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Hello, Noddy!

Noddy (Noddy),
The little man with the red and yellow car,
Noddy (Noddy),
His tinkling bell means he’s the happiest little fellow in all Toyland.
There’s Big Ears and Tubby and Mr. Plod, and all his special friends,
He sets out on adventures then he’ll take you home again.
Noddy (Noddy),
Noddy,
Noddy!
Original theme song for "Noddy's Toyland Adventures"

Noddy's Toyland Adventures is a toymation cartoon first broadcast on The BBC in 1992, and ended in 2001. In case you don't know who Noddy was, then it will be explained. Noddy was originally seen for the first time in a series of books written by Enid Blyton (Famous Five, The Enchanted Wood, The Magic Faraway Tree, The Wishing Chair) between 1949 and 1963. Also, this was not the first time Noddy's adventures had been adapted for television - at least three other stop-motion series had preceded it, the first airing all the way back in the mid-1950s.

The show and the books follow the adventures of Noddy, a little wooden doll who wears a pointed hat and drives a little yellow car that goes Putt-Putt. He lives next door to a tricksy little teddy bear called Master Tubby Bear, who lives with Mr. and Mrs. Tubby Bear, and, of course, Noddy's girlfriend, Tessie Bear! Noddy's best friend besides her is Big Ears, who is Exactly What It Says on the Tin. He's got big ears. The Toyland policeman is called Mr. Plod, who most of the time asks Noddy whether he can be Noddy's Special Constable.

You'd think there's No Antagonist in the cartoon, would you? Well, think again! There are twin goblins, who like to cause mischief around Toyland by stealing ... but they never do anything that would ordinarily kill a person, they just ruin Noddy's life for whatever reason! At the end of the episode, they get a punishment behind bars, which they deserve!

The series was also broadcast on PBS Kids, TV Ontario and CBC in North America, with the cartoon getting sandwiched by a live action show that takes place in a toy store known as The Noddy Shop. All of the characters in the Toyland Adventures segments got redubbed with American voices and sometimes made appearances in the actual show, with Noddy gaining the ability to talk to Truman, one of the human characters, as well as the toy characters and Johnny Crawfish, in the second season. Although this show was made for the North American market, the first forty episodes and the Christmas Special, as well as a book featuring the characters from the shop, two VHS releases and a DVD, still made it to Britain.

In 2001, a CGI spinoff- Make Way For Noddy- premiered. It was a UK-Canada co-production and the producer was Sabella Dern. As a result, the North American dub of the CGI show used the talents of The Ocean Group. In the US, a short segment, Say It With Noddy, was pinned on to the show to teach Spanish and other languages. Reruns of the show can currently be found on PBS Kids Sprout.

In 2009, a second CGI revival, Noddy In Toyland premiered, with an even Lighter and Softer premise and some of the characters, notably Tessie Bear and the goblins, given a redesign. The series was created to celebrate the franchise's 60th Anniversary. In France, this incarnation gained two exclusive stages shows (Oui-Oui El Le Cadeau Surprise which ran from 2009 till 2011 and Oui-Oui E Le Grand Carnaval which ran from 2012 till 2013) due to it's massive popularity in that country.

In April 2015, a third CGI series starring Noddy called Noddy, Toyland Detective premiered, recasting Noddy as a super sleuth and reimagining Toyland even more than the previous shows. The show was produced by DreamWorks Animation Television and Gaumont Animation, boosting a much bigger animation budget and a noticeable restyling of the franchise and characters.

"Enid Blyton Society" (a website dedicated to the author) has a special section dedicated to Noddy. These include past merchandise, spin offs, audio adaptations, and books published before and after her death. The creation of Noddy was also briefly touched upon in the 2009 biopic Enid about the life of Enid Blyton (played by Helena Bonham Carter) and her relationship with her family. The biopic aired on BBC Four on November 19, 2009 to commemorate the franchise's 60th anniversary that year.

The official Noddy Youtube channel also features a large selection of episodes from Toyland Adventures and its successor cartoons.

