Noddy's Toyland Adventures / YMMV

Adaptation Displacement: People know about the books, but tend to forget Noddy was on TV well before the 90s rolled around. Need proof? Here is the Title Sequence for a Noddy programme in 1975, and here is the full episode from The Further Adventures of Noddy c. 1983. Even further back is "The Adventures of Noddy" which ran from 1955 till 1963 and the first TV series starring the titular character.
Awesome Music:
- The Toyland Adventures Christmas Special has two beautifully written songs both sung by Noddy. The first "Hello Father Christmas" which Noddy sings to Father Christmas after meeting him for the first time. Big Ears, Tessie, and Dinah Doll later join in on Noddy's song. The last is "Don't Let Christmas End This Winter" sung by Noddy and the citizens of Toytown (including Sly and Gobbo). Special mention goes to Susan Sheridan's beautiful performance for both songs since she is rarely heard singing in some of her voice roles.
- The 2009 musical "Oui-Oui et le cadeau Surprise" has some notably catchy tunes. Most notably the song "Prêts prêts", "En voyage", "Ton gâteau préféré","La vraie chanson des faux amis", and "Encore une bougie" (which was remixed for "Freeze Freeze").
- The 70s series has a very catchy jaunty title theme alongside the end credits theme.
- Some of the Leitmotifs in Make Way For Noddy are pretty catchy, in particular the calm ambient track playing during many shots of Toytown, and Tessie's adorable piano theme.
Bizarro Episode: Make Way For Noddy has a few of these due to sometimes focusing on the wackier supporting characters: One episode had Mr. Plod shrink into a size of a mouse. Another episode has Clockwork Mouse turn into a giant even bigger then his friend Mister Jumbo. Then we have cases like Mr Wobblyman trying to play soccer or lie down, or the Goblins using a spell that forces everyone to Riverdance when music plays.
Can't Un-Hear It:
- For a lot of people, late english actress Susan Sheridan will always be the definitive voice of Noddy, Tessie Bear, and the other female (and male) characters. So it's very easy to hear her voice for a majority of the character dialogue. To a lesser extent, Jimmy Hibbert (Big Ears, Mr. Plod, Master Tubby Bear, etc) who's also the narrator for Toyland Adventures. When Noddy In Toyland debuted in 2009, Noddy's new voice actress (Teresa Gallagher) actually took cues from Susan Sheridan because of how recognizable her performance was.
- Older generations from the UK will usually picture Denis Bryer as the default voice of Noddy. Since she used to voice Noddy regularly in British commericals and audio adaptations (such as "Her Master's Voice") between 1955 till 1969.
- Due to the franchise's massive popularity in France, a lot of french viewers will easily hear Brigitte Lecordie's performance as Noddy when reading the original books
Contested Sequel: The CGI cartoons tend to be popular with the pre-school market but not with fans of the more family-focused original books and cartoons:
- Make Way For Noddy is relatively more loyal, gives limelight to fan favourites, and played heavily into Noddy's international popularity, though is still often considered inferior by fans of the original books and stop motion series, due to the more saccharine plots, and weaker CGI and voice acting (especially the original UK version, while the US/Canadian re-dub had some decent and improved voice acting).
- Noddy, Toyland Detective and Noddy In Toyland (save for France where the latter was popular to the point of receiving two French exclusive musicals) are not popular among longtime Noddy fans due to the excess cast switch ups^note, the retools of even the remaining originals^note, and storylines^note. They are generally agreed to have more polished animation and voice acting than Make Way For Noddy however.
Cult Classic: The 1975 stop-motion series is rather obscure compared to the modern Noddy cartoons (with some episodes seemingly lost). However it has a fanbase for loyally adapting the original books, the jaunty theme tune, Richard Briers' narration and voice work, and adding a slightly more gruff and sarcastic side to the Noddy universe.
Even Better Sequel: Toyland Adventures is commonly considered this to the 70s stop motion series (which was produced by the same people). Though the latter has its fans, it's become pretty obscure, while Toyland Adventures has remained popular for its more polished animation, and expanding on the material with new stories and characters while still feeling true to the innocent charm of the novels (while also lacking the dumbed down demographic of the later CGI cartoons), to the point that revised versions of the books even incorporate elements of Toyland Adventures. Notably Martha Monkey who was originally created for Toyland Adventures but managed to appear in the book "Noddy Goes To School". Make Way For Noddy and Noddy In Toyland also continued using some of the same characters and art style from Toyland Adventures.
Evil Is Cool: Most of the characters get their edges sanded off in the more pre-school orientated CGI cartoons. While the same is true for Sly and Gobbo, in their case it's mostly in the way of making them more Laughably Evil and sympathetic in spite of still being Card Carrying Villains, meaning they're usually the most fun to watch characters.
Ethnic Scrappy: The Golliwogs (including Mr. Golly) aren't that well-liked by modern audiences. Even Enid Blyton's own daughters and granddaughter aren't fond of them at all.
Franchise Original Sin: The later adaptations gained criticism for replacing a lot of iconic characters with original additions. The earlier shows and even reprints of the original books are guilty of this too, largely to replace outdated characters like the Gollywogs. Some characters like Mr. Sparks and Martha Monkey were even replacements for earlier ones before getting replaced themselves.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff:
- The Noddy series is huge in France, where it's known as Oui-Oui. The country got a lot of merchandise and the various incarnations of the show air multiple times a day. There was actually two musical live shows exclusively shown in France with the first being "Oui-Oui et le cadeau Surprise" ("Noddy And The Surprise Gift") from complete with it's own album. The second was from 2013 called "Oui-Oui Et Le Grand Carnaval" ("Noddy And The Big Carnival") which also gained an album in France. The most recent incarnation of the show, Noddy: Toyland Detective, was actually co-produced in France and aired there before other parts of the world due to Noddy's massive popularity there. Noddy is so big there that it has beaten home-grown productions like Babar and Asterix in polls with parent and toddler participants in France. The original books by Enid Blyton sell about 600,000 copies annually in that country.
- Make Way For Noddy was huge in Portugal. The theme song became a Breakaway Pop Hit and Noddy costumes were big sellers there for a while. It got to the point where TVP reran older incarnations such as The Noddy Shop to cash in on the popularity of this newer installment.
- The franchise is also fondly remembered in India, due to Pogo's frequent showings of Make Way For Noddy.
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- In one episode of Make Way for Noddy, Noddy enters a Mirror Universe where (among other things) Sly and Gobbo have the opposite personalities, with Sly being the smart one of the duo and Gobbo being the dimwit. Come "Noddy in Toyland", those are their personalities all the time.
- The V-Smile game "Detective For A Day" has Noddy become a detective. In 2015, a show about Noddy as a detective was created.
Moe: Almost the entire show qualifies, though Tessie takes the cake.
Narm: Make Way For Noddy comes off as a rather awkward cartoon compared to the other adaptations, due to the dated CGI and the sometimes stilted voice acting (especially in the UK dub).
Nightmare Fuel:
- The 70s episode based on the book "Here Comes Noddy Again" where Noddy has a nightmare about the goblins after Clockwork Clown discovers two of the goblins hiding under Noddy's car. We get glimpses of the goblins vandalizing his car alongside removing parts to Noddy's car. Once Noddy wakes up, Sly knocks on Noddy's door and takes takes him to the dark woods. Once Noddy and Sly arrive at the Dark Woods, they quickly push Noddy out of his car and drive off with it. It's worse in the original book, where The Goblins (Golliwogs in older versions) steal Noddy's clothes, hat, trousers, and shoes. They quickly drive off while a now naked Noddy watches on begins crying alone in the woods.
- Played straight with the music in Robot Village in the 1999 PlayStation game, and with some of the puppets on The Noddy Shop.
