Tweenies

Television series
Country of production	United Kingdom
original language	English
Year (s)	1999-2003
Production company	BBC , Entertainment Rights
length	20 minutes
Episodes	390
genre	Comedy , children's show
Theme music	Hey, hey, are you ready to play?
idea	Iain Lauchlan Will Brenton
production	Judy Whitfield Clare Elstow
camera	Davy Johnson
First broadcast	September 6, 1999 on BBC
German-language first broadcast	April 16, 2001 on KiKA
synchronization

Tweenies is a television program for young children that is broadcast on the BBC . The show also ran from 2001 to 2002 on German television on KiKA in the morning program.

Concept and production

• The basic concept was created by Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan together with some children. Tell-Tale produced the children's program for the BBC. Iain Lauchlan (a host at Play School , Fingermouse, and Playdays ) scripted it with Will Brenton (a television director , writer, and host) . Together they started producing the Playdays episodes in their own production company Tell-Tale Productions .

• In the concept of the children's series, elements from the " Teletubbies " and " Sesame Street " are combined. The didactics and the dramaturgy are adapted to the cognitive abilities of the target group (three to five year old children). The characters 'speakers talk slowly and the characters' reactions to new information are greatly exaggerated. In addition, this information is deepened through repetition, video sequences, short stories, songs or games. The aim is to promote both personal creativity and social skills. It is conveyed that on the one hand people are the same, on the other hand they also have very different skills and qualities. Overall, the demands of the programs do not go far beyond the level of simple cardboard books.

• The concept of marketing: The BBC also designed the series according to merchandising aspects. There are also a large number of Tweenie plush figures in the German toy trade. The series has sold over 1.7 million video cassettes in Great Britain and many of the episodes are also available on the market in Germany. In addition, albums, singles, music and radio play cassettes and computer games (for example “Tweenies: Time to Play”) were released.

• The animation for the show was produced by A Productions , an animation studio based in Bristol , England . Some of the early episodes were produced by Ealing Animation . The computer animation for the series was created by Clockwork Digital , and Ben Mars drew "Mungo," the computer science featured in a few later episodes.

Place of action and equipment

• The series takes place in a kindergarten that is attended by four tweenies (Milo, Jake, Bella and Fizz). They are complemented by two adults, Max and Judy, and two dogs, Doodles and Izzles.

• The equipment includes a "tweenie light" (a kind of music box) with five round lights, arranged on a pentagonal floor plan. These lights are labeled "Tweenie Diary", "Tweenie Crafts", "Tweenie Songs", "Tweenie Movies" and "Tweenie Stories". The "Tweenie Surprise" is the special time that comes when all five lamps light up. A button in the middle of the clock has to be pressed to randomly select the next time . A different tweenie tells the clock each time, “Where does the light stop? We don't know! ”Pressed.

reception

• Kino.de assesses the series as follows: “The brightly colored tweenies from Great Britain have been delighting preschoolers between three and six years of age since 1999. The funny dolls have long been small stars in their home country. Almost 400 episodes have now been produced. The series, which has won several awards, was sold in 65 countries and was shown at KiKa in Germany. "

• Spiegel.de (January 21, 2013): “On Sunday, the British broadcaster broadcast a repeat of the successful series The Tweenies in the children's program . The focus of the episode was Jimmy Savile of all people - once a popular BBC presenter, who was exposed as an unscrupulous sex offender after his death. "

synchronization

The models for the characters were designed by Sally Preisig from Mimic Productions , who also developed the costumes. The tweenies are played by actors, while the animations and their voices are played.

character	description	actor	Voice / Animatronic	German dubbing voice	instruments used
The children
Bella	blue skin with yellow hair - the greatest tweenie	Tamsin Heatley	Sally Preisig (1999–2000) Emma Weaver (2000–2002)	Jennifer Bottcher	Harp , violin , viola , cello , double bass , piano
Fizz	yellow skin with red hair	Jenny Hutchinson (1999-2000) Angela Reynolds (2000) Francesca Anderson (2001-2002)	Coleen Daley	Anja Topf	Cymbals , xylophone , snare drum , triangle , bass drum , bongos
Jake	orange skin with a yellow mohawk - the youngest and smallest tweenie	Samantha Dodd, Esther Collins (2001-2002)	Justin Fletcher	Jan-David Rönfeldt	Horn , tuba , trumpet , trombone
Milo	purple skin with black hair	CH Beck Matthew Lyons	Bob Golding	Robin Brosch	Saxophone , flute , bassoon , contrabassoon , piccolo , oboe , clarinet , English horn
The adults
Judy	light green skin with purple hair	Simon Grover	Sinead Rushe	Anne Moll
Max	dark pink skin with white hair	Simon Grover	Bob Golding	Jörg Gillner
The animals
Doodles	Dog (red-yellow fur)	Alan Riley	Justin Fletcher	Jan Harloff
Izzles	Dog (purple-yellow fur)	Fiona Watkins	Coleen Daley

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
2000	Friends Forever (Best Friends)	UK56 silver (6 weeks)UK	Chart entry. November 25, 2000
2001	The Christmas Album	UK34 gold (6 weeks)UK	Chart entry. December 1, 2001
2002	Everybody dance	UK83 (1 week) UK	Chart entry. November 23, 2002
2003	Greatest hits	-	First release: 2003 2 CD

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
2000	Number 1 (number 1)	UK5 silver (24 weeks)UK	Chart entry. November 11, 2000
2001	Best Friends Forever	UK12 (11 weeks) UK	Chart entry. March 31, 2001
	Do The Lollipop (Dance the Lollipop)	UK17 (8 weeks) UK	Chart entry. August 4, 2001
	I believe in Christmas	UK9 (6 weeks) UK	Chart entry. December 15, 2001
2002	Have fun, go mad	UK20 (8 weeks) UK	Chart entry. September 14, 2002

Video albums (selection)

• 1999: Ready to play ; Song time! ; Merry Tweenie Christmas ; Party Games, Laughs & Giggles ; Song Time is Fab-a-Rooney!  ; Animal Friends
• 2000: The Enchanted Toyshop ; Song Time 2 ; Songs and Surprises ; Tweenies Live! ; Colors are magic
• 2001: It's Messy Time ; Everybody Panto ; Music is Pop-a-Rooney! ; Tweenies - animal friends
• 2002: Doodles' New Friend ; Tweenies Live !: The Christmas Present ; Night-time magic ; Animal Friends / Party Games, Laughs & Giggles ; Tweenies - Come on, play with the Tweenies / Tweenie songs
• 2003: Let's Play
• 2004: Jungle Adventure ; Let's All Make Music
• 2005: Fizz! ; It's Christmas ;
• 2006: Song Time: The Complete Collection ; The Ultimate Christmas Collection
• 2008: Messy Time Magic
• 2009: Tweenies Live !: Top of the Tots ; Practical jokes

Books and PC games (selection)

• Tweenies, time to play. Activision, Blizzard, 2001, ISBN 978-2-84226-426-0 .
• Tweenies - in the sun - in the rain - game and fun book. Egmont Verlagsgesellschaft, 2001, ISBN 978-3-614-65921-5 .
• Tweenies, everything for doodles. Pestalozzi Verlag, 2001, ISBN 978-3-614-49252-2 .
• Tweenies. (Audiobook) BBC Audiobooks Ltd., 2004, ISBN 978-0-563-52791-6 .

Awards

BAFTA :

• 2000: Children's - Pre-School Live Action Award (won).
• 2001 and 2002: Nomination for the Children's - Pre-School Live Action Award.

Web links

• Tweenies at bbc.co.uk
• Tweenies in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Tweenies Video / DVD / Films on kino-charts.info

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tweenies - GB 1999–2002 on fernsehserien.de, accessed on August 14, 2013.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Harmless jaws for the little ones: The Tweenies (PDF; 13 kB) on hdm-stuttgart.de, accessed on August 14, 2013.
3. ↑ Tweenies on kino.de, accessed on August 14, 2013.
4. ↑ BBC in need of explanation: Child molesters in the children's program on spiegel.de, accessed on August 14, 2013.
5. ↑ Child abuse scandal: BBC apologizes for tasteless Jimmy Savile parody on de.nachrichten.yahoo.com, accessed August 14, 2013.
6. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: UK
7. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
8. ↑ Winner Tweenies on awards.bafta.org, accessed on August 14, 2013.
9. ↑ 2001 and 2002 at awards.bafta.org, accessed on August 14, 2013.