    The original books sorted by release date: 
  1. Noddy Goes To Toyland (1949)
  2. Hurrah For Noddy (1950)
  3. Noddy and His Car (1951)
  4. Here Comes Noddy Again (1951)
  5. Well Done, Noddy! (1952)
  6. Noddy Goes To School (1952)
  7. Noddy at the Seaside (1953)
  8. Noddy Gets into Trouble (1954)
  9. Noddy and the Magic Rubber (1954)
  10. You Funny Little Noddy! (1955)
  11. Noddy Meets Father Christmas (1955)
  12. Noddy and Tessie Bear (1955)
  13. Be Brave, Little Noddy! (1956)
  14. Noddy and the Bumpy Dog (1957)
  15. Do Look Out, Noddy! (1957)
  16. You're a Good Friend, Noddy! (1958)
  17. Noddy Has an Adventure (1958)
  18. Noddy Goes to Sea (1959)
  19. Noddy and the Bunkey (1959)
  20. Cheer Up, Little Noddy! (1960)
  21. Noddy Goes to the Fair (1960)
  22. Mr. Plod and Little Noddy (1961)
  23. Noddy and the Tootles (1962)
  24. Noddy and the Aeroplane (1963)
  25. Noddy and the Farmyard Muddle (2009) note 

This show contains the following tropes:

