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Johnson and Friends

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Directed by
  
Ian MunroDavid Ogilvy

Composer(s)
  
Chris NealBraedy Neal

First episode date
  
3 September 1990

Number of seasons
  
4

Executive producer
  
Ron Saunders

8.3/10
IMDb

Narrated by
  
Paul Bertram

Country of origin
  
Australia

Final episode date
  
30 October 1995

Number of episodes
  
78

Johnson and Friends Johnson and Friends Wikipedia

Created by
  
Ron SaundersJohn PattersonIan Munro

Starring
  
See Cast section below.

Networks
  
American Broadcasting Company, Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Similar
  
Mr Squiggle, The Ferals, Magic Mountain, Budgie the Little Helicopter, Plasmo

Johnson and Friends was an Australian children’s television program broadcast on the ABC from 3 September 1990 to 30 October 1995. It was produced by Film Australia and lasted four seasons. In the UK it was shown in 1993 on TCC, CBBC, and then on UK Living's Tiny Living strand for under-fives. It was later aired in the United States with dubbed American voices as a segment on the Fox Cubhouse, an educational children's program on Fox Kids, from late 1994 to early 1996. The series was last repeated on ABC1 until 19 March 2002.

Contents

Johnson and Friends Who is your favourite character Johnson and Friends Fanpop

Abc tv ident cave painting 1988 1994


Plot

Johnson and his friends are toys that belong to a boy named Michael, unseen except for asleep in his bed. They reside in his bedroom, but do not move or show any signs of life until he has left the room or fallen asleep. Each episode involves a story about the toys and it will usually have a message to convey to the children about sharing, cheating, complaining or similar.

Themes

The series is aimed at children less than five years old, and plays upon their fascination with the notion that toys come to life when they are gone. However, the stories often have a deeper message, and sometimes they are very poignant. Often the toys live in terror that new toys will replace them, encouraging small children to look after old toys.

On one occasion McDuff was taken out into the real world. She rejected her friends because it was so wonderful, but eventually she regained her senses. One episode deals with the issue of having a TV in your child's room. The toys become completely addicted and Alfred watches it even when nothing is on. All the episodes convey gentle moral messages to young children whilst at the same time providing the lively colour and rambunctious gaiety that young children enjoy.

Characters

  • Johnson: The leader of the toys. A furry pink elephant who loves reading. Johnson is the wisest and oldest of the group, despite a shortcoming of not been able to count past one, and a tendency towards impatience sometimes.
  • McDuff: A blue and yellow concertina who loves having fun. Although she is a little silly, McDuff is a kind and loyal friend, especially towards the misunderstood Diesel.
  • Diesel: A red toy truck with a yellow and black hat that spends most of his time going "bruuum, bruuum" around the floor. He speaks with a very pronounced Australian accent. Although brusque, he means well and is obviously fond of his friends.
  • Alfred: A green hot water bottle, which is technically not a toy. He is a real fusspot and lives in the dark, dank area of the bedroom that is under the bed. He is neurotic and anxious and complains constantly. His face wears an aggrieved expression, but it is Alfred that supplies a lot of the humour. He also owns an old "banana skin blanket" which he is very protective of. Although grumpy and sometimes selfish, Alfred is generally good natured and helps Johnson out on his endeavours.
  • Squeaky: A black and red robot. She guards the bedroom while Michael is asleep and loves singing to herself. She is childlike and believes that the vacuum cleaner is her mother. She does not appear in every episode.
  • Victoria: A slow-moving orange and purple dinosaur that actually belongs to Michael's elder sister, Melissa; Victoria will appear at the door with some bad news she has just heard, e.g. "They're going on holiday and they can't take any toys with them!"
  • Alphonse: Alfred's long lost friend from the hot water bottle factory, he mentions that he and Alfred are both very musically talented and were once known as "The Hot Water Rockers".
  • Albert: Another hot water bottle acquaintance of Alfred's, Albert is known for his temper, and is even less tolerable than Alfred!
  • Alfred's Friends: Aside from Alphonse and Albert, Alfred is shown to have many hot water bottle friends, whom he has invited to the bedroom at least once.
  • Michael: The boy who owns the toys, he is only seen while asleep, in the form of a dummy, but is frequently mentioned throughout the series.
  • Melissa: Michael's sister who is the owner of Victoria. She is never seen on screen, only mentioned.
  • Michael's Mum and Dad: Michael's parents are occasionally mentioned throughout the series, however, they never appear physically.
  • Michael's Aunt and Uncle: Michael's Aunt and Uncle are mentioned very briefly in one of the episodes.
  • Baby: Michael's infant cousin made a non-physical appearance in one of the episodes.

    • Cast

    The program was narrated by Paul Bertram. The US dub was narrated by Amy Hartman.

    References

    Johnson and Friends Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA