Underground, Overground, Wombling Free....
The Wombles are fictional pointy-nosed furry creatures that live in burrows,they help the environment by collecting and recycling rubbish in useful and thoughtful ways.The Wombles were created by author Elisabeth Beresford, Elisabeth creation originally appeared in a series of children’s novels from 1968. The Wombles characters later became nationally famous in the mid 1970’s 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.
The Wombles motto was to “Make Good Use of Bad Rubbish.” This eco friendly “green” message was a reflection of the ecology movement throughout 1970’s.
Though Wombles live all around the world, the story is based on the group living in Wimbledon Common 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, is Cloud Berries.
Elisbeth Beresford developed the characters around members of her family, and named them after places the family had memories with,
This is the who’s who of the Wombles!
Great Uncle Bulgaria, The Womblesleader, was based on Elisbeth’s father-in-law
Tobermory, An engineer,He was based on Beresford’s brother, a skilled inventor, and named after the capital of the Isle of Mull
Orinoco, A shirker who loved sleep and food, was styled on Elisabeth’s teenage son,he was named after the River Orinoco
Bungo, An Over-enthusiastic and very bossy, named after Bungo Province
Tomsk, An athletic Womble, but had a rather low IQ, he was named after Tomsk in Russia..
Wellington, Scientifically inclined and named after her nephew’s school
Madame Cholet, She was a cook and was styled on Beresford’s mam.
Later more character names for the film and second TV series developed in the same manner…
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