  • Adaptational Backstory Change: While Noddy's backstory hasn't changed that much in the 70s stop-motion incarnation. In the series, Noddy meets Big Ears alongside visiting Toy Town fully clothed. In the original version, 1963 animated short, and the 1994 stage show, Noddy doesn't wear clothes until later in the story.
  • Adaptation Distillation: The first Act of the 1994 stage show "Noddy Live" combines Toyland Adventures with the original book universe. The first act combines Noddy Goes To Toyland, Hurrah For Little Noddy, and Noddy And His Car, while Sly and Gobbo were introduced as soon as Big Ears first encounters Noddy. note  Whiskers the cat (as a puppet) is also prominent in the show. Toyland Adventures gets a small reference when Tessie mentions Dinah Doll being on holiday and is chosen to run her shop. The second is entirely original where Noddy and Tessie has to rescue Whiskers from a Witch named "The Wily Witch" that Sly traded for sixpences.
  • A Day in the Limelight:
    • Enid Blyton wrote several supplementary Noddy books alongside the main ones, including a Toy Town Stories sub-series which often had one of the supporting cast as the lead character. Big Ears, Mr Plod, Bumpy Dog, the Goblins, Mr Sparks and Mr Straw got books devoted to them.
    • Make Way For Noddy devotes a fair few episodes to the supporting characters. Master Tubby Bear, Mr Plod, Dinah Doll, Miss Pink Cat, Mr Jumbo, Clockwork Mouse, Mr Wobblyman, and the goblins all get stories centered around them, sometimes with Noddy only in a minor role.
  • Accidental Hero: In the Christmas Episode, the Goblins set traps for Santa to ruin Christmas. However Noddy, in a rush to meet him in person, falls into all of them instead, allowing Santa to make it through. Tessie and Dinah, interpreting this as Noddy pulling multiple Heroic Sacrifices to protect Santa, are sure to inform him what happened, leading to Noddy meeting him at last.
  • Adapted Out: Beginning in 1963, future animated adaptations of the Noddy books would omit numerous supporting and minor characters from the original books.
    • In the original books, Big Ears used to own a black and white cat named "Whiskers" that lived in his Toadstool House. In modern adaptations, Whiskers is completely absent.
    • Speaking of cats, Miss Fluffy Cat (a friendlier Toy Cat and the opposite of Miss Pink Cat) was also omitted from televised adaptations (save for a brief speaking role in the 1972 audio adaptation of Noddy Goes To School, and a 1969 commercial for Kellogg's Ricicles). While never appearing in Toyland Adventures, Miss Fluffy Cat was mentioned by Mr. Plod in the episode Noddy and His Bell.
    • Mickey Monkey (sometimes called "Micky") is also another character that never made it into future TV adaptations. note 
    • Angela Golden Hair is also left out in future televised incarnations of the series with her only appearance being the 1955 puppet series The Adventures Of Noddy.
    • The Golly family are also adapted out, because golliwogs. (The Gollwogs' only TV appearance was "The Adventures Of Noddy" and a background appearance in the 1963 animated short).
  • Adaptational Heroism: Miss Pink Cat, while still occasionally retaining her pompous side, is noticeably nicer in Make Way For Noddy acting as the owner of Toyland's Local Hangout. Similarly Tubby is less obnoxious and spoiled, usually only acting up in his limelight episodes.
  • Angry Dance: In the original books, when Noddy gets extremely angry or sad. He would start angrily stamping around his house while singing a song called "Stamp! Stamp! Stamp!". This song was used in the 1950s audio reading by the author and 1971 and 1972 audio adaptation.
    Stamp, stamp stamp,
    Stamp, stamp, stamp
    I'm feeling sad today, I can't go out to play!
    Stamp, stamp, stamp
    Stamp, stamp, stamp
    Stamp, stamp, stamp
    Stamp, stamp, stamp
    I'm a missy little Noddy, I'm not loved by anybody.
    Stamp, stamp, stamp
    Stamp, stamp, stamp
  • Animated Adaptation:
  • Animation Bump: The fourth season of Toyland Adventures (which was made after a six year hiatus from the rest of the show) is more fluid with slightly more detailed models.
  • Annoying Younger Sibling: Taken to the extreme with Master Tubby Bear, who likes to sometimes cause trouble.
  • Art Evolution:
    • Early adaptations were animated via stop motion. The franchise utilised CGI from Make Way for Noddy onwards.
    • In later episodes of Toyland Adventures, brand new puppets were created for the main cast (notably Noddy, Tessie, Big Ears and Martha Monkey).
    • Also, Tessie Bear's redesign in Noddy in Toyland.
    • The entire cast have gotten a makeover in Toyland Detective.
  • Ascended Extra:
    • Tessie Bear was a minor character in the original books and the older stop-motion adaptations from the 1950s and 1980s. Starting with Toyland Adventures she becames one of the main characters of the franchise.
    • Whizz the robot was only seen in the "Say It With Noddy" segment that played after an episode of Make Way For Noddy where he tells the viewers to repeat a language along with Noddy. In Noddy In Toyland he replaces Mr. Sparks role and becomes a supporting character.
