There are some shows that will always be timeless no matter what decade that they air in and where in the world they are watched as there's just something about them that will always make them feel relevant. The same thing is true for The Wombles as this little known British kids TV show about things that clean up after us is something that is still relevant to this very day and well as you all seem to like the Paddington revies so much and this show was made by the same team it only made sense that I check out the first episode of this show and so then join me as I review the episode that introduced us to a whole new race of beings with the episode in question being called simply "Orinoco And The Big Black Umbrella" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is Orinoco the laziest Womble is tasked with finding the latest edition of The Times on a particularly windy day. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. The thing that makes this episodes plot be as good as it was is the fact that it is a simple story as all it is is just a creature trying to find the latest edition of a newspaper for the head of this section of The Wombles and that's it. With the fact that this episodes plot being as simple as it is is also something that does add an extra layer of charm to the episode as while yes it would have been very nice if the makers of this episode did have a more stronger plot that better showed of alot of the main characters like you would get in todays animated shows by not doing that and only really focusing on just the one character it does allow for the episode to come across as being alot more relaxing as there's no big plot and there's no characters running around trying to get alot of things done it's just this one character doing this ne thing and even then he doesn't do it on purpose, however there are advantages to having a more stronger plot as well like for example the fact that we would get to better know the shows characters and location something which we don't really get to see alot of in this episode and while that would be great for other shows for this episode taking more slow and steady approach does work as it allows the characters to be there usual charming selfs and it allows for us the audience to be oddly engrossed in the episodes plot with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Bernard Cribbins and much like alot of kids shows from around this time period he is doing all of the voices for all of the characters. However unlike alot of those same shows he does make an effort to give all of The Wombles slight differences in their voices with thus being something that does allow for us the audience to make out alot more easier just which character is speaking at any given moment. With it being helped by the fact that he is his usual charming self in this show with him giving the characters these really charming voices that do help to highlight there personalities which is something that he really didn't need to do and is something that people like Sir Ringo Starr and Sir Michael Hordern could have done for there respective shows and yet it was something that was not only done in this episode but works in this episode as well as this is a show that does demand that all of the characters do have these unique voices just due to the fat that there are alot of main characters in the show and while the same thing is also true for something like Paddington there they can get away with just having one voice for alot of the characters due to the fact that the stories are more well known whereas here the stories for The Wombles aren't as well known and therefor Bernard did have to come up with these rather distinctive sounding voices to help to give life to these characters and it is something that does work as he does give them life when on paper they could have been seen as being very one dimensional and boring to listen to at best and to be fair to the episode it does also give the episode alot more charm as you never really know just what it is that the characters are going to be saying next.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. Out of all of the people that they could have gotten to do voice work for this show Bernard Cribbins really was the best choice as he is just such a likable person anyway this is something that Doctor Who fans young and old know full well and yet it is something that does also come across in his acting for this episode with him even adding little tings that help to make the characters feel more thought out like for example he makes Great Uncle Bulgaria who is the leader of this part of The Wombles be a little bit more aloof and be a bit more commanding then what he might have been in the books. With the best actor in this episode for obvious reasons also being Bernard Cribbins as the man is just simply a joy to listen to in this episode as you can tell right from the start of the episode to right at the very end of the episode and that joy is something that does make his performance all the more fun to watch in the episode, with him even coming across as someone who read the books as his performance in the episode does come across as someone who was a fan of the books and therefore turned in a good performance because of the fact that he wanted to do right not only by the characters but also by the books themselves. With the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so good that all this episodes actor has to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of him naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the animation for this episode is the legends and the greats that really are currently over at FilmFair. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. The fact that this episodes animation is of as high a quality is something that's not really all that surprising as FilmFair did have Ivor Wood not only directing the show but also doing all of the animation for the show and it is something that really does show through in the final episode. As the episode does have the same Ivor Wood look and feel to it that alot of this shows be it The Herbs or Paddington have to them and to be fair to this episode it is something that does work for the episode with both the show and the episode having a rather unique look to them as all of the things like trees and the backs of people's houses all seems to be done in paper cut out with The Wombles themselves being done in stopmotion with this being the kind of style that was used a little bit for The Herbs and yet here in this episode it does feel like that it was pushed as far as they could take it as we do get alot of shots in this episode that do make you wonder how they managed to film it with the best example of this being when Orinoco gets swept up in the Umbrella and it carries him home with the camera showing us him taking of from his point of view this is shot that today would have been very easy to do as you could it in CGI but back in the seventies there was no way that you could get a shot like this and yet here it is in this episode and it's a shot does look really good. The rest of the episodes animation does look about as good as you could expect from nineteen seventies stopmotion and yet the episode oddly enough doesn't feel like it's being held back by this rather it fully embraces its limiations and works around them.
For alot of you that don't really know this show is based off of a series books by author Elisabeth Beresford. With there being a total of six books released between 1968 and 1976 this is something that might explain why the storis aren't as well known to today's child audience as they would have been back in the day with it not really being helped by the fact that while the books are still in print there not the easiest the books to find as you can only find a few of them on Amazon's UK page and that's really it but what would be interesting to find out is if they took the same approach to telling the stories in this show that they did in Paddington where they only adapted the more humorous moments in the books and not really nothing else. As this episode does seem to rather gag driven as they don't set up anything about the characters or how they came to be here with the episode just cracking on with the story and heck it's hard to say if this episode was adapted from any of the books or not as there's no way of finding out any of that stuff but if it was then great as this was a really well written episode with there being some really cute characters moments with Orinoco and Great Uncle Bulgaria that do add to the episode and yet at the same time it would have been nice to see more of the other Wombles just so we can find out something about. Again to compare this episode to that of Paddington or even The Herbs for that matter in both shows in the first episode alone as find out alot about both the main character and the side characters whereas here in this episode we don't get to find out all that much about the characters outside of Orinoco who we find out is the lazy one of the group and that's it and while that might work for a storytelling method in the book as you have as many pages as you need to tell your story in a book for an animated show like this one the approach did need to be tweaked to fit this different format but it is still something that worked as well as it could have done tho.
It is easy to see why all of these characters really did take of back in the seventies as they are a bunch of really likable characters. This is something that you do see quite alot of the time just in this first episode alone and it is something that does make not only this episode but alot of the kids shows from around this time period like for example The Magic Roundabout and The Clangers as there is alot of thought and effort put into giving us these fun and charming characters and because of that all of them do come across as being really likable with this being one of the many reasons why shows like this one have stood the test of the time. With another reason being the fact that the episode itself is really cute and charming as while yes we all know that nothing bad is going to happen to the characters and we all know that at the end of the day there all going to make it back home safe and sound but what makes it charming to watch is despite all of that they do still show us just what a day in there lives are and that is something that does help to make the episode be alot more charming as this episode is one that could have been seen as being a very weak episode to start the show as a whole out on and that would be fair enough but at the same time tho the episode itself didn't need to be that strong in the first place it just needed to show you characters doing what they do best and if the makers of this show had done there job properly then we the audience would still be in love with the characters and want to see more of them and this is something that this episode does do quite well as while Orinoco does take the lead in the episode we still want to see more of the other Wombles those being Tonks , Wellington and Bungo that start out the episode even if it's just spend more time in this quite essentially British world.
In truth there's not really all that much with the episode itself and while that is a really goof thing it is something that could be seen as being a bad thing., As it does mean that the episode for the large part could be seen as being forgettable as while not alot actually does happen in the episode the episode also does nothing all that memorable either whereas if you look at the first episodes from British kids shows shows from around this same time they all do mostly have something that does make them standout a bit more be it the action from Thunderbirds or the more calming and relaxing nature of Bagpuss either way you do remember those episodes. Yet here with this episode outside of its high quality animation there's nothing that makes the episode be all the more memorable and while is something that could work to the episodes advantage as this show amongst many others are meant to be very slice of life there still did need to be something memorable about the episode and whilst one could argue that the shows opening theme song is the things that helps to make this episode more memorable that is not something that's exclusive to this episode. Not being all that memorable tho is is something that could be seen as being an advantage for the show as the show is meant to be all about how we humans never see The Wombles cleaning u after us therefor the show itself should represent the fact that we just never notice them and that does include not having memorable episodes and while the film "Wombling Free" would have us humans finally notice The Wombles that film isn't all memorable either, heck it could also be argued that the the thing that makes this episode be all the more memorable is the fact that it doesn't have alot of characters in it as there are only five characters in this whole episode and yet the episode still manages to tell a really good story.
Now then his episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly four minuets and fifty one seconds. Which for today's kids might not seem like much but for people of a certain age that is the bogstandard running time for a lot of classic kids shows as alot of them were all under five minuets in length and while this episode could have benefitted from having really a slightly longer running time just to introduce all of the shows main characters it really didn't need to do any of that as the episode does have more then enough thee interms of plot to really cover that amount of running time in the first place. However tho with this is mind the episode still doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the episode doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot as we never get to find out why Great Uncle Bulgaria wants a copy of The Times and while the film does explain why The Wombles are always cleaning up after humans that's something that isn't touched upon in this episode and fair enough it really didn't need to as that might have been a bit to heavy for little kids to digest at the time but it is still something that is important to the plot of this episode. This is something that does also effect the episodes character development as while yes none of these shows are great at giving there characters development and to be fair they don't really need to either it still would have helped this episode alot if we did see Orinoco learn that sometimes being lazy can be a bad thing as that would be an important lesson to teach kids but at the same time tho there is also a chance that the episode characters might get there character development in later of episodes of the show which would be fair enough as this is only the first episode of the show but there still needs to be some groundwork laid for that development and while this episode isn't hurt by not giving it's characters any kind of character development it's also not helped by it either but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. Wit the episode having alot of really cute funny moments in it that not only highlight just how funny that Bernard Cribbins was as an actor but also highlight just how funny that alot of this show characters can be as all of the characters in this episode do get a moment to just be funny. With the best joke in the whole entire episode being when Orinoco does finally get a copy of The Times and is quite literally flown back home in the Umbrella Great Uncle Bulgaria does take it off him and says that he can have double helpings of tea tonight for getting his work done quickly only for Orinoco just to lie down there on the grass and start to fall back to sleep, Which while that's not a laugh out loud funny joke it is perfectly in keeping with his character as the one things that he's been trying to do for all of the episode is try and get back sleep and therefor it does make sense that at the end of the work day he would again try and do exactly that as that's more true to his character altho the episode did a miss a trick by not having Great Uncle Bulgaria say that he's not a copy of the recent Times and that the copy he's brought him was yesterdays times as that is something that would have made sense given the fact that the episode takes place of a windy day and the fact that the characters have only just started there work of cleaning after us when it's found with the rest of the episodes jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall whilst alot of people in other arts of the world might not know or even care about The Wombles if your off a certain age in Britain then odds are this was a show that you grew up with and to be fair this episode does do a really good job of making you want to watch the next episode with the episode more then holding up over fifty years later in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.
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