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Budgie the Little Helicopter

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Budgie the Little Helicopter
Budgie the Little Helicopter Titles
GenreAnimated series
Created byHRH The Duchess of York
(now Sarah, Duchess of York)
Developed byHTV
Sleepy Kids[1]
Written byBrian Trueman
Theme music composerDennis C. Brown
Opening themePaul K. Joyce
(Main Title Theme)
Ending themeInstrumental Theme
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Canada
United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes39
Production
Executive producersDan Maddicot
Martin Powell
Viven Schrager Powell
Fred Wolf
ProducerMichael Algar
Running time10 minutes
Production companies
Sleepy Kids
Fred Wolf Films Dublin[2]
Original release
NetworkFox Kids[3]
ITV[4]
Nick Jr.
Release4 January 1994 (1994-01-04) –
25 March 1996 (1996-03-25)

Budgie the Little Helicopter is a series of children's books and animated television series relating to a fictional character 'Budgie' and his friends.[5] The characters were based on the books by Sarah, Duchess of York, who was influenced by her flight training in the Royal Navy.[6] The show was produced by Fred Wolf Films Dublin for HTV and Sleepy Kids Company, and originally aired on British television in 1994 on CITV, then, was aired later on in the United States of America on Fox Kids.[7] The TV Show ran for 39 episodes, and a range of videos, books, and toys were released under the 'Budgie' label. Budgie the Little Helicopter merchandise is now quite rare.

On release of the first book, the Duchess was forced to deny she had copied the idea for the series from the earlier Hector the Helicopter book by A.W. Baldwin.[8]

The voice of Budgie was originally performed by Richard Pearce.

UK VHS releases

VHS Title Release Date Episodes
Budgie the Little Helicopter Pippa Arrives (VA30318) 14 March 1994 Pippa Arrives, Chuck Comes Unstuck, Budgie's Blizzard, Ice Work, Budgie, Budgie Takes a Catch
Budgie the Little Helicopter The Air Show (VA30336) 7 November 1994 The Air Show, All At Sea, Boats, Boots and Budgie, Copters and Robbers
Budgie the Little Helicopter Daydreams and Candy Floss (VA30359) 6 March 1995 Daydreams and Candy Floss, Flying in Arctic Circles, What's Bruin?, Down on the Farm
Budgie the Little Helicopter Budgie Sticks To It (VA30372) 3 July 1995 Budgie Sticks To It, Skids, Stunts and Soap, Aliens Have Landed, Who's A Clever Budgie?, Blown Up, Let Down
Budgie the Little Helicopter Wally Waddles In (VA30394) 20 November 1995 Wally Waddles In, The Balloon Goes Up, Surprise, Surprise, Deep Sleep
Budgie the Little Helicopter The Complete First Series (VA30626) 20 May 1996 Pippa Arrives, Chuck Comes Unstuck, Budgie's Blizzard, Ice Work, Budgie, Budgie Takes a Catch, The Air Show, All At Sea, Boats, Boots and Budgie, Copters and Robbers, Daydreams and Candy Floss, Flying in Arctic Circles, What's Bruin?, Down on the Farm
Budgie the Little Helicopter The Complete Second Series (VA30647) 14 October 1996 Budgie Sticks To It, Skids, Stunts and Soap, Aliens Have Landed, Who's A Clever Budgie?, Blown Up, Let Down, Wally Waddles In, The Balloon Goes Up, Surprise, Surprise, Deep Sleep, Bad News, Good News, Budgie Barges In, Dutch Courage, Budgie's Opening Goal
Budgie the Little Helicopter The Complete Third Series (VA30680) 10 March 1997 Boom Boom Budgie, Writers in the Sky, Double Trouble, Eye in the Sky, Chuck's Buddy, The Aqueduct, Plane Silly, The Plane Who Cried Wolf, The Runaway Train, A Tail of Woe, Put Up or Stuck Up, Silent Flight, Ups & Downs

Episodes

Season 1 (1994)

