Albie (cartoon)

Albie is a Cosgrove Hall-produced animated series about a 6-year-old boy with a wild, distorted imagination. Unfortunately, this gets him into trouble with his friends, family and his neighbour, the grouchy Mr. Kidhater-Cox. Albie was created by award-winning children's author Andy Cutbill and was based on his own childhood. Andy also helped redevelop Rupert and Friends for Channel 5. These series can be often seen repeated on the ITV children's digital channel, CITV.

The concept of Albie involves a small boy who keeps encountering exotic animals in his garden whose sole purpose seem to be to get him into trouble. This includes a herd of Welsh water buffalo on a mission to nick the bath from Albie's house, Geordie elephants obsessed with buns and a couple of Sahara-missing cockney camels living in the sand-pit. Albie's interaction with the animals is left open as to whether the occurrences are real or not.

From a technical point of view, the show is noteworthy as the human characters and backgrounds were 2D, while the animals were all 3D CGI, with the two elements composited together. 3D animation was done by the short-lived but talented CHD department of Cosgrove Hall Films.

Warped, funny, with extraordinary plots, most episodes end with the innocent Albie getting the blame, and some very angry person shouting "ALBIE!"

Airing history

• UK
  • CITV (2000-2001)
• Australia
  • ABC TV (2001-2002)
• France
  • TF1 (2002)

Awards

• Best Animated Series award at the British Animation Awards, 2002.
• Pulcinella award (the Canal Grande prize at the Cartoons on the Bay Festival in Positano, Italy for Best European Programme).
• Best Young Writer Category at the B+ Young Talent Awards 2002.

Books

• Albie (2 September 2002) : Meet Albie – a small boy in a weird, wild world. Albie is a six-year-old boy whose imagination turns his surroundings into wild fantasy and he sees peculiar creatures everywhere. Why does no one else notice them? It’s a mystery to Albie. It seems like just another ordinary day to Albie until he finds… a hippo in the paddling pool, zebras up the tree and his sister, Mary, on the warpath! What else could possibly go wrong?
• Albie and the Big Race (31 October 2004) : Meet Albie - a small boy in a weird, wild world. Albie is a six-year-old boy whose imagination turns his surroundings into wild fantasy and he sees peculiar creatures everywhere. Why does no one else notice them? It's a mystery to Albie. It seems like just another ordinary afternoon to Albie until he finds...penguins on a hostess trolley, zebras inside a grandfather clock and an elephant on a unicycle. Get your skates on, Albie! It's the Annual Smokin' Wheels Speed Convention!
• Albie and the Space Rocket (6 March 2006) : Meet Albie – a small boy in a weird, wild world. Albie is a six-year-old boy whose imagination turns his surroundings into wild fantasy and he sees peculiar creatures everywhere. Why does no one else notice them? It’s a mystery to Albie. It seems like just another ordinary night to Albie until he wakes to find… penguins stealing the furniture, moose tangoing in the toilet and zebras asleep in the kitchen cupboard. But who has left a trail of baked beans?

These stories were later compiled into The Big Book of Albie (Released on 1 January 2011)

List of episodes

1. Another Rumba Blunder
2. The Collectors Come Knocking
3. Mystery Of The Chinese Bones
4. It Came From Under The House
5. The Woodshed Saga
6. Demolition Duo
7. Creature From The Rhondda Valley
8. Ooh Aah Cha Cha Cha
9. They Came Wearing Duffle Coats
10. News-Flash
11. Party Pooper Pandemonium
12. Teaser In A Freezer
13. Imp On The Loose
14. High Diving
15. Caught In A Flap
16. The Full Moon
17. A Hunting We Will Go
18. Operation Occupation
19. Diamond Heist
20. Caught By The Ghoulies
21. Calling All Animals
22. Lovely Weather For Boats
23. Open To The Public
24. Are You There Mother
25. Quick On The Draw
26. All Quiet On The Garden Front

Credits

Created by 

Andy Cutbill

Writers 

Andy Cutbill, Jonathan Trueman, Phil Jackson, David Bolton, Chris Fenna, Jimmy Hibbert

Voices 

Sophie Aldred, Rob Rackstraw, Marc Silk, Melissa Sinden

Music 

Keith Hopwood

Designer 

Andy Cutbill

Art Director 

Steve Maher

Animation Director 

Claire Grey

Supervising Animation Director 

Chris Fenna

Produced and Directed by 

Francis Vose

Executive Producers 

Brian Cosgrove, Mark Hall