Line #29 WesternAnimation/WilloTheWisp1981


1	[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/willo_5911.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:299:Hello children, would you like to hear a horrid story of dreadful folk? Clockwise from top right - Willo, Mavis, The Moog, Arthur, Carwash and Twit. Not shown - The Beast, Evil Edna or The Astrognats.]]
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4	''Willo the Wisp'' is the title of a 1981 [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] children's programme, and of its [[TheRemake 2005 remake]]. It tells the story of various magical beings living in an enchanted forest, Doily Woods, all voiced by Creator/KennethWilliams, and whose adventures were narrated by Willo the Wisp, a ghostly creature [[InkSuitActor caricature of]] Creator/KennethWilliams. In the remake, they were voiced by James Dreyfuss of ''Series/TheThinBlueLine'' and ''Series/GimmeGimmeGimme''.
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6	'''Characters''':
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8	* '''Willo the Wisp''': The CharacterNarrator, a WillOTheWisp.
9	* '''Arthur''': An opinionated caterpillar who never quite turned into a butterfly. A KnowNothingKnowItAll.
10	* '''Mavis Cruet''': A very overweight fairy who can't fly. A bit of a romantic.
11	* '''The Moog''': A very dim dog-like being. Arthur's pet, but he hangs around with Carwash quite a lot.
12	* '''Carwash''': A highly intelligent cat. Usually too intelligent to actually be involved in the story, and just [[DeadpanSnarker snarks]] from the sidelines.
13	* '''The Beast''': A handsome prince who gets turned into a beast by Evil Edna in the first episode. Generally obsessed with becoming a handsome prince again.
14	* '''Evil Edna''': A WickedWitch. Also, a talking television set with legs. (In the remake, she transforms herself into a flatscreen in the first episode.)
15	* '''Twit''': A small yellow bird. Intelligent, but quietly so.
16	* '''The Astrognats''': A group of insect-like space explorers. Their ship is a huge rocket-powered mushroom.
17	----
18	!!This show contains examples of:
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20	* AndIMustScream: In one episode Edna turns the Beast into an iced lolly ("And in your old shape, too!"). Then he starts to melt...
21	* BeautyToBeast: The Beast, turned from handsome prince to shaggy beast in ep1 and from there any attempts to turn back meet with FailureIsTheOnlyOption.
22	* BlindWithoutEm: Carwash apparently has no eyes at all without 'em.
23	* BritishBrevity: Both versions lasted for one season of 26 5 minute episodes, making a total run time of four hours and twenty minutes.
24	* CallARabbitASmeerp: The Moog looks and behaves just like a creature generally known to the world at large as a "dog".
25	* CatsAreSnarkers: Carwash the Cat, who provides sarcastic commentary on how the current storyline and people in it are acting like idiots.
26	%%* DogsAreDumb: The Moog.
27	* ElmuhFuddSyndwome: The Beast. The magic words he must recite to revert to his true form are, of course, "Round and round the rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran".
28	* FatComicRelief: Although pretty much everyone takes a turn on being the idiot, Mavis is this more than normal due to her weight and being a bit of a deluded romantic.
29	* IneptMage: Mavis. Seldom do her spells go right, or even work at all.
30	* InkSuitActor: Willo the Wisp is clearly modelled on a caricature of Williams. In the 2005 series he was mildly redesigned to resemble Dreyfuss, his new voice actor, instead.
31	* InteractiveNarrator: The other characters sometimes converse back at Willo as he narrates. In one episode they even try to keep Edna at bay by [[BreakingTheFourthWall threatening to have Willo tell everyone watching about her schemes]].
32	* FurryConfusion: The caterpillar has a pet dog. Let's not even get into the size discrepancy between the characters.
33	%%* LarynxDissonance: Mavis and Edna.
34	* LemonyNarrator: Kenneth Williams' trademark snark is on full display during his narration duties.
35	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: In "Edna's Secret", Arthur and his friends are baffled when Evil Edna starts acting cheerful and nice.
36	* NakedFreakOut: Edna in "Boring Old Edna" after her tv skin is bitten off by the worm. This somehow exposes her wires but would've been funnier if *ComedicUnderwearExposure happened
37	%%* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Carwash.
38	* SpinOff: In a way; the character design of Willo has its origins in an animated advermentary about British Gas, in which he was a talking blob of natural gas (still played by Williams), initially mistaken for a will o' the wisp.
39	* WeightWoe: Mavis. She is insecure about her weight, and also a hopeless romantic.

Context WesternAnimation / WilloTheWisp1981