Willo the Wisp was a British cartoon series originally produced in 1981. It ran for two seasons that were separated by twenty-four years. The initial 1981 season was made by Nicholas Cartoon Films whilst the second series was made by Spargo Films and Double:Take. In total fifty-two episodes were made.
Season 1 was written and directed by Nick Spargo and produced by Nicholas Cartoon Films in association with the BBC and Tellytales Enterprises. The character of Willo the Wisp originated in an educational animation created by Nick Spargo for British Gas plc in 1975 and the stories were set in Doyley Woods, a small beech wood in Oxfordshire, near the director’s home.
Each of the original 26 episodes lasted approximately 5 minutes and were broadcast at 5:35pm on BBC1, a tradition as short cartoons were always shown between the end of the main children’s BBC drama or sitcom for that afternoon, and the BBC Evening news at 5:40pm. All voices in Season 1 were provided by Kenneth Williams. The series has since been repeated numerous times.
A second series of 26 episodes (5 minutes each) was produced by Bobby Spargo in 2005, and voiced by James Dreyfus. Although it maintains the style of the original, alterations include:
- Willo no longer being a caricature of Kenneth Williams.
- Mavis being slimmer (although still too heavy to fly).
- Evil Edna being a widescreen television, with a wheeled stand instead of the original’s metal legs.
Ogun Bat is a Japanese superhero created by Takeo Nagamatsu in 1931 and is considered to be the first Japanese superhero. The anime ran 52 episodes between April 1st 1967 and March 23rd Read more
Zombie Hotel ran for twenty-six episodes in 2006 and focuses on Fungus and Maggot - two child zombies who pretend to be human to get into their local school. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzXhCDspKxU Read more
Originally running between 1977-1979 for 108 episodes, Yatterman succeeded Time Bokan and followed what happened after fragments of a mysterious stone known as the Skull Stone are scattered across the Read more
Wildfire (aka Cavalo de Fogo, and Fuego salvaje) was a cartoon series by Hanna-Barbera that debuted in September 1986 and ran for thirteen episodes. It follows the adventures of a 13 Read more
Wattoo Wattoo Super Bird is a French cartoon series created in 1978. Consisting of 60 five-minute episodes, the series was intended to teach morals to children. The eponymous Wattoo Wattoo Read more
W.I.T.C.H. is a European animated television series based on the Italian comic book series of the same name. It ran for two seasons - totaling at 52 episodes. Like Read more
Voltron: Defender of the Universe is an animated television series that features a team of space explorers that pilot a giant super robot known as Voltron. Initially produced as a Read more
Running for only 13 episodes in 1987, Visionaries - Knights of the Magical Light took place on the planet Prysmos where a once advanced society our forced to rely on Read more
When you’re the grandson of a famous hero, you’d think that your life would be interesting, but Tota Konoe is stuck in the dullest place he can imagine! He can’t Read more
You don’t have to be psychic to know that Hyobu Kyosuke is trouble waiting to happen, but having psychic powers of your own may be your only chance if you Read more
Hitting TV screens in 1981, Ulysses 31was a France-Japanese animated television series that updated the Greek mythology of Odysseus (known as "Ulysses" in Latin) to the 31st century. It ran for Read more
Cassy, Verne and Gus are three gifted students who go to an enchanted school where they learn about magic and how to use it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VMJY095Bdw One day they receive a Read more
Running for 47 episodes between 6th April 1976 – 24th February 1977, UFO Warrior Dai Apolon follows the life of Takeshi (voiced by Akira Murayama), a 16-year-old boy Takeshi who recently formed Read more
Transformers: Victory was an anime series produced by Toei Animation. It is a Japanese-produced spin-off of the well-known original Transformers cartoon, and the final complete animated series from what later Read more
If you are a true Transformers connoisseur and grew up watching this in the 80s, then not having this is sacrilegious and amounts to treason .The original Transformers cartoon series Read more
Toxic Crusaders is an animated series based on The Toxic Avenger films. It features Toxie, the lead character of the films leading a group of misfit superheroes who combat pollution. Toxic Read more
Part of The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series of the 1970's, Touché Turtle (Bill Thompson) and his sheepdog sidekick Dum Dum (Alan Reed) were a pair of heroic fencers who battle villains and Read more
Debuting in September 2009, Titan Maximum was created by Tom Root and Matthew Senreich and follows what happened to the legendary Titan Force Five - a super team drafted from the Read more
Time Patrol Tai Otasukeman aka Rescueman ran for 53 episodes between 1980-81. It was the fourth of the Time Bokan series. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7_-7wUvIvY Atasha, Sekobitchi and Duwarusuki respectively desire to be the Read more
From 1969-1971 Tiger Mask was the hero all of Japan wanted to be. For 105 episodes fans followed the heroic exploits of Naoto Dante aka Tiger Mask. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSifQeTLU68 Initially Tiger Mask Read more
Brett Summers
Founded Cult Faction in 2014. Some would describe him as a teacher, writer, dream weaver, and visionary... some would not...
More Stories
Bubblegum Crisis
Once Upon a Time… Space
ACCEL WORLD: INFINITE BURST