020.
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