- In the Make Way for Noddy episode "Master Tubby's Chocolate Dream", Master Tubby Bear greedily eats all the chocolate intended for the Toy Town chocolate celebration. Then, he has a dream where he gains a Midas Touch that turns everything into chocolate. He even turns himself into chocolate, and you know what Noddy and the others do? They cannibalize him as karma for his gluttony. Thank God it was All Just a Dream.
- While adaptations that adapted the book "Here Comes Noddy Again" kept the scene where Noddy gets his car and hat stolen. In the original book, The Gollywogs/The Goblins not only steal his hat and car. But they decide to steal all of his clothing leaving poor Noddy crying in fear without any clothing. This scene was surprisingly intense for a children's book and gained some controversy with British fans.
- The 1994 stage show introduces a Wicked Witch named "The Wily Witch" who decides to trade Whiskers the cat for Noddy's car (since she's having a difficult time controlling her broom). She has a creepy appearance◊ (such as wearing black shades), has an ominous character theme, and makes weird tics. When ever she's on screen, a child in the audience can be heard crying in fear.
Special Effects Failure: Being made in the early 2000s, some of the CGI animation in Make Way For Noddy hasn't aged that well.
Sweet Dreams Fuel: Toytown in most depictions is as cheery and colourful as you'd expect such a place. Toyland Adventures and (dated CGI aside) Make Way For Noddy in particular have a very cosy and pleasant atmosphere, helped by their charming ambient soundtracks.
Tear Jerker:
- "Noddy and His Bell", as well as the book it's based on, "Noddy Gets into Trouble", when Noddy is falsely accused of theft, and is ostracized. It's even worse in the book, as he actually breaks down crying because of it. Happily, Tessie still believes he's innocent, and helps him prove his innocence.
- The book "Here Comes Noddy Again" where Noddy is seen crying after getting his car, hat, and all of his clothing stolen from The Goblins/The Gollywogs. Televised adaptations toned this moment down a little by only having Noddy's hat and car stolen but is still sad to watch. The 1970s series shows him crying while Toyland Adventures has Noddy saying "If I wasn't so crossed, I could cry!" after Sly and Gobbo steal his car and hat. In the original book, he sadly sings this song moments after The Goblins/The Gollywogs take off.
  "I've lost my hat"
  "I've lost my car"
  "I simply don't know, where they are!"
  "I'm all alone; won't ANYBODY"
  "Come to help"
  "Poor little Noddy?"
- Mrs. Tubby Bear crying after learning her son (Master Tubby Bear) has gone missing in the book "Noddy Goes To Sea" along with the 1970s adaptation and Toyland Adventures.
  - Later on in the 70s adaptation, after the antics cause Noddy and Bumpy Dog to go absent as well, all of Toyland becomes frantic. Even Mr Plod and the goblins are miserable over Noddy's absence. Leads to a Heartwarming Moment when they return.
- In the book "Well Done, Noddy!', Big Ears has an accident and smashes his bicycle in the process. Noddy is told by a doctor to keep Big Ears in bed and must not worry. While Noddy is trying to earn enough sixpences to get a new bicycle for Big Ears, Big Ears is very upset and actually starts crying. In the original book version, Big Ears is seen crying due to his injuries and as Noddy takes him back to his Toadstool house.
- One of the goblins' more menacing schemes in Toyland Adventures is using the "runaway spell" on Noddy in "Noddy and the Singing Bush" so he can't interfere. The spell essentially makes everyone hate Noddy and walk away from him, much to his dismay. Worsened by a cut to the spell wearing off when he leaves, and his friends dumbfounded to why they're being so horrid to him.
- In the 1994 stage show, Big Ears gets reduced to tears after he learns that Whiskers (his pet cat) is missing.