title information
Pippa Arrives Pippa, the new arrival, comes to Harefield.
Chuck Comes Unstuck Harefield fete soon comes to Harefield.
Budgie's Blizzard Budgie gets trapped in a snowstorm after taking a pregnant woman to hospital when she is about to have her baby. Will Lionel and the other aircraft be able to rescue him?
Ice Work, Budgie The next morning Budgie and friends set off for home but Budgie and Pippa spot skiers skiing on a slope they go down to have look as Lionel and Chuck head back to the airfield. A little while later Budgie lands on a snowy hill and slips on it.
Budgie Takes a Catch Budgie, Pippa and Lionel are delivering fish to an opening of a fish museum and Budgie goes off to look around but when he tries to find his way back he ends up getting lost. Can Lionel and Pippa find him in time?
The Air Show Budgie gets helinapped by two crooks and his friends have to rescue him.
All At Sea Budgie is delivering space parts to a navy ship and has to spend the night on an aircraft carrier and accidentally falls overboard.
Boats, Boots and Budgie The river overflows flooding the airport and a cow has to move to another field. Budgie however gets pretty much trapped himself. His tow line unravels and gets caught in some seaweed.The seaweed comes off its stalk and smacks into a rock and Budgie thinks it is a seamonster and thinks that it is attacking him.
Copters and Robbers Budgie accidenttly gets helinapped again by the two crooks his friends battled during the air show and doesn't know what to do. When he cries out for help Pippa and Chuck go to rescue him.
Daydreams and Candy Floss Budgie gets stuck on a broken roller coaster at the seaside and Pippa must try to do her best to help him.
Flying in Arctic Circles Budgie takes a nap in a big hole in the Arctic Circle and Pippa wakes him up by warning him that the hole he is in is a volcano. Budgie looks down at the lava and tells Pippa that he is trapped. Pippa quickly radios Chuck and Lionel to come and rescue Budgie.
What's Bruin? In the arctic circle, Budgie is still trapped in the volcano and Lionel and Chuck rescue him.
Down on the Farm Farmer Hayes falls ill and is unable to do his daily chores, so the aircraft decide to join in but Budgie's engine overheats and it causes a fire putting Budgie in danger.

Season 2 (1995)

title information
Budgie Sticks To It While a new airport is getting built, Budgie decides to stick to it.
Skids, Stunts and Soap Pasty makes a visit to Harefield.
Aliens Have Landed While Lionel is on a job, Budgie hears that aliens are invading them.
Who's A Clever Budgie? Chuck brings in loads of nuts from Brazil.
Blown Up, Let Down Budgie gets trapped in the sea when he runs out of fuel.
Wally Waddles In Wally comes to Harefield.
The Balloon Goes Up A balloon festival is taking place near Harefield, but the balloon starts rising with the twins in it putting them in danger. Budgie tries to rescue them before the balloon gets away.
Surprise, Surprise Heavy pipes fall on the heliwash, damaging it, while Mrs. Kitchen is baking a cake for Ken.
Deep Sleep Wally recounts his time of saving a man from a shark.
Bad News, Good News Harefield is about to be closed to be replaced by a factory. Budgie immediately gets into action to prevent it from happening.
Budgie Barges In Budgie and the other aircraft travel across to France.
Dutch Courage On the way back from France, the aircraft have to drop a delivery off in Holland, but Budgie experiences a problem when he accidentally mistakes a windmill for a helicopter.
Budgie's Opening Goal The new Harefield is opened and Budgie aids as the Minister for Airports.

Season 3 (1996)

title information
Boom Boom Budgie Budgie tries to break the sound barrier.
Writers in the Sky Chuck is towing a couple of kites through the air and he crashlands into a pond.
Double Trouble Budgie and Chuck discover that Pippa got replaced by a Double.
Eye in the Sky Budgie tasks as becoming a traffic helicopter for the day, but more trouble ensues in the process.
Chuck's Buddy Buddy has to put Budgie in charge for a day, which leads to a disaster.
The Aqueduct Budgie discovers that the water has disappeared.
Plane Silly Budgie has to search for Ben and Lucy's lost model airplane.
The Plane Who Cried Wolf Jasper has been constantly lying, so no one believes that he is in trouble. Budgie then comes to his aid.
The Runaway Train Jake is pulling the Royal Carriage and suddenly goes out of control on the track. Budgie goes out to stop him.
A Tail of Woe Lionel damages his main rotors, when he tries to avoid Ben and Lucy's rabbits. Budgie sets out to find a new replacement before the twins find the rabbits.
Put Up or Stuck Up The air museum has opened at Harefield and Budgie has to complete all his tasks on it.
Silent Flight The aircraft set out to rescue some skiers stranded on a snowy mountain.
Ups & Downs Chuck is punished by picking up all the rotten vegetables. Budgie is delivering pieces for a new bridge, but he soon spots two people trying to catch a dolphin and has to rescue a submarine.

Home video releases

In 1997, UAV Entertainment released some episodes of the series on individual VHS tapes and the complete series tapes were also released. A 1997 film special titled Budgie the Little Helicopter: The Movie also was released on VHS.[9] Two DVDs were released in 2004 and 2006.

International Broadcast

References

  1. ^ "Budgie boost for Kids". Independent. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  2. ^ Eadie, Alison (1993-12-04). "Fergie's Budgie Coming to the US". Sun Sentinel. London. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  3. ^ "Fergie's 'Little Helicopter' to be shown on Fox TV". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  4. ^ Shepherd, John (1994-03-17). "Shares in Sleepy Kids doze". Independent. London. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  5. ^ Dullea, Georgia (1994-02-16). "AT TEA WITH: The Duchess of York; Mercy, Mischief and a Royal Fiction". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  6. ^ "Fergie's soaring". Canoe. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  7. ^ Carter, Bill (1995-07-14). "Fox Plans 'Budgie' Cartoons in a Deal with Duchess of York". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  8. ^ Starting over at 40
  9. ^ "Amazon.com Budgie the Little Helicopter: The Movie".
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