The Forgotten Toys
The Forgotten Toys is a 1997-1999 British animated comedy television series based on the children's book The Night After Christmas.[1] It was made by Hibbert Ralph Entertainment, featuring the voices of Joanna Lumley and Bob Hoskins. It is a poignant tale of abandoned toys who are searching for children to love them. It aired on CITV in the UK, on ABC in Australia.
| The Forgotten Toys | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Adventure Comedy Fantasy |
| Created by | James Stevenson |
| Directed by | Graham Ralph |
| Voices of | Bob Hoskins Joanna Lumley |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Karen Davidsen |
| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Silver Fox Films Meridian Broadcasting |
| Distributor | Universal Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | CITV |
| Audio format | Dolby Surround |
| Original release | 1997 – 1999 |
Characters
- Teddy (voiced by Bob Hoskins) - An ill-tempered scruffy bear. Sometimes he moans about everything, and whenever he passes or sees green vegetables, he exclaims in disgust: "Sprouts! I hate sprouts!". In the episode called 'Baby', he is forced to eat Brussel Sprouts, but he spits them out in disgust. He also gets into lots of trouble.
- Annie (voiced by Joanna Lumley) - An old rag doll. When she is in charge of Teddy, she usually gets him into trouble. She is often interested in and curious about various things. Teddy often calls her "Pigtails".
- Chauncey (voiced by Clement Freud) - An old, gray stray dog. He only appears in 'The Night After Christmas' and becomes a good friend who gives them a place to stay.
- Keef (voiced by Andrew Sachs) - The thin and tall male burglar of the two. He wears a blue jacket, a flat cap, thin trousers and a red waistcoat. He gets very stern with his wife Kath, and sometimes he gets very moody and bored, Keef is one of the main antagonists of the show.
- Kath (voiced by Kate Sachs) - The fat female burglar. She wears a green coat, a yellow woolly hat, a yellow scarf and pink fingerless gloves. She gets very scared, anxious and nervous about anything to do with her husband Keef. Kath is another of the main antagonists of the show.
Episodes
| No. | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Forgotten Again" | TBA | |
| Annie and Teddy get left behind by their new children on holiday and need to find their own way back home. | |||
| 2 | "Toy Boy" | TBA | |
| Annie becomes infatuated with action figure doll Captain Courage. | |||
| 3 | "Toy Stars" | TBA | |
| In a puppet theatre, Annie becomes a star for the show, but the puppet master Dolby has other ideas. | |||
| 4 | "Toys on Trial" | TBA | |
| Annie and Teddy get caught in the middle of a jewelry robbery. With help from the bloodhound Skip, Annie reveals the burglars Kath and Keef to the police. (NB: this is Kath and Keef's first appearance on the show) | |||
| 5 | "Hospital Toys" | TBA | |
| Annie and Teddy go to hospital where they try to help a sick girl and get Teddy's arm mended. | |||
| 6 | "On the Road" | TBA | |
| Teddy and Annie are used as mascots by a truck driver. They then befriend an angry dog named Spud who is mistreated by his owner. | |||
| 7 | "Blazing Toys" | TBA | |
| Annie and Teddy rescue a little boy's teddy bear from a burning building. | |||
| 8 | "Cowboy Toys" | TBA | |
| Teddy tells the story of his Wild West ancestor Little Big Teddy. | |||
| 9 | "Spy Toys" | TBA | |
| Teddy reveals he was once a secret agent. | |||
| 10 | "New Zoo" | TBA | |
| Annie and Teddy help the animals of a zoo run by a mean keeper. | |||
| 11 | "Chicken" | TBA | |
| In a henhouse, Teddy hatches a chick who thinks he is his mother. | |||
| 12 | "Dolled Up" | TBA | |
| Annie is taken in the house of a girl who likes dolls for fashion and rejects the misfits. | |||
| 13 | "Toy Boy 2" | TBA | |
| Annie meets Captain Courage again and Teddy challenges him. | |||
| 14 | "A Fridge Too Far" | TBA | |
| When Annie and Teddy go inside two neighbouring houses, they find themselves caught in a war between the toys. | |||
| 15 | "Close Encounters of the Toy Kind" | TBA | |
| Teddy and Annie meet a toy Martian. Annie tries to get it back to its owner, while Teddy tries to send it back to Mars. | |||
| 16 | "Magic Teddy" | TBA | |
| Teddy finds a magic wand, but eventually the theatre magician wants it back. Annie summons help before the magic gets out of hand. | |||
| 17 | "Teddy in love" | TBA | |
| Teddy develops a crush on a ballerina toy, but fails to try and woo her. Teddy and Annie have to save her from Keef and Kath. | |||
| 18 | "Toy Swap" | TBA | |
| Teddy swaps places with a posh teddy bear, but they eventually find their new places don't suit them. | |||
| 19 | "Cast Away Toys" | TBA | |
| Annie and Teddy get stranded on an island. They meet a doll named Friday, thwart Keef and Kath's egg poaching and find a way back to the mainland. | |||
| 20 | "Circus Toys" | TBA | |
| After watching a circus show, Annie gets taken by an escaped gorilla. Teddy helped by the mouse Mr. Big rescue her and the gorilla. | |||
| 21 | "Baby" | TBA | |
| Teddy is taken for a baby toy. After Teddy has to stay with the baby, Annie finally finds the baby's lost teddy Humphrey. | |||
| 22 | "Dog Day" | TBA | |
| At the dockyard, Annie and Teddy befriend a lonesome dog and try to train him to be suited for a new owner. | |||
| 23 | "Trouble in Store" | TBA | |
| Annie and Teddy explore a shopping centre to get a ribbon for Annie's hair. Annie then has to save Teddy from a Sprouts advertisement. | |||
| 24 | "Not Fair" | TBA | |
| At a fair, Annie and Teddy try to keep a puppy out of trouble and bring him back to his owners. | |||
| 25 | "Toys That Go Bump in the Night" | TBA | |
| Annie and Teddy take shelter in a church and befriend an owl who lives there. But Keef and Kath break in to steal two candlesticks. | |||
| 26 | "Bath Toys" | TBA | |
| After getting dirty, Teddy and Annie go and get washed in a house that is marked for demolition. They rescue the bath toys and find them a new owner. | |||
History
"The Forgotten Toys" was first shown in December 26, 1995, and was repeated on Tiny Living, a TV channel that screened children's television programmes in the early morning. Numerous videos were released in or around 1995 and 1996 and a couple of DVDs followed in 2002. "The Forgotten Toys" has now been long considered dissolved, though 'the end' of the series was never officially announced. The Christmas special aired on Freeform in the United States in 1998.
Critical reception and awards
"The Forgotten Toys" received many awards. 3 were won for 'Best Short Film', 2 for 'Best Animated Film' and 1 for Best Children's Film 1996 and Children's Jury Prize, 1997. The majority of the critics reviewed the story from a children's point of view which meant that all of the comments were positive. 'The Telegraph' stated that it was, "An enchanting festive tale for children". The Daily Mail said that it was, "A real tear-jerker... Full of twists and turns, dramatic moments, and a great sausage stealing sequence". Other reviews were more or less the same, in that they were all positive (as mentioned before).
References
- Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 109. ISBN 9781476672939.