- Another sad moment in the 1994 show is Noddy deciding to trade his car to The Wily Witch for the return of Whiskers (Big Ears' pet cat). After The Witch takes off laughing with his car, Tessie, Bumpy and Noddy can only sadly walk away from The Dark Woods. Later Noddy is seen secretly returning Big Ears' cat to his front door and watches his overjoyed reaction to his cat coming back. While Noddy is seen smiling at the two reuniting, it quickly becomes sad as Noddy is seen sadly walking away to his house after Big Ears shuts his door. He stays in his house for days until Tessie and Big Ears return his car.
They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
- Generally, each Animated Adaptation takes further liberties with the franchise, omitting or altering concepts and characters and restyling the format. The earliest examples of this were received better due to making only ethical changes for the large part, though the CGI series tend to get flak for making heavy creative changes. Make Way For Noddy was considered this trope compared to older fans of Toyland Adventures, though ironically became more favoured compared to Noddy in Toyland and Toyland Detective.
- Some British fans of the original cartoons were enraged when they saw The Noddy Shop being used to frame them because they hated the characters in the framing devices.
Toy Ship: A literal example with Noddy and Tessie Bear. Especially in Toyland Adventures, Make Way For Noddy, and Noddy In Toyland.
Unintentional Uncanny Valley:
- Dinah Doll's design in Make Way For Noddy, which resembles a creepy realistic doll.
- The goblins have a much less cartoony design in the 70s series, with beady expressionless eyes, making them look much more sinister.
- The puppet designs for Noddy and Big Ears◊ in the first TV series The Adventures of Noddy from 1955-1958 is notably creepy due to their somewhat realistic facial designs◊. This even extends to an illustration of Noddy that was seen in episode "Noddy's Camera". Noddy's design was even reused in old Kellogg's Ricicles commercials which ran during that period before transitioning to a 2D animated Noddy and then to a set of cuter-looking stop-motion puppets.
Values Dissonance:
- Before Sly and Gobbo came into the televised Noddy series in the 70s ^note, there were four black faced dolls called "The Gollies"◊ who would cause mischief as well as not only taking away Noddy's car but also his clothes and hat as seen in older editions of "Here Comes Noddy Again". (They were eventually redrawn as goblins◊). The original books in general used to have Golliwogs as recurring characters before later editions were redrawn. In an article made to celebrate Noddy's 50th anniversary, Blyton's daughter stated that the Golliwogs won't make a comeback in the series for obvious reasons. The same can be said for Master Gilbert Golly who was a naughty school boy◊ that would later get replaced by Martha Monkey. However there was one Golliwog that wasn't mean named Mister Golly who previously owned the Toy Town Garage who got removed in the mid 70s.
- In the original 1955 book version of "Noddy And Tessie Bear", after Noddy's kite begins carrying the milk churn and Tessie's basket of eggs. She starts crying in fear of the farmer going to spank them by saying "The farmer will spank me for letting the hens out - and he'll spank you too.". Later editions changed the text to Tessie saying "The farmer will be angry with me for letting his hens out - and now he'll be be angry with you too".
Viewer Gender Confusion:
- Noddy is actually a boy. He's probably mistaken for a girl because of his eyelashes and being voiced by a girl.
- Martha Monkey can be mistaken as a boy due to the way she dresses. She did wear a pink bow in Toyland Adventures and the books. But since this isn't present in Make Way For Noddy this can cause some viewers to think she's a boy.
Villain Decay: Mild case. While the goblins, Sly and Gobbo's antics were never much more than mean spirited mischief, they came off as much more sinister and cruel in early works and even a bit creepy to younger children. The CGI series punctuated their buffoonish aspects more, making them more silly and likeable antagonists.
Wangst:
- An episode of the CGI series has Tessie despondent for several days due to a balloon she owned popping. She doesn't recover until Noddy gives her several dozen more. Being a Moe, she still makes it sort of adorable however.
- Tessie in the books was easier to reduce to tears when ever Noddy would scold Bumpy dog depending on the situation.
The Woobie: Noddy at times.

YMMV / Noddy's Toyland Adventures

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