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Charlie and Lola

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Charlie and Lola are characters created by author Lauren Child. They were originally introduced in a series of books that were later made into a television series. Despite being primarily aimed at children aged 3–7, the books and shows are popular with adults, due to humorous and relatable storylines. Lola is an energetic, imaginative little girl; Charlie is a patient and kind older brother who has his work cut out (but is always willing) to help Lola learn and grow.

The first "Charlie and Lola" book, I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato, published in 2001, won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal. The character of Lola was based on an inquisitive little girl whom Child encountered on a train in Denmark. Charlie and Lola's parents, as well as their friends' parents, are often mentioned, but never seen.

I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato (US title)

Book titles

Original "Charlie and Lola" books by Lauren Child:

  • I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato (US title: I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato)
  • I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed
  • I Am Too Absolutely Small for School
  • Slightly Invisible

Spin-off books based on scripts and animation from the series:

  • I've Won, No I've Won, No I've Won
  • Snow Is My Favourite and My Best (US title: "Snow Is My Favorite and My Best")
  • But Excuse Me That Is My Book (TV episode title: But That Is My Book)
  • We Honestly Can Look After Your Dog (TV episode title: We Do Promise Honestly We Can Look After Your Dog)
  • My Wobbly Tooth Must Not Ever Never Fall Out (TV episode title: I Do Not Ever Never Want My Wobbly Tooth To Fall Out)
  • Say Cheese!
  • I'm Really Ever So Not Well
  • Whoops! But It Wasn't Me! (TV episode title: It Wasn't Me!)
  • This Is Actually My Party.
  • I Can Do Anything That's Everything All on My Own
  • You Can Be My Friend
  • But I Do Know All About Chocolate (special edition for Comic Relief)
  • My School Play Sticker Book (Based upon the episode There Is Only One Sun and That Is Me!)
  • My Haircut Sticker Book (Based upon the episode I Like My Hair Completely the Way It Is)
  • My Very Busy Sticker Book (Based upon the episode I'm Far Too Extremely Busy)
  • My Picnic Sticker Book (Based upon the episode The Most Wonderfullest Picnic in the Whole Wide World)

There are also various colouring books and a magazine in the UK.

The "Charlie and Lola" books have been translated into Welsh under the name Cai a Lois and into many other languages.

For the first book "I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato", Lauren Child said:

I saw a little girl walking outside the Denmark train. I remembered the girl and drew it with her big sister Charlie and called it Lola.

Characters

Charlie Sonner

Charlie is a loyal and older brother to Lola. Sometimes, he has fallen out with Lola, when Lola broke Charlie's handmade rocket but eventully made up. Being a best friend to Marv, Charlie leads his life while facing devastation, after his pet mouse, Nibbles died. In the episode when Lola, Charlie, Lotta and Marv drew a picture of their houses, Charlie drew a very detailed house. In the episode called Charlie is Broken, Charlie broke his arm while playing football.

Lola Sonner

Lola is the jolly younger sister to Charlie, and the best friend to Lotta. Lola can sometimes be a handful for Charlie when Granny and Grandpa took Charlie and Lola to the zoo and Lola asked Charlie for many things as she did not save them for later.

Marv Lowe

Marv is Charlie's best friend. He has a pet dog named Sizzles. He has a younger brother named Morten and a big brother named Marty. Marv also has a pet mouse called Sqweek.

Lotta

Lola's best friend, Lotta. In the episode when new girl Evie arrives at the school, Lola feels left out when Lotta is Evie's new best friend. She has black curly hair.

Soren Lorensen

Soren Lorensen is Lola's imaginary friend and is always rendered as monochrome and translucent. When Lola and Soren Lorensen are playing, Soren Lorensen is rather detailed and has the look of a real person only gray and translucent. When someone interrupts them (such as Charlie), Soren Lorensen loses detail and he becomes more transparent. As soon as the interruption leaves, Soren Lorensen goes back to normal. It shows how Soren Lorensen is a product of Lola's imagination and when her thoughts are interrupted by reality, Soren Lorensen starts to fade.

Minor or background characters

Marty Lowe; he is Marv's older brother. Marty is only featured in some of the books, and he does not throw anything away. Marty does not like Marv, Charlie, Lola or Lotta. His voice actor is unknown and his name is not shown in the credits. His voice is heard in the episode Look After Your Planet. He said "Get out of my room!"

Mini Reader; she is a classmate of Lola and Lotta. Voiced by Katie Hedges.

Morten Lowe; he is Marv's younger brother. Morten is only featured on some of the books, and he is shy and quiet. In one book he plays a game with Lola called Round and Round and he enjoys it, but Lola does not.

