Willo the forest light

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Television series
German title Willo the forest light
Original title Willo the Wisp
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
year 1981
length 5 minutes
Episodes 26th
genre Comedy
music Tony Kinsey
First broadcast September 14th 1981 on BBC

Willo the Wisp is a British theatrical animated series about an overweight elf, a clever caterpillar and a bespectacled cat in a forest ( Doyley Woods ). The daily life of the forest dwellers is portrayed like in a soap opera . The evil in this world is an evil television set that can walk and speak.

In 2005 the series was continued under the English-language title .

The name of the title heroes Willo the Wisp is a pun on Will-o'-the-wisp , the English term for the wisp .

Characters

Willo the Forest Light ( Willo the Wisp )

Willo, a mixture of a curious gossip and an objective reporter, tells the story and guides the viewer through the various events in the forest with numerous commentaries. Most of the time he is not noticed by the other characters. Willo is a semi-transparent, spiritual being who is always surrounded by a glowing light.

Richard Caterpillar ( Arthur )

Richard apparently spent too much time waiting for the day he would become a moth. In the meantime he has amassed a lot of useless knowledge that he always passes on to a listener. He found a willing victim in Elfie Ömmel. He likes to be with her because she can easily give him a sense of spiritual superiority. Richard has an opinion on everything - only he's not as smart as he thinks of himself. Furthermore, Richard is constantly worried about Edna Evil and tries to avoid any encounter with her.

Elfie Ömmel ( Mavis Cruet )

The elf Elfie always means well to everyone, has a golden heart and a golden star on her magic wand, but she is too fat to fly. Always well fed with fattening food, she flies through the forest to bathe everything in the pink she wanted; only that their magic powers are far too weak for that. She loves everything and everyone - even Edna Übel. Elfie never loses her enthusiasm for magic, even if the others, apart from Pug, think little of her skills. Elfie is usually with Richard Raupe, whom she seems to be many times smarter than herself. She always believes him everything he tells her.

Einstein ( Carwash )

The cat is nearsighted, haughty, and afraid of Christmas. Einstein is a thinker and very reserved. Usually he hovers in higher spheres, in which he does not want to include the less well-funded characters of the forest. He loves literature and would like to be an actor. In the spring he shows his wild side and jumps around like mad.

Edna Evil ( Evil Edna )

Edna Übel is a witch in the form of an evil television set. She is seldom in a good mood and always eager to stir up the happy world of the forest. With its antennae it can cast a variety of terrible spells or torture its victims. Edna is selfish and vain, and if she does something good, it is for herself or to teach someone a lesson. She despises the other characters.

Monster ( The Beast )

The monster is a rather weak character. He is tall, harmless and always a bit confused - but actually a prince who was transformed by Edna Übel. Now he is waiting to be turned back into a prince by Edna.

Pug (The Moog)

Pug's only purpose in life is bones. He has no brain, which is why he cannot think, except in very rare cases, which then usually end in chaos or with a severe headache. He tries to be a good forest dweller, is completely naive and apparently even trusts Edna Übel.

Further

Other characters include the magician Abracadabra, who wanted to give Elfie a second star, and Twit - a bird that always flies backwards and "twitches" in the process.

Production and publication

The animator Nicholas Spargo conceived the series from 1977 for the target group of five to nine year olds and also developed the characters. Willo the Forest Light was designed to serve as a filler just before the 5:45 p.m. news. The production was directed by Nicholas Spargo, at whose company Nicholas Cartoon Films made the series. The music was composed by Tony Kinsey. In the English original, Kenneth Williams gave the characters his voice.

The BBC first broadcast the series on September 14, 1981. A total of 26 episodes of five minutes each were broadcast. In 1983 it was broadcast by TV Ontario in Canada. In its early days, Sat.1 broadcast the synchronized series in its lunchtime program. The German dubbed version also has only one male speaker.

Adaptations

Books, albums, audio and video cassettes and a DVD have been released for the series.

Web links