    • Mr Wobbly Man was previously a background character, but in "Noddy In Toyland" he's an owner of a shop that makes Gelatin Desserts and has more screen time compared to his previous appearances.
  • Aside Glance: Master Tubby would look at the viewer while raising his eye brows a few times when he knows he's up to trouble unaware of the other characters.
    • In the credits, Noddy is seen waving goodbye to the viewer then gets tired. Noddy then makes an hand gesture by pulling an invisible lamp which causes the screen to turn black.
  • Audio Adaptation:
  • Beary Friendly: Tessie Bear is one of Noddy's best friends along with Big Ears.
  • Big Ol' Unibrow: Fuse temporarily dons a false one in the Noddy Toyland Detective episode "The Case of the Missing Eyebrows".
  • Bowdlerise:
    • Beginning in the mid 1970s, the original books had some pages redrawn. Such as The Goblins replacing The Golliwogs, and Mr. Sparks replaced Mr. Golly. In later years, Martha Monkey was added into the original books as a replacement for Master Gilbert Golly.
    • 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".
  • Birthday Episode:
    • The episode "Noddy Delivers Some Parcels" has Noddy and friends preparing for Big Ears' birthday party. While preparing for his party, Noddy is assigned by Miss Pink Cat to deliver a parcel to the station.
    • The 2009 French musical Oui-Oui Et Le Cadeau Suprise (Noddy And The Surprise Gift) involves Mr. Plod, Mr. Wobblyman, Tessie Bear, Dinah, and Whizz planning a surprise birthday party for Noddy. By the end of the show, Noddy invites Sly and Gobbo to his birthday celebration. The musical was created to honor the character's 60th anniversary that year.
  • Bratty Half-Pint: Master Tubby Bear.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the ending to the Christmas Special from the stop-motion series. After the citizens finishes singing there Christmas song ("Don't Let Christmas End This Winter"). Each of the characters such as Clockwork Mouse, Dinah Doll, Tessie Bear, Big Ears, and Noddy all wishing the viewer a Merry Christmas/Happy Christmas") as they are looking at the viewer before the credits role.
    • The credits features Noddy pulling an invisible lamp while looking at the viewer which causes the screen to turn black.
  • British Brevity: Both the 70s Noddy series and Toyland Adventures produced 11-14 episodes per season. The former, which largely adapted the original books, totalled at 25 episodes, though the latter had more palpable 53 episodes with several new stories. Subverted with the CGI series which often produced over 100 episodes.
  • Canon Foreigner:
    • Toyland Adventures introduced new characters such Dinah Doll and Martha Monkey into the Noddy series. However in some editions of the original books, Martha was added to replace Gilbert Golly.
    • The 1994 stage show introduced "The Wily Witch". In the show, Sly gives Whiskers to the Witch so he can get sixpence from her. Eventually, she asks Noddy to trade his car so he can get Whiskers back.
  • Canon Immigrant: In newer editions of the original books, Martha Monkey would be added into some stories of the original books (replacing Gilbert Golly).
  • Catchphrase:
    • Noddy: That's very naughty!, Jumpin' juniper!
    • Big Ears: Oh my goodness!
    • Master Tubby Bear has the same Catchphrase as Norman Price from Fireman Sam, another BBC cartoon. Aw mam!
    • Mrs. Tubby Bear: Now, Master Tubby Bear, X may Y, but Z.
    • Mr. Wobbly Man: Do be careful, Noddy!
    • Mr. Plod: HALT IN THE NAME OF PLOD! The name of Plod was partly because most police officers say "HALT IN THE NAME OF THE LAW", but he keeps getting it all muddled up! In Noddy In Toyland his new catchphrase is "Very Peculiar" when ever he see's something strange happening in town.
      • In one episode, Noddy accidentally lands in Topsy-Turvytown after touching Big Ears' mirror, and Sly and Gobbo show up, leading to this exchange:
        Sly: HALT IN THE NAME OF SLY!!!
        Gobbo: And, err... ME!!!
    • Gobbo: Such mischief!!! And one aimed at Sly: "Why do you get everything wrong?!" (In the Mirror Universe, it's "Why do you get everything right?!"
    • Various characters: Oh dear!
    • In Noddy in Toyland, Sly and Gobbo share one:
      Sly: What's Goblin Rule Number One?
      Sly and Gobbo: Always try to spoil the fun!!
  • Cats Are Mean: Miss Pink Cat could get pretty bossy sometimes, but she's otherwise a nice cat.
  • Character Focus: Toyland Adventures gave prominent use to the supporting cast, but the stories still focused mainly on Noddy. Make Way For Noddy uses A Day in the Limelight more often, with more episodes Noddy is a supporting character to another's dilemma.
