Noddy

Premise

The stories in the Noddy shop (NODDY here being an acronym for Notions, Oddities, Doodads and Delights of Yesterday) centers on siblings Kate and Truman Tomten, who, with their friend Daniel "DJ" Johnson, come to play at their grandfather Noah's vintage toy shop in Littleton Falls, and were collected by their (unseen) parents at the end of the day, implying the episodes were set after school, during school holidays or weekends.

The toys in the shop are known to come alive when nobody is looking. In the second season, Truman gained the ability to talk to the toys in the shop, and Noddy gained a more prominent role in the live action segments, often interacting with the toys and Truman. Most of the stories were repeated from the first season with some minor additions, as well as also introducing new stories coming from the fourth and final season of Noddy's Toyland Adventures.

Most episodes had a moral message, which was conveyed with a Noddy story, usually told by Kate using the Noddy dolls in the shop, which the viewer saw as re-dubbed and re-scored Noddy animations. The moral message was also a theme in a song sung by the shop's population of anthropomorphic toys. There was sometimes a second song, usually a re enactment of a popular folk tale. These songs were written by Nashville-based composer Dennis Scott.

Characters

Humans

Noah Tomten (played by Sean McCann) is a former old salt and owner of the Noddy Shop.

Katherine "Kate" Tomten (played by Katie Boland) is Noah's granddaughter and Truman's older sister.

Daniel "D.J." Johnson (played by Kyle Kass) is Kate and Truman's friend.

Truman Tomten (played by Max Morrow) is Noah's grandson and Kate's younger brother.

Agatha Flugelschmidt (née Tomten) (played by Jayne Eastwood) is Noah's younger scatterbrained sister and Kate and Truman's great aunt. She owns a hat shop next door to the Noddy Shop.

Officer Carl Spiffy (played by Dan Redican) is Littleton Falls' senior crossing guard. He is often confident in some suspicious activities. He then retired at the end of the first season.

Bud Topper (played by Neil Crone) is Littleton Falls' second crossing guard. He is a young crossing guard who often gets into practical jokes and hilarious chases around town. He replaced Carl Spiffy, starting with the second-season episode "Little Swap of Horrors".

Davy Gladhand (played by Gerry Quigely) is a quirky, wisecracking salesman. He often tells jokes and is good friends with Noah. In the regular episodes, he wears a straw boater hat, while in the Christmas episode "Anything Can Happen at Christmas", he wears a red bowler hat.

Hilda Sweetly (played by Taborah Johnson) is an ice cream saleswoman dressed in an ice cream costume. She and Noah are romantically involved by the end of the series.

April May McJune (played by Gina Sorell) is a cautious animal wrangler. She can take care of animals such as a rabbit, a parrot, or even a skunk.

Toys and Antiques

Noddy (voiced by Catherine Disher) is the central character of the animated segments. During the live-action segments in Season 2, he is mostly still, but occasionally wanders around and talks to Truman and often the shop toys.

Warloworth Q. Weasel (usually known simply as Warlow) (voiced by Frank Meschkuleit) is a malicious weasel in a bowler hat who resides in a Jack-in-the-box and always plays tricks on the other toys, but usually gets his comeuppance. When he pops out of the box, he sings and tap dances in his tap shoes on his feet.

Bonita Flamingo (voiced by Frank Meschkuleit) is a bright orange plush flamingo dressed like Carmen Miranda. She speaks in an exaggerated Spanish accent, often saying things in Spanish and English. She acts motherly to Truman.

Johnny Crawfish (voiced by James Rankin) is a lobster who tells a lot of jokes and resides in a fish tank, and sometimes plays rock and roll songs on the piano. He is inspired by Johnny Carson.

Big Ears (voiced by Benedict Campbell) is a friendly gnome who is Noddy's helper and father figure in the animated segments. Unlike Noddy, he never moves or talks at all during the live-action segments.

Sherman (voiced by James Rankin) is a clockwork turtle with wheels like a tank, who wears an army helmet.

Rusty (voiced by Matt Ficner) is a toy clown who is good friends with Sherman, and always rides on his back.

Planet Pup (voiced by James Rankin) is a small robotic dog, supposedly from outer space. He was the first toy to interact with Truman and gets along with him.

Lichtenstein (voiced by Matt Ficner) is a beer tankard shaped like a Viking's head, usually referred to simply as "Stein" and is based on actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He doesn't speak much, but could usually be seen singing along with the songs. When Litchenstein does speak, he has a noticeable German accent, and ends many of his sentences with "Ja".

Cast

Live-action cast

Sean McCann as Noah Tomten, a former sailor who now runs an antique shop called the Noddy Shop.

