Rex the Runt is a British live action stop motion animated claymation pixilationcomedy franchise, primarily consisting of a television show and two short films produced by Aardman Animations for BBC Bristol in association with EVA Entertainment and Egmont Imagination. Its main characters are four plasticinedogs: Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob and Vince.
Rex was first introduced as a minor character in Ident (1989), a short film directed by Richard Goleszowski for the Lip Synch series. During the seven years of development of the characters, Goleszowski produced three pilots, subtitled How Dinosaurs Became Extinct (1991), Dreams (1991) and North by North Pole (1996).
The animation is unusual in that the models are almost two-dimensional and are animated to exaggerate this - they are flattened in appearance and animated on a sheet of glass with the backgrounds behind the sheet.
Rex the runt series 2 episode 9
Main characters
Rex, the protagonist — a timid, irritable runt. He is quick-witted and usually comes up with plans to get out of the scrapes the gang finds themselves in. However, he can also annoy the others by being a smart aleck. His favourite superhero is Rocket Raymond.
Bad Bob is a "big, fat slob", interested in food and TV. His friends, and occasionally even himself, describe him as a "Big, fat, jelly-wobbly, fat bast-", usually getting cut off towards the end. He is distinguishable by his eye patch, which changes from eye to eye, and often carries around a revolver almost the size of himself. However grumpy he might be, he is intelligent and loyal.
Wendy is the only female housemate, distinguishable by her eyelashes, pink colour, noticeably hemispheric breasts, and wears a pink bow on her head. She is cynical, sarcastic, and fiercely independent. Wendy provides solutions to problems albeit in a distant or non-caring way.
Vince is the pet of the household, although all four are dogs. He is distinguished by his prominent buckteeth and mismatched eyes. He speaks in single words or short disjointed phrases, his favourites being "Spaghetti", "Tuesday", "Jam", and "Trousers". Vince suffers from "Random Pavarotti Disease", causing him to randomly blurt out snatches of opera. While he appears to be unintelligent, he occasionally shows great ingenuity, for example by building an elaborate Heath Robinson machine designed to kill a mouse. The other members of the gang often respond to Vince's random outbursts by irritably telling him to "shut it". Vince often has a habit of copying what others have said, sometimes even if they have just said it in their minds, which Bad Bob finds really annoying.
Other characters
Many one-off and recurring characters in Rex The Runt are voiced by various well-known UK celebrities. These include:
Doctor Dogg is a medical doctor. Moustachioed, complacent and greedy, he's an opportunistic money-grabber, whose habitual charge for any treatment is "ten quid" - regardless of whether the cure works or does more harm than good. He isn't above using the main characters in medical research.
Arthur Dustcart, another semi-regular character, who first makes an appearance in the last episode of the first series, but appears quite frequently in the second. He is an ugly but experienced dustman, sporting sleepy mismatched eyes, a neckerchief, a pair of dirty underpants and a large nose with prominent nasal hair. Despite his grotesque appearance and smell, he and Wendy get on rather well, much to the annoyance of Rex. He becomes a friend of the household when he helps find Rex after he was turned into spaghetti.
Mrs. Bloomers Head of Kumfy Kennels and treats dogs with care, until she put Vince in the kennel and he ate a chihuahua.
Judith Poodle Hostess of a holiday program and usually ends her sentences with "Ruff!".
Mr. Formal The Runts' bank manager, until Bad Bob brought his gun and made him think they were bank robbers.
Melting Blob Alien A 3-year-old, but very smart alien who warned the Runts about the black hole.
Kylie Mandlebrotska Rex's old math teacher, until she fell into the black hole.
Easter Island Aliens Three space aliens from the planet Thribb where the people look like the Moai statues from Easter Island.
Mr Chittock Angry neighbour to Rex, after the gang went into his house and drank his beer. Voiced by veteran alternative comedian Stephen Frost.
Johnny Saveloy A teenage sausage who was really very old but was kept in a state of artificial youth due to the Church of Chemicology.
Stinky Basil Smarmy French talent-spotter. Voiced by Antoine De Caunes, known best in the UK for presenting the Channel 4 late-night adult entertainment show 'Eurotrash'.
The Happy Rabbits A band who may sing beautifully but are really cranky and will let anybody stand in their way.
Judith Chalmers as Judith Poodle ("A Holiday in Vince", "The Trials of Wendy")
Bob Holness as Mr Formal ("Adventures on Telly, Part I")
Eddie Izzard as Melting Blob Man ("Adventures on Telly, Part III"), and Easter Island Head Aliens ("Easter Island")
Kathy Burke as Kylie Mandelbrotska ("Adventures on Telly, Part III", "Rocket Raymond", "Wendy's New Hair Do")
Antoine de Caunes as Stinky Basil ("Too Many Dogs", "Stinky's Search for a Star", "Bob's International Hiccup Centre"), and French Delegate ("Bob's International Hiccup Centre")
An Aardman Animations Production for BBC Bristol in association with EVA Entertainment & Egmont Imagination
Series 2
Written by: Ben Caudell, Peter Holmes, Andrew Viner
Original Music: Stuart Gordon, Ben Jones
Executive Producer for BBC: Colin Rose
Executive Producers for Egmont Imagination: Paul Kofod & Tom Van Waveren
Executive Producers for Aardman: Peter Lord & David Sproxton, Michael Rose
Producer: Jacqueline White
Directed by: Richard Goleszowski, Dan Capozzi, Chris Sadler, Sam Fell, Peter Peake
An Aardman Animations Production for BBC Bristol in association with Egmont Imagination
Merchandise
Series One has been released on VHS in the United Kingdom and on DVD in South Korea. A DVD of all 26 episodes has been released in the United States, which is region-free.
Rex The Runt: The Complete First Season (VHS) (B00005NB24)
Rex The Runt: The Complete Collection (DVD) (Region 0) (B000068QOF)
Rex The Runt: Rainy Day Companion (Book written by Andrew Franks and Kevin Wrench, a.k.a. the voices of Rex and Bad Bob) (ISBN 0-340-74862-1)
Aardman's Darkside (a compilation DVD featuring episodes of Rex The Runt, released on 18 October 2006) (DVD) (B000FS9SDM)
Rex The Runt plush toys of the four main characters were available via Aardman at one point, as well as a handbag of Vince's head, though this is particularly rare.
Sweets shaped like the main characters were available in the early 2000s
Underdog
Underdog is an advertising character, first appearing in 2010, animated by Aardman Animations, in the same style as the Rex the Runt figures, but wearing bandages, promoting the personal injury claims company National Accident Helpline.