Arnold Wolf; he is one of Lola's friends. Arnold is only featured in some of the books and episodes, and in one he stops being friends with Lola, after Arnold won't share his ice cream with Lola when she drops hers, but then Arnold and Lola are able to build their friendship back up.

Granny and Granpa: Charlie and Lola's grandparents. Though it is not clear which side of the family they are of, they appear to live in by the seaside, possibly Norwich or Brighton. Granny paints for a hobby, while it appears that Granpa is good with ponies.

Evie; A ruddy girl in Lola and Lotta's class, she was first introduced as a new girl to their school in the episode "My Best Best Bestest Friend".

Jack: Marv's cousin, he appears only in "But Marv Is Absolutely Charlie's Best Friend".

Other background characters

Pets

Sizzles - Marv's dog. Sizzles is a dachshund (sausage dog). He appears in most episodes. In We (Do Promise) Honestly (We Can) Look After Your Dog, Lola and Lotta try their best to care for Sizzles, who is not pleased. They pull the lead off and Sizzles runs behind a tree, where an identical dog appears, who belongs to another boy. He is brought to school by Marv at the Bring A Pet To School Day in I Will Not Ever Never Forget You Nibbles.

Nibbles - Charlie and Lola's short-lived mouse(appearance in 'I Will Not Ever Never Forget You Nibbles'). After Nibbles died, Charlie and Lola got a new mouse named Tickles.

Imaginations

The Smilies - A brother and sister pair, the Smilies appear in the episode "How Many More Minutes?". Whilst waiting in the sitting room of the dentist's office during their Mum's appointment, Charlie and Lola happen across a poster of two children who are very much smiling. In the course of the waiting and Lola asking "How many more minutes?", they delve into an imaginary adventure with the Smilies. The Smilies explain that the reason they are always smiling is because they have such great teeth, as twice a day they "floss and brush, brush and floss, floss and brush". Moments later they are approached by the Tooth Fairy who pleads with Charlie and Lola to rescue the Smilies from Pirate Squidbones and his motley crew. The rescue a success, with Squidbones and his blokes told to "take a dip drip", Charlie and Lola get to take the poster of the Smilies home at Lola's importunity in asking the lady at the desk of the dentists' office if they could have it.

Toys

Foxy - Lola's favorite, Foxy is a crimson-red toy fox that sometimes even accompanies her out of the home.

Elly - Lola's toy elephant. It appears Elly is likely made of porcelain; hence, a white canvas body with pink floral designs all over it.

Hoppy - Though not either Charlie nor Lola's toy, it was a toy rabbit that was found by the school gates. Lola cared for it until its proper owner was found.

Cow - A china cow, it appears only in "It Is Absolutely Completely Not Messy".

Giraffe - Upon Lola losing her first wobbly tooth, she purchases a wooden toy giraffe with the 25p she is awarded for the tooth. This occurs in the episode "I Do Not Ever Never Want My Wobbly Tooth To Fall Out".

Chicken - Lotta's wooden toy chicken, it was purchased upon the loss of her first wobbly tooth with the 25p award that she received. This occurs in the episode "I Do Not Ever Never Want My Wobbly Tooth To Fall Out".

Doctor Kit - Lotta's toy doctor kit set, she received it as present for her fifth birthday from Lola, though Lola was a bit reluctant to give the gift away at first due to the attachment she had made with it betwixt the time of purchase and the actual birthday party. Indeed, the episodes very title is "You Won't Like This Present As Much As I Do".

Other

Bat Cat - A character from one of Charlie and Lola's favorite comics. He is grey/ black upright cat that goes about doing heroic deeds, usually for other cats.

Pirate Squidbones - Among Charlie and Marv's favorite comics and cartoons, Pirate Squidbones tells of the adventures of a notorious one-eyed pirate and, whom Charlie refers to as, his motley crew. Among the famous quotes of Squidbones is "Take a dip drip".

In other media

Television series

Main article: Charlie and Lola (TV series)

The books have been adapted by Tiger Aspect into a cartoon series, using a collage style of animation which accurately captures the style of the original books. 2D cel animation, paper cutout, fabric design, real textures, photomontage, and archive footage are all employed and subsequently animated in a software application called CelAction.[1] The cartoons are also notable for their use of children's voices, rather than adult voice actors, a technique pioneered by the Peanuts television specials.