  • Christmas Episode: The 1955 book Noddy Meets Father Christmas involves Noddy getting extremely nervous about meeting Father Christmas (Santa Claus) for the first time. This story was adapted for the Christmas Special of Toyland Adventures and the 1970s stop-motion series. Make Way For Noddy also features Father Christmas where he's referred as both Father Christmas and Santa Claus.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: The majority of characters that showed up in the stop-motion series who were from the original Noddy books never showed up in the CGI series. Most of them have completely vanished from the franchise starting in the early 2000s. Supporting characters such as Mr and Mrs Tubby Bear, Sammy Sailor, Miko the Milk Man, and Bert Monkey have all vanished from the franchise once Make Way For Noddy began.
    • Martha Monkey, Miss Pink Cat, and Master Tubby Bear were all absent in the second CGI series Noddy In Toyland.
    • Noddy: Toyland Detective replaces even more of the original cast, with even major characters such as Tessie Bear and Mr Plod now absent.
    • In the original books, Mr. Plod wasn't the only police officer in Toyland. The second book "Hurrah For Noddy" had six other police officers joining Mr. Plod to travel with Noddy, Big Ears, and Mr. Sparks to Goblin Village. In later stories, the six other policemen completely vanished.
  • Clear My Name: Noddy has had to do this at least once every series (except for "Noddy in Toyland"):
    • In the book "Noddy Gets into Trouble" and its Noddy's Toyland Adventures adaptation "Noddy and his Bell", Noddy is accused of stealing food from everyone in Toyland because the victims all heard his bell at the scene of the crime. This causes everyone except Tessie to turn on him until he finds the real culprit (in the book it's a soldier doll, in the episode it's Gobbo).
    • In the Make Way For Noddy episode "Noddy's Clothes on the Loose", the goblins enchant Noddy's clothes to move on their own and cause trouble. This time, he teams up with Dinah Doll to find the culprits.
    • In the Noddy Toyland Detective episode "The Case of the Missing Eyebrows", Noddy is accused of stealing Fuses' false unibrow, the prizegiving banner and the award for "Most Helpful Toy" because (once again) a bell was heard at the scene of the crimes. It turns out Hoof the Naughticorn took them.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Mr. Wobbly Man.
  • Compressed Adaptation: The 1963 animated short film "Noddy Goes To Toyland", by Peter Lee and Arthur Humberstone, shortened the original 1949 children's book of the same name. It only included scenes such as a montage of Noddy and Big Ears building Noddy's house, Noddy accidentally letting the animals from Noah's Ark loose, and the trial to determine if Noddy is a toy.
  • Cool and Unusual Punishment: In "Noddy in Toyland", Sly and Gobbo are often punished for trying to spoil people's fun by taking part in the fun themselves.
  • Cool Old Guy: Big Ears.
  • Covers Always Lie: The album cover for the CD release of "Oui-Oui Et le cadeau surprise" features Mr Plod, Tessie, and Big Ears. While Tessie and Mr Plod are featured in the actual stage show. Big Ears originally never appeared in the show itself, but later performances did bring in Big Ears alongside Mr Sparks to join Whizz, Tessie, Dinah, Mr Wobblyman, and Mr Plod's party preparations for Noddy.
  • Cultural Translation: In France, the cartoon was called "Les Aventures de Oui-Oui" (literally meaning The Adventures of Noddy).
  • The Cutie: Tessie Bear.
  • Dub Name Change: Most of the characters had their names changed in France. Examples include:
    • Noddy -> Oui-Oui.
    • Big Ears -> Potiron.
    • Mr. Plod -> Monsieur le Gendarme.
    • Tessie Bear -> Mirou.
    • Master Tubby Bear -> Nestor Bouboule.
  • Demoted to Extra:
    • Mr and Mrs Noah were supporting characters in the original book and stop-motion series. However, in "Make Way For Noddy", they both appear as background characters with no speaking roles.
    • Clockwork Clown received the same treatment as the Noahs, since he was a major character in the books and previous TV incarnations.
  • Depending on the Writer: Make Way For Noddy softened a lot of the characters' personalities considerably. Whenever one of them got A Day in the Limelight however, they would often revert back to their more flawed classic characterisation.
  • Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: The end of the episode "Noddy Loses Sixpence" shows Mr. Milko whistling the show's theme song as he's leaving Noddy's house.
  • Ditzy Genius: Big Ears is a bit befuddled, but still probably the smartest person in Toyland.
  • Easily Forgiven: In Noddy Toyland Detective, the culprits are always forgiven for the trouble they caused - regardless of how bad it was - simply because they apologise and own up.
  • "Everybody Laughs" Ending: Done in some episodes. It's a cartoon, after all.
  • Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Miss Pink Cat speaks with a French accent in the British dub, but she is voiced by the girl who does all the voices for the females, as well as Noddy.
  • Expy: Who does Noddy look like? Pajama Sam or Super Mario? Your choice.
  • Evil Wizard: In "Noddy's Magic Holiday", Noddy and Big Ears encounter an evil wizard who enjoys turning cakes and buns at a bakery stale, stinky, and moldy. The wizard's helpers are a group of cats with one caught by the wizard's trap. He later becomes fond of Noddy's car and asks Noddy to teach him how to drive. Big Ears later adopts the cat and names him "Whiskers".
  • Foreign Re-Score: The American dub of Toyland Adventures has a brand new soundtrack, but keeps the series theme and credits song (notably keeping Susan Sheridan's Noddy laugh for the credits). Notably the Christmas Episode where the American/Canadian version gained two new songs written by Stacey Hersh and Ari Posner.
  • French Jerk: Miss Pink Cat at her worst can be rude, uptight and bossy. She's probably more consistently a French Jerk with a Heart of Gold however.
  • Friendly Enemy: The goblins have the odd kinder moment in later adaptations.
  • Furry Confusion: Quite noticably. Bumpy Dog acts like a real dog, but what does Miss Pink Cat (among other animal characters in the show and original books) act like? A human!
  • The Grinch: Miss Pink Cat, Sammy Sailor and the goblins all act as this in the Christmas Special. Santa gets round all of them by the end of the episode.
  • Have a Gay Old Time: The original books frequently used "Gay" (happy) and "Queer" (strange, odd, or unusual) in some character dialogue and text. Both were used in Enid Blyton's audio adaptations between 1955-1958, and Kathleen Davydd's narrations between 1971 (Noddy Wins a Prize/Noddy and the Aeroplane) and 1972 (Noddy Goes To School/Noddy Gets Into Trouble).
    • The 1974 vinyl album "Noddy's Magic Holiday" had Big Ears frequently say "Pussy" (referring to Whiskers the Cat and the other cats at The Wizard's cauldron). While "Pussycat" is still used to refer to cats, nowadays "Pussy" is a slang term for female genitalia alongside becoming a vulgar insult.
  • Humongous Mecha: The builders from Noddy Toyland Detective often use these to help with their building work.
  • Honest John's Dealership: In the 1957 book "Do Look Out, Noddy!", Noddy encounters Marvel Monkey who sells things around the towns and villages of Toyland. While friendly, Noddy isn't aware of the "things" Marvel Monkey is selling until meeting a crying dog who's upset about his missing whiskers. Once he takes Marvel to Mr. Plod, he scolds Noddy for not taking notice of the Wanted sign featuring Marvel Monkey. This is one of the few books that never got adapted outside of the 70s stop-motion series. English critic Terry Gustafson reviewed the book in 1974 and noticed the book apparently fictionalised the author's own life.
"It seems that Enid Blyton's greatest fictional creation was neither Noddy, nor Mr. Plod the policeman or Big-Ears — but Enid herself. The most intriguing and one of the saddest facts I discovered in my research was that Enid Blyton fictionalised her whole life."
'Biography comment in The Chronicle September 9th, 1974
  • The Hyena: Sly and Gobbo mainly in Toyland Adventures and Make Way For Noddy.
    • Mr. Plod becomes this in the second CGI series where he would laugh at anything that appears funny to him. One episode had Tessie and Noddy dancing to wind up chattering teeth and in the same episode Mr.Plod starts laughing so much that he literally swallowed his laugh and the citizens of ToyTown have to find a way to get his laugh back.
  • Inspector Javert: Some episodes have Mr Plod bothering Noddy after circumstances lead him to believe he is up to mischief.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Mr Plod and Miss Pink Cat are rather self important and quick to turn on Noddy, but well meaning otherwise. Tubby has odd moments of this too.
  • Karma Houdini: Averted. The goblins will always get locked up near the end, and they deserve their punishment after the credits roll.
    • Played straight in the opening to Make Way For Noddy, where the two are shown escaping out of jail and hiding at Noddy's party, leaving wonder as to how much punishment they exactly go through anyway.
  • The Kiddie Ride: Several models, all of them are of Noddy's yellow car (the latest one, a carousel, still has the yellow car as one of the figures for kids to ride in). Evidently, the ride license changed hands several times from Bell Fruit to Amutec to Photo-Me (using OMC's control boards under license) before finally resting in the hands of RG Mitchells, who promptly got bought over by Jolly Roger Rides. It can be said that the Noddy rides' popularity are only second to that of Postman Pat.
  • Licensed Game: The first ever Noddy video games were released on the Amiga (but not on the SNES, unfortunately) in Britian in 1992 and 1993. Then in 1997, another videogame, called the Magic of Toytown was released, and there was a free Living Books clone inside. It was compatible with Windows 95, 98 and ME, but not with XP. In 1999, there was yet another video game based on the cartoon, called Playtime in Toyland (Let's Get Ready for School in Britian) which was compatible with Windows XP. There was a funny moment in one game, when Master Tubby Bear would sometimes draw funny pictures to annoy Noddy. Both games use Macromedia Director. Also in 1999, there was a videogame for the PlayStation, Noddy's Magic Adventure, where Sly and Gobbo stole a magician's wand and decided to use it to cause trouble around Toyland. The game was released first in the United Kingdom, but it did get a release in France as well. There was a game for the Game Boy Color in the same year, called Noddy and the Birthday Party, where Noddy had to prepare for Big Ear's birthday in time.
  • Lighter and Softer/Denser and Wackier: Make Way For Noddy. Not that the books or previous adaptations remotely neared dark or mature material themselves, but the CGI series clearly aims more to be an Edutainment Show for an even younger audience, with the characters' meaner or more sarcastic elements downplayed.
    • Exaggerated with 2009's Noddy In Toyland where the edutainment aspect is removed in favor on focusing on humor and bizarre situations. Even the show's soundtrack is more bubblier and goofier.
  • Medium Blending: Some 60s era commercials for "Kellogg's Sugar Ricicles" (later renamed to "Kellogg's Ricicles") featured Noddy (hand drawn animated) in a live-action setting with children.
  • Mirror Universe: Noddy enters one in "Noddy Through the Looking Glass." Among other changes, Sly and Gobbo are police officers (with Sly being the smart one of the duo), Mr. Plod runs the market stall, Dina Doll fixes cars, and Noddy himself is a naughty troublemaker.
  • Mouthy Kid: Noddy has nothing against starting arguments against adults or even the local police officer (granted most of the time, they really aren't much more mature than he is).
  • The Musical: Due to Noddy's massive popularity in France, the country was able to receive two musicals based on "Noddy In Toyland" between 2009 and 2013. The first "Oui-Oui et le cadeau Surprise" ("Noddy And The Surprise Gift") was created to celebrate the franchise's 60th Anniversary, while the second "Oui-Oui Et Le Grand Carnaval" ("Noddy And The Big Carnaval") involves Noddy attending his first Carnaval with Mr. Plod, Tessie, Dinah, Whiz and Mr. Jumbo (later joined by Sly and Gobbo).
  • Mythology Gag:
    • In the Christmas Special for Toyland Adventures, Father Christmas asks Noddy to sing a song to teach the goblins how to behave around Christmas with Noddy telling Father Christmas "I make up my songs as I go along.". That line is a reference to the original Noddy books where Noddy is frequently singing when he's very cheerful or upset and would make his own songs. The Christmas Special is also the only time Noddy is ever heard singing in the series. However, Noddy's frequent singing was brought back for Make Way For Noddy and was present in the first stop-motion series The Further Adventures of Noddy and the 1975-1976 stop-motion series.
    • One episode of "Make Way For Noddy" featured Mr. Plod showing Noddy his family and relatives that were previous policemen in ToyTown. This is an obscure reference to the first couple of Noddy books where there were six other policemen besides Mr. Plod that patrolled ToyTown.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: An odd example happened when some PBS member stations (one of them being NJN in New Jersey) ran Make Way For Noddy. For unknown reasons, PBS didn't make a coming up next promo for Make Way For Noddy and instead used this promo, which was actually for The Noddy Shop and mostly focused on the puppet characters, only showing Noddy for two seconds. To make matters worse, the scene with Noddy wasn't from a Noddy story, but from the song "On The Day Of The Parade" from the episode "Kate Loves A Parade".
  • Nightmare Sequence: The 1975 series adaptation of "Here Comes Noddy Again", Noddy has a nightmare of The Goblins destroying Noddy's Car. This occurred hours after spotting two goblins hiding under his car.
  • Not-So-Harmless Villain: Sly and Gobbo are usually just thieves and troublemakers. In the Villain Episode "The Goblin's Stopwatch" however, they happen upon a magic stopwatch and use it to freeze the whole of Toyland (par Noddy).
  • Our Goblins Are Different: Sly and Gobbo act more like gremlins than goblins.
  • One-Shot Character: Bunkey, a circus monkey only showed up in one book ("Noddy And The Bunkey") and episode where he had to disguise himself as a half monkey half bunny to make sure nobody recognizes him. Mr. Plod later tells Noddy and Tessie Bear that Bunkey was actually a runaway circus monkey and thief. When he steals Noddy's car he apologizes to him and only wanted to help and drives away which was the last time he and Tessie ever saw him. He is last seen dancing on top of Noddy's garage in a hula skirt.
  • Pirates Vs Ninjas: One episode of "Noddy Toyland Detective" starts with the pirates and ninjas having a tug-of-war game with each other.
  • Product Placement: In the early 1960s, Kellogg's released two vinyl records that featured Noddy promoting the cereal brand (Noddy at the seaside and Noddy goes Shopping) with a few songs and a plot.
  • Race Lift: Changing the Minority example in Noddy in Toyland, where they changed Tessie Bear from a cream-colored bear into a brownish-colored bear for some reason.