Katie Boland as Kate Tomten, Noah's granddaughter.

Max Morrow as Truman Tomten, Noah's grandson.

Kyle Kassardjian as Daniel "D.J." Johnson, Kate and Truman's friend.

Jayne Eastwood as Agatha Flugelschmidt, Noah's scatterbrained sister, who owns the hat shop next door. She is good friends with the children, who call her Aunt Agatha. She is married, but her husband is unseen.

Dan Redican as Officer Carl Spiffy (season 1 only)

Neil Crone as Officer Bud Topper (season 2 only)

Taborah Johnson as Miss Hilda Sweetly, an ice cream vendor who pushes a cart dressed as a giant strawberry ice cream cone (vanilla in an early episode). There is implication that she and Noah are romantically attracted to each other.

Gerry Quigley as Davy Gladhand, a salesman.

Gina Sorell as April May McJune, a Brownie leader and friend of Aunt Agatha's.

Albert Rosos as Jake, a teenager who visits the Noddy Shop.

Stephen Joffe as Itchy, Aunt Agatha's nephew.

Jake Goldsbie as Grit, a boy in Sports Day.

Lauren Collins as Rox, a girl in Sports Day.

Daniel Magder as Sam, Truman's new friend.

Guest stars

Carol Kane as the Tooth Fairy (in "The Tooth Fairy")

Fiona Reid as Charlene von Pickings (in "To the Rescue", "Telling the Whole Truth", "How Rude" and "Be Patient")

Marc Donato as Dewey (in "Mixed Up Masks")

Harry Anderson as Jack Fable (in "The Magic Show")

Gilbert Gottfried as Jack Frost (in "Jack Frost is Coming to Town")

Gerard Parkes as Wally the Wanderer (in "Noah's Leaving")

Betty White as Annabelle (in "Anything Can Happen at Christmas")

Colin Fox as the Sandman (in "The Sandman Cometh")

Graham Harley as Rodney Styx (in "The Big Showdown")

Cass Van Wyck as Julie (in "Part of the Family")

Michael Cera as Butch (in "Big Bullies")

George Buza as Gus the Garbage Truck Driver (in "Going Bananas")

Jeff Pustil as Seymour Polutski (in "Closing Up Shop")

Shadia Simmons

Michael Seater

Puppet voices

Frank Meschkuleit

Matt Ficner

James Rankin

Voice cast

Original (UK)

Susan Sheridan as Noddy, Tessie Bear, Dinah Doll, Sly, Clockwork Mouse, Miss Pink Cat, Martha Monkey, Mrs. Tubby Bear, Mrs. Noah and Lady Giraffe

Jimmy Hibbert as the Narrator, Big Ears, Master Tubby Bear, Mr. Plod, Bumpy Dog, Noddy's Car, Gobbo, Sammy Sailor, Mr. Sparks, Mr. Straw, Mr. Wobbly Man, Mr. Milko, Mr. Noah, Mr. Train Driver, Mr. Jumbo, Bunkey, Father Christmas (Santa) and Lord Giraffe

US Dub

Katie Boland as the Narrator

Catherine Disher as Noddy, Sly and Master Tubby Bear

Karen Bernstein as Tessie Bear

Benedict Campbell as Big Ears, Mr. Plod, Clockwork Clown and Mr. Tubby Bear

Sharon Lee Williams as Dinah Doll

James Rankin as Gobbo

Michael Stark as Mr. Wobbly Man, Clockwork Mouse, Mr. Sparks, Mr. Jumbo, Mr. Train Driver, Mr. Milko, Sammy Sailor, Mr. Noah and Mr. Straw

Lynne Griffin as Miss Pink Cat and Martha Monkey

Fiona Reid as Mrs. Tubby Bear and Mrs. Noah

Puppeteers

Matt Ficner

Frank Meschkuleit

James Rankin

Noreen Young

Episodes

Reception

In its first season on PBS, the show was seen by an average of 2.5 million viewers per episode, higher than Sesame Street's average during the same year.

International success

Due to almost instantaneous success in the US and Canada, BBC Worldwide decided to distribute the series overseas. "Anything Can Happen at Christmas" was shown on CBBC in the UK in 1998. The first season of the show later aired there from 1999 to 2000 and was also shown in Australia, Malaysia and several countries in English. This version utilized the original sound-track for the Noddy animations. The live action segments were unaltered. The second season was never reversioned for the UK or Australia but was dubbed for other countries. The series was also dubbed for Poland, Spain, France, Israel, Mexico, Greece and Portugal. A music video involving the character Johnny Crawfish, "Special", was made to promote the overseas airings.