Make way for Noddy (Noddy)

Member Name: wisemind

Product:	Noddy
Date:	20/03/09 (268 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Entertaining and teaches morals

Disadvantages: None

Noddy is my son's favourite TV show which shown at 7.40 on Weekdays on channel 5.

It is an adaptation from the original books by Enid Blyton. Noddy first appeared in a book called "Little Noddy goes to Toyland" in 1949 which means he has been around for 60 years. A TV series was launched in the 1950's which featured the characters as puppets rather than the current animation series but unfortunately there were outcries of racism due to the treatment of characters called the gollywogs who travelled around in the boot of Noddy's car.
The new style series was launched in 2004 without the golliwogs and replaced with other characters

Noddy lives in Toyland with a few his friends.

Noddy has worn the same clothes since the original series and is instantly recognisable in his red top with Yellow spotted neck scarf, his blue shorts, red shoes and blue hat with a bell on the end. He only changes for bed into his red striped pyjamas. He works in Toyland as a taxi driver and is closest friends with master Tubby Bear and Big Ears. Noddy has a good heart but can get confused into what is the right thing to do.

Master tubby bear is a greedy bear who wants lives next door to Noddy. He does sometimes get himself in a little trouble but always see the right way in the End

Miss pink Cat is a city cat who runs the ice cream parlour that sells goggle berry ice cream and milkshakes.

Dinah Doll who runs the market stall in the town square that usually has everything that the residents of toy town want. She is also Fire officer for the town and responsible for training the voluntary fire team.

Tessie bear live on a farm with her dog Bumpy. She has toy animals including chickens which she cares for. She is the most fashion conscious in Toyland and often co ordinates the colour of her skirt with places she is going.

Mr Plod is the policeman who keeps order in toy town. He is often heard to be blowing his whistle and shouting "halt in the name of plod". He has his own police station with a jail attached which is often visited by the goblins.

The naught goblins called Sly and Gobbo live out in the haunted wood . They are always playing naughty tricks casting spells to try to benefit themselves but it usually backfies and they often end up in Jail.

Martha monkey is a very cheeky young lady who wears yellow and red checked dungarees and green blouse with a frilly collar. She makes jokes but doesn't really mean any harm.

Mrs Skittle and her many children are often seen trying to encourage others to knock them down or push them over. You never see or her of Mr Skittle.
Mr Sparks is the town mechanic who runs his own garage but also works as inventor and will often stay up late at night working on a project. My son call's him Bob as he has tools like Bob the builder.

Big ears is a gnome at Toadstool house in toadstool wood. He is a wise one who encourages Noddy to think things through. He does know magic but uses it for good in comparison to the naughty Goblins. He can often be seen riding around Toyland on his bike.

There is also clockwork clown, clockwork mouse, Mr Wobbly man, and Mr Jumbo.

There is usually of one adventure which will centre on Noddy but will encompass the other character.

Toyland is usually a happy place where it rarely rains and the residents all care about each other. The only form out of public transport is the wobbly train which takes you out of town so Noddy has plenty work as a taxi driver often delivering items that come in on the wobbly train.

Although the characters do get into trouble and get confused as to how to solve problems, they always tend to work out how to do the right thing in the end with the exception of the naughty goblins who in the end either there trickery backfires on them or the end up in Jail.

My opinion.

I can only vaguely remember Noddy from when I was little and enjoyed it as a child but this for my son is a love. He sleeps with Noddy and has a collection of the DVD's from the series which we do watch on a frequent basis.

I do like the fact that they don't always get things right and that they learn how to work through these problems. It shows the beginnings of moral lessons like thieves never prosper which is too old for my son to understand but he isn't taught it is a way to get what you want.

All the characters are very endearing even the naughty goblins do have a charm about them.

My son doesn't watch it to be educated he watches it because he enjoys it. Each episode lasts for ten minutes and for ten minutes it is like I have a teenager in the house in the sense that I may as well speak to myself because I get no response as he is engrossed in Toyland.

We have bought quite a lot of the merchandising which is a spin off from the series but he uses these to spark his imagination. We have books that have a complete picture of Toyland where I am able to ask him to find certain character's and places. I am happy to use the characters he loves to develop his skills further.
My sons is getting education through watching TV and then onwards play without realising it, which for me is the best way for a child to learn.

This is a great preschool show which teaches great morals and manners and problem solving techniques.

You can find more information on program times on the channel five website

http://www2.five.tv/programmes/milkshake/programm es/noddy/

This has TV listing times and some games to play. You can also watch Noddy on demand through this site.

But there is also an official website for Noddy

www.noddy.com/uk

I would recommend this for all young children they may not all love it as much as my son but this could mean not have to watch episode after episode so can be a great advantage. I am yet to meet a child who doesn't enjoy an episode of Noddy.

Summary: an excellent pre school program