The Wombles
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2008-07-16T22:16:55Z
Ilja.nieuwland
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{{otheruses4|the fictional creatures|other uses|Womble (disambiguation)}}
'''The Wombles''' are characters created by [[author]] [[Elisabeth Beresford]], originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968. The characters later became nationally famous in the mid 1970s as a result of a popular [[BBC]] children's television show using [[stop motion animation]]. A number of spin-off novelty songs also became major hits in the British music charts.
Wombles are pointy-nosed furry creatures that live in burrows, where they help the environment by collecting and [[recycling]] rubbish in useful and ingenious ways. Their [[motto]] is '''Make Good Use of Bad Rubbish.''' This [[environmentalism|"green"]] message was ahead of its time in the 1970s. Although Wombles live in every country in the world, the stories focus on the life of the burrow in [[Wimbledon and Putney Commons|Wimbledon Common]] in [[London]], [[England]].
==Background==
Elisabeth Beresford was a freelance [[ghost writer]] and children's book author. She was born in [[Paris]] and travelled the world with her [[BBC]] sports commentator husband [[Max Robertson]].
One [[Christmas]], Beresford took her young children for a [[Boxing Day]] walk on Wimbledon Common, where one referred to the green as "Wombledon Common." On getting home, Beresford wrote down the idea and started developing the characters and storylines.<ref>[http://www.tidybag.co.uk/wombles-info/elisabeth-beresford.html Tidy Bag: Elisabeth Beresford<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==Characters==
Beresford developed the characters around members of her family, and named them after places the family had associations with:<ref>[http://www.tidybag.co.uk/wombles-info/elisabeth-beresford.html Tidy Bag: Elisabeth Beresford<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
*Great Uncle [[Bulgaria]] - the Wombles' leader, was based on Beresford's father-in-law
*[[Tobermory, Mull|Tobermory]] - an engineer and handyman, was based on Beresford's brother, a skilled inventor
*[[Orinoco]] - a shirker who loved sleep and food, was styled on Beresford's teenage son
*[[Bungo Province|Bungo]] - over-enthusiastic and bossy
*[[Tomsk]] - athletic Womble
*[[Wellington]] - scientifically inclined, named after her [[Wellington College, Berkshire|nephew's school]]
*Madame [[Cholet]] - a cook, was styled on Beresford's mother
Later character names for the [[Wombling Free|film]] and second [[The Wombles (TV series)|TV series]] developed in the same manner:
*Cousin [[Cairngorms|Cairngorm]] McWomble the Terrible - named after the mountain range in Scotland
*[[Alderney]] - Madame Cholet's assistant, was named after the island where Beresford lived at the time of the second television series
*[[Shanxi|Shansi]] - often paired with Alderney, as Bungo was with Orinoco
*Miss [[Adelaide]] - schoolmistress
*[[Stepney]] - [[East End of London|East End]]er with [[dreadlocks]]
In the first book, Bungo was the youngest and least experienced of the team, and the story is mostly viewed through his eyes. Afterwards Wellington (who was not introduced until the second book) took over the role of "new boy". Alderney and Adelaide appeared in the earlier books but were not included in the original 1970s TV series. Alderney was re-introduced in the later TV shows produced in the 1990s (the [[Channel Island]] of Alderney was actually Elisabeth Beresford's home at the time), along with Stepney (who appeared in none of the earlier versions).
she loved recycling!
==The Wombles and sport==
Due to the Wombles' association with the area, sporting teams representing [[Wimbledon, London|Wimbledon]] are sometimes affectionately dubbed "the Wombles". These teams include the Ladies side of [[Wimbledon RFC]] [http://ladies.wimbledonrfc.co.uk/] (whose mascot is Alderney), Wimbledon Volleyball Club and the Wombles Netball Club. [http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/netball/]
From 2000 to June 2003, [[Wimbledon F.C.]] used a Womble as a club mascot named ''"Wandle"'' after the local [[River Wandle]]. However, in light of the controversy of moving the club to [[Milton Keynes]], the licence was not renewed.<ref>[http://www.tidybag.co.uk/wombles-info/questions.html Tidy Bag: Wombles FAQ<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In 2006 the club's spiritual successor [[AFC Wimbledon]] agreed a licensing deal, and launched its own Womble mascot. After a naming competition in which the final name was chosen by Elisabeth Beresford herself, the club announced that the new Womble would be known as ''"Haydon,"'' after [[Haydons Road railway station|Haydons Road]], the nearest railway station to Wimbledon's original home ground, [[Plough Lane]].
==The storyline==
Though Wombles live all around the world, the story is based on the group living in [[Wimbledon and Putney Commons|Wimbledon Common]] burrow in [[London]], [[England]]. Below a certain age, all Wombles are nameless. Upon coming of age, a Womble chooses his name from Great Uncle Bulgaria's atlas, after which he leaves Miss Adelaide's "Womblegarten" and enters the communal work of the burrow, which is mostly clearing up and recycling human refuse. The life expectancy of a Womble is over 200 years, with some reaching 300, which would make them the longest-lived of all animal species.
The story is mostly viewed and told through the eyes of the lazy and gluttonous Orinoco. His favourite food, as with every Womble, are Cloud Berries.
==Children's novels==
There were a total of five novels:
*''The Wombles'' (1968)
*''The Wandering Wombles'' (1970)
*''The Wombles at Work'' (1973)
*''The Wombles Go Round the World'' (1976)
The latter two books are less well known than the original three, perhaps because they appeared after the advent of successful TV series. In ''The Wandering Wombles'', the setting moved from Wimbledon Common to [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] in central [[London]]. However ''The Wombles to the Rescue'' saw them return to Wimbledon Common.
Beresford also wrote a collection of short stories entitled ''The Invisible Womble and Other Stories'' (1973), in which the original Wimbledon Common setting was restored. Although based on episodes from the TV series, these stories occasionally refer to events in the novels.
In addition to these books, a great many annuals, picture-books and children's early readers have been published over the years, some of which were also written by Elisabeth Beresford.
==Television==
{{main|The Wombles (TV series)}}
A [[stop motion]] animated series was made in 1973-1975. Further animated episodes were made in 1998-1999.
==Music==
{{main|The Wombles (band)}}
Songwriter and producer [[Mike Batt]] wrote the series' theme tune, and later went on to perform and produce a number of highly successful novelty singles as ''[[The Wombles (band)|The Wombles]]'' in the 1970s.
==Film==
{{Main|Wombling Free}}
A feature-length live-action movie ''[[Wombling Free]]'' was released in 1977, starring [[David Tomlinson]] and [[Bonnie Langford]]. A soundtrack album was released in 1978.
==Other appearances==
The Wombles starred in a number of [[Great Britain|British]] [[comics]] including [[Teddy Bear (comic)|Teddy Bear]] (1973), [[Jack and Jill (comic)|Jack and Jill]] (1973-81), a number of holiday specials, and as the interval act at the [[Eurovision Song Contest 1974]].
==In popular culture==
[[Barry Wom|Barrington Womble MBE]] is the drummer of the fictional band ''[[The Rutles]]'' played by John Halsey. A spoof of ''[[The Beatles]]'' drummer [[Ringo Starr]], he is sometimes referred to as The Lost Womble.{{Fact|date=March 2008}}
English rock band, [[The Libertines]] mention the characters in their Song Time For Heroes.
The 2005 film [[Breakfast on Pluto]] features the Wombles.
In the works of author D.C. White, the character of Captain Doobie (who, much like [[Warren Ellis]]'s [[The Captain]], is not really the Captain of anything) estimates that one [[horsepower]] is equivalent to 1072.8 womblepower.
In the [[Bottom_%28TV_series%29#Series_1_.281991.29|Bottom]] episode [[%27S_Out|'s Out]], the main characters Eddie and Richie camp out on Wimbledon common and try hunting Wombles to get a meal. They fail.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.tidybag.co.uk/ Tidy Bag - The Online Wombles Museum]
* [http://www.fidella.com/womble/ Womble Lovers]
* [http://www.cerise.f2s.com/womble/ The Womble Burrow]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wombles, The}}
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