The first series of 26 episodes (11 minutes each) was first broadcast on 7 November 2005. .[2] The second series of 26 episodes (again, 11 minutes each) started broadcasting on Cbeebies on 2 October 2006 (with the morning broadcast also being shown on BBC Two) a third series followed. In the television series, Charlie is seven and Lola is four, and goes to school (her teacher is called Mrs. Hansen). In episodes of both the first and second series, Charlie celebrates her birthday (in "It's a Secret..." and "This Is Actually My Party"), although this doesn't seem to affect her age in other episodes. The third series, a final 26-episode run, was broadcast in the UK and the US in the 2007-2008 television season. With two special episodes broadcast in 2006 and 2007, a total of 80 episodes were produced.[3]

The Charlie and Lola Album

Charlie and Lola's Favourite and Best Music Record was released on 19 March 2007, aimed at parents as well as children. The music is largely a development of existing interstitial and theme music taken from series 1 and 2. There are elements of easy listening, lounge, big band jazz, reggae, bluegrass, eastern European, sci-fi, Latin, classical and film music. There are 17 tracks plus one hidden track, with the programme's theme tune opening and closing the album.

Each track includes spoken word extracts from the series. In many cases, these are manipulated to fit with the musical accompaniment.

"The Bestest in the Barn" was released as a single on 12 March 2007. It features Lola and Lotta teaching various animals on their farm how to sing, dance and play music. This is the only track on the album which does not appear in any episode. Lola and Lotta do however appear as farmers in "I Do Not Ever Never Want My Wobbly Tooth To Fall Out". They also have a tendency to imagine that animals are capable of developing impressive human skills, as seen in "We Do Promise Honestly We Can Look After Your Dog" and "I Will Not Ever Never Forget You Nibbles".

The album is a collaboration between various composers and musicians who write and perform for the TV series. Much of the music is programmed but many tracks feature performances by musicians from London based bands – Menlo Park, Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland.

Four of the tracks have been animated by Tiger Aspect Productions: "The Bestest in the Barn", "Sizzles", "Batcat" and "It's Snowing". "The Bestest in the Barn" video is encoded as an mpeg on the album CD, and all four videos are included as DVD extras on the series 2 DVD collection.

Track listing

  1. "Charlie and Lola Theme Tune"
  2. "I Really Want To Play Music"
  3. "The Bestest In The Barn"
  4. "Boo!"
  5. "Sizzles"
  6. "I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato"
  7. "Milk Monkeys"
  8. "Germs"
  9. "Magic"
  10. "Bat Cat"
  11. "Lolaland"
  12. "Greendrops"
  13. "I Am Not Sleepy"
  14. "Martian Attack"
  15. "All Sleepy"
  16. "Can You Maybe Turn The Light on?"
  17. "Charlie and Lola Theme Tune" (Extended Version)
  18. ".... It's Snowing" (secret track)

Music Credits

Theme Tune written by Tom Dyson and Soren Munk
Production & Arrangement with John Greswell

All other tracks written by John Greswell and produced by Greswell / Taylor for MPM London Ltd.

Except:

  • 3 written by John Greswell, Christopher Taylor, Benjamin Nicholls
  • 6, 12 written by John Greswell, Christopher Taylor
  • 7 written by Tom Dyson, Soren Munk
  • 16 written and produced by David Schweitzer

Additional Musicians

  • Andy Mellon – Trumpet / Flugel horn / Piano / Vocals / Clarinet
  • Benjamin Nicholls – Guitars / Banjo / Jews harp / Double bass / Bass guitar
  • Pete Wareham – Tenor saxophone / Trumpet
  • Sebastian Rochford - Drums / Percussion
  • Joe Bentley – Trombone

Demon Music Group Ltd.

BBC Worldwide Ltd.

All tracks published by Tiger Aspect / BMG Music Publishing

Sleeve Package design by David Mackintosh

Voices

  • Charlie – Jane Lundie-Brown, Danielle Mayers (series 2), Ophelia Agranoff (series 3)
  • Lola – Maisie Cowell, Clementine Cowell (series 2), Holly Callaway (series 3)
  • Marv – Ryan Harris
  • Lotta – Morgan Gayle
  • Soren Lorenson – Stanley Street

Animation of promos

"The Bestest in the Barn", "Dancing Dogs", "Batcat" and "It's Snowing" promos animated by Tiger Aspect Productions Ltd. Tom Beattie, Betti Doherty, Alistair Douglas, Catherine T. Elliot, Tim Fehrenbach, Claudia Lloyd, James O’Shea, Caroline Parkinson, Mark Patterson, Steve Perkins, Kitty Taylor, Clare Winkworth, Andrew Zein.

Notes

  1. ^ Tiger Aspect Productions
  2. ^ BBC - Press Office - Charlie and Lola press pack introduction
  3. ^ "Charlie and Lola: The Absolutely Complete Collection". British Video Association. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
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