  • The Runaway: In "Noddy Goes To Sea", Master Tubby Bear decides to runaway after getting scolded by Mr. Tubby Bear for messing with Noddy. The next morning, Noddy is sees the Tubby Bears begging Noddy to find their son, while Mrs. Tubby Bear is crying the entire time.
  • Same Language Dub: Typical of US/UK televised children shows, Make Way For Noddy has two distinct voice actor sets- one for the UK and one for the US. The US version was voiced by VAs from The Ocean Group. The UK version used BBC talents. There was also the dub for Toyland Adventures that was produced in Canada made specifically for The Noddy Shop, but the segments did get released by themselves on VHS.
  • Sentient Vehicle: Noddy's car becomes this in "Noddy Toyland Detective", and is named Revs.
  • Shout-Out:
    • In "Noddy in Toyland", Mr. Plod is a laughing policeman.
    • One episode of "Make Way For Noddy" was named "Driving Miss Pink Cat".
    • Another episode was named "Noddy through the Looking Glass".
    • The 1974 album Noddy's Magic Holiday involves Noddy, Big Ears, and the Skittle Children spending a holiday at "Shrimpton-on-Sea". Shrimpton-on-Sea is a shout out to the 1935 British sci-fi movie Once in a New Moon.
  • Signature Headgear: Noddy's blue hat and bell.
  • Southern Belle: Miss Pink Cat in the US dub.
  • Sliding Scale of Adaptation Modification: Rises with each Animated Adaptation:
    • The 70s series is mostly a straight retelling of the original stories episode by episode, but with a few gags and character changes added here and there.
    • Toyland Adventures also adapts some of the original stories (albeit with different titles) and is mostly true to the spirit of the books, though also adds several new characters and stories.
    • Make Way For Noddy uses similar aesthetics to the books and early shows, and has occasional nods to the original stories, but is mostly original material with the universe retooled to be Lighter and Softer.
    • Noddy in Toyland and Noddy Toyland Detective are largely distant from the novels, redesigning a lot of the world significantly and favouring their own storylines and gimmicks.
  • Surprise Party: The 2009 French musical "Oui-Oui et le cadeau Surprise" ("Noddy And The Surprise Gift") involves Mr. Plod, Tessie, Dinah Doll, Whizz, and Mr. Wobblyman working on a surprise birthday gift for Noddy. However, Noddy is oblivious to this and thinks everybody's forgotten his birthday. Sly and Gobbo decide to throw their own party for Noddy in order to trick him.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: Everyone, even the goblins, gets a Happy Ending in the Christmas Episode. This tradition is repeated in the CGI series.
  • Toy Time: An example not from a video game, although the series did have video games.
  • Transforming Mecha: A variant in "Noddy Toyland Detective" - Noddy's car has a helicopter mode.
  • Undying Loyalty: At least two episodes involve Noddy being falsely accused for the loss of someone's belongings. Only Big Ears and Tessie try to prove him innocent.
  • Unexpectedly Dark Episode: "Here Comes Noddy Again" is surprisingly dark compared to the others books in the series. It begins with Noddy helping out the citizens of Toyland but ends up carjacked in The Dark Woods by a group of Gollywods/Goblins midway through the story. Big Ears allows him to stay at his house overnight until he and Mr Plod catches the thieves and regains Noddy's belonings.
  • Vacation Episode: The 1974 vinyl record "Noddy's Magic Holiday", involves Noddy, Big Ears, and the Skittle Children going on holiday at Shrimpton-on-Sea. They later encounter a mean wizard who wants to learn how to drive, while rescuing a kidnapped cat.
  • Vocal Evolution: When Toyland Adventures was renewed for Series 4 in 2000. Susan Sheridan's vocal performance for the characters (mainly Noddy, Tessie, Martha Monkey, Sly, and Clockwork Mouse) is notably lower pitched compared to it's original run from 1992 till 1994.
  • Wacky Racing: Both the Further Adventures of Noddy pilot "The Great Car Race" and the Noddy in Toyland episode "Whiz and the Goblins" involve a hijinks car race where many of the cast take part. Naturally these episodes tend to have a bit of discontinuity with other stories where almost everyone is reliant on Noddy driving them around and doing their errands.
  • Wicked Witch: The 1994 stage show introduces a witch named "The Wily Witch" who wears shades. Her motivation is to use Noddy's Car as faster transportation due to her broom not working properly. She also makes strange noises when she gets very annoyed.
  • Women Are Wiser: Downplayed example. Tessie Bear is more sensitive and tactful than Noddy at times, but has moments she is just as naive and careless. Most of the other females are similar. Big Ears is the most consistent Reasonable Authority Figure, and even he can be fallible.

And now it's time for Noddy to wave and say goodbye,
He's tired and sleepy and nodding his head.
He's ready to curl himself up in bed and see what tomorrow brings.
For Noddy, Noddy
Noddy
(Noddy giggles)
——

Alternative Title(s): Noddy In Toyland

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