"If you start looking around, up high and deep underground,
    You will see light everywhere, but how does the light get there?"

    "Who keeps these lights so bright?"
 

   On every street corner in every town there's a lamp post, and in every lamp post
   you'll find the Lampies. The Lampies keep the world illuminated, come what may.
   That usually involves them preventing the evil Roons from getting their hands on the
   lamps and plunging the world into darkness...

   "The Lampies" series stars Captain Brightlight as the leader of the squad based
   in territory H032. Amongst his subordinates are the cute and feisty Livewire,
   Charge, Contact, Burnout and a lively pet called Dustywugg. Matronly Spotlight
   ensures everything is ticking over just-so, which is handy, because ultimately,
   the squad must answer to the top brass, in the form of the bombastic
   Brigadier Big Beam!

   During the course of the two series we get to discover much more about the world
   of the Lampies. We meet Brightlight's brother, Flashlight, also a baby called Pinspot.
   Then there's an episode with Bikey, who maintains bicycle lights, and another with
   Livewire's Uncle Longbeam who dwells in a lighthouse...

   The production is bright and lively, and there are lots of three-dimensional
   establishing shots, closing in on the various street lamps and environments.

       

   A Lampies Xmas single "Light Up the World for Christmas" was released in 2001 and
   it was closely followed by an album of songs inspired by the series. Alan Swinden
   was the main voice on the records. Alan also happens to be a prospering Funeral
   Director! There was also a Lampies touring stage show. It was produced and scripted
   by Stephen Gold and directed by Penny Hogan, and the plot involved the gang's
   attempt to protect a pop concert from the mischievous attentions of the Roons...

   "The Lampies" were created by Dave Bonner, who was formerly a policeman.
   When the show was commissioned he left his flat feet behind and fast-footed
   into the toon world with his production company, Red Balloo. Red Balloo followed
   up "The Lampies" with the stop-motion series Dr. Otter...

   In 2003, the series and characters were bought by a private investor,
   and they are now owned by LP Productions...

    
 

    In the news

    The Hound: December 2001
    News about that Lampies single...

 

    Lampies Episodes

    Series One                             Series Two
    1. Captain Who                        27. Neon
    2. Dustywugg: Space Marine      28. Save By the Bikey
    3. Walkabout                           29. The Boy Who Could See Lampies
    4. The Inspection                     30. Space Walk
    5. Flash By name                      31. Boogie Lights
    6. Dustywuppy                         32. Pump it up
    7. Birds Nest Oops                    33. Charge's Sausage Mole
    8. Bit of a Jam                         34. Sacked
    9. Bikey                                  35. Roon Goo Attack
    10. Thunder and Frightening       36. HO32 Squadron
    11. Bouncer                             37. Bike Gone
    12. Boris                                 38. Moth Magic
    13. Decoy                               39. Football Roonigans
    14. Dick Static                         40. Lampies Unplugged
    15. Too Many Cooks                  41. An Open and Shut Case
    16. Striplight                            42. The Haunted Lamp
    17. Tooth of the Matter             43. Lights on Legs
    18. Chief Beef                          44. House Call
    19. Roadworks                         45. The Vacation
    20. Pinspot                              46. Watching Over Lois        
    21. Who Dares Whines               47. Red Light at Night
    22. Dark and Stormy Night          48. The Goon Roon
    23. Cyber Lampy                       49. All That Glitters
    24. Return of Geoff                    50. A Day at the Movies
    25. And That's Magic                 51. Roon Alert
    26. Shipmate Charge                 52. Bright Light in Love

 

    The Lampies on DVD

      The Lampies: A Bit of a Jam and other Stories
                Region 2 / first thirteen episodes / Pinnacle Vision / May 2008

      The Lampies: Switch On to The Lampies
                Region 2 / six episodes / Pinnacle Vision / April 2008
     
 

    a David Bonner creation

     animation produced by Uli Meyer Entertainments
     technical direction by Spider Eye

      director:             Dean Roberts, Mark Marren
       producer:           Morgan Francis
      exec prod:          Theresa Plummer-Andrews, James Coldwell
       writers:              David Bonner, Jimmy Hibbert
      music:                Mcasso
      overseas
        anim directors:    Andreas Von Andrian, Jean-Paul Vermeulen
      storyboards:       Andreas Von Andrian, Mik Casey, Mark Marren,
                                Luc Chamberland, Dean Roberts, Tevor Ricketts,
                                David Stoten, Sharon Smith, Jean-Paul Vermeulen,
                                Tim Watts
       board assts:       Chris Drew, Hae Sook Park
       layouts:             Sean Burke, Alan Case, Lee Noble, Matt Noble,
                                Andy Price, Andy Roper
       layout assts:      Javier Moratinos, Christian Roberton
       key b'grounds:   Michael Hirsh, Ray Rankine
       prop design:       David McFall, Helga Elgison
       key animation
         poses:                Terry Bannon, Simon Clarke, Chris Drew,
                                 Nicolette Van Gendt, Barry Hales, Paul Lee,
                                 Paul McKeown, Elroy Simmons, Gerben Steenks,
                                 Ian Wilkes
      col stylist:            Selena D'Santos
      anim services:      Animasia UK Ltd, Animation Services Honk Kong Ltd.

                                   @Spider Eye Services
      3D environments:   Michael Faherty, Richard Ridout
      final Compositing:   Ben Weschke, Andy Tunrer, Paul Tarberer,
                                    Chris D'Santos, Dave Griffiths
      softimage
        modelling:               Paul McBride, Suzanne Slatcher
      title seq:                 Simon Leech
      sound rec:               Mag Masters
      dubbing mixer:        Mark Owen
      track breakdown:    Stuart Parmenter
      editors:                   Mark Edwards, Matt Saxton

                                    @Red Balloo Productions
      accounting:             Dennis Mullen, Trevor Shirlock, Michael Brown,
                                    Ian Robertson
      legal services:        Tim Care, George Lyall,
      secretarial serv:     Christine Close
      prod runners:          Jason Kotey, Andres Puente
      prod secretary:       Vikki Lawes
      prod accountant:    Edmund Amarasinghe
      prod co-ord:            Marianne Rousseau
      studio man:            Mark Farrington
      prod man:               Erica Darby
      producer:                Morag Francis at Uli Meyer Studios, London
      voices:                   Jimmy Hibbert
                                   Eