Johnson and Friends

Johnson and Friends
Format	Children's
Created by	John Patterson
Starring	See Cast section below.
Narrated by	Paul Bertram
Composer(s)	Chris Neal
Country of origin	Australia
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	60
Production
Executive producer(s)	Ron Saunders Tom Littlemore
Editor(s)	Neil Thumpston
Running time	10 mins
Production company(s)	Film Australia
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	4:3
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	11 March 1991 – 1996

Johnson and Friends is an Australian children’s television programme broadcast on ABC from 1991 to 1996. It was produced by Film Australia and lasted six seasons. In the UK it was shown in the early 1990s on TCC, CBBC, and then on UK Living's Tiny Living strand for under-fives. It was aired in the United States as a segment on the Fox Cubhouse, an educational children's program on Fox, from 1993 to 1996.

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 (also a major theme in Toy Story), 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 is the leader of the toys. A furry pink elephant, Johnson is the wisest and oldest of the group, although he tends towards impatience sometimes.

• McDuff is a blue and yellow concertina and although she is a little silly, is a kind and loyal friend, especially towards the misunderstood Diesel.

• Diesel is a red toy truck 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 is the 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 peel which he is very protective of. Although grumpy, Alfred is generally good natured and helps Johnson out on his endeavors.

• Squeaky is a black and red robot. She is childlike and does not often speak; she believes that the vacuum cleaner is her mother. She does not appear very often.

• Victoria is a slow-moving orange dinosaur that actually belongs to Michael's sister, Mellisa; 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!"

• Michael is the boy who owns the toys.

• Mellisa is Micheal's sister who is the owner of Victoria.

• Michael's Mum was mentioned in a lot of episodes but never seen.

Cast

Character	Actor
Johnson	Arky Michael/Jonathan Hendry/Garry Scale (voice)
McDuff	Dra McKay/Katrina Sedgwick (voice)
Diesel	Matthew Chamberlain/Bruce Wedderburn/Doug Scroope (voice)
Alfred	Peter Brown (voice)
Squeaky	Sarah Boddy/Kristen Lyons/Emily Lumbers (voice)
Victoria	Elizabeth Easther

The programme was narrated by Paul Bertram. The puppets were designed by Caroline Jones.

Episodes

Season 1

1. Beginnings
2. Under The Bed
3. Best Of Friends
4. The Thing Outside
5. Helpless
6. Moving House
7. Playing Games
8. The Birthday Present

Season 2

1. Wind Chimes
2. Sharing
3. The Picnic
4. Cleaning Day
5. The Camping Trip
6. Secrets
7. Homeless
8. Battle Of The Bed
9. Crying Wolf
10. A Case Of Trust
11. Being Good
12. Baby Of The Family

Season 3

1. Stage Fright
2. Blast Off
3. The Birthday Party
4. The Big Freeze
5. Operation Squeaky
6. Buried Treasure
7. Diesel Tries To Fly
8. Dinosaur Tracks
9. The Pink Thread
10. Melissa's Dinosaur

Season 4

1. Diesel Who
2. The Home Coming
3. The Three Little Pigs
4. Disappearing Act
5. Growing Up
6. The Flood
7. The Toy Orchestra
8. The Money Box
9. The Television Set
10. The Toy Hospital

Season 5

1. A Trip To The Moon
2. The Loose Tooth
3. The Fancy Dress Party
4. The Art Exhibition
5. Finders Keepers
6. Leaving Home
7. Sock Soup
8. The Train Conductor
9. The Fun Run
10. The Crying Baby

Season 6

1. Bringing Up Baby
2. Going Away
3. Left Behind
4. All At Sea
5. The Big Surprise
6. Victoria Gets Swapped
7. The Thinker
8. Little Red Riding Hood
9. The Telephone Exchange
10. Putting Out The Rubbish

External links

• Johnson and Friends at the Internet Movie Database
• ABC Kids Page (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
• RetroJunk
• Sausagenet.com
• Johnson and Friends at the National Film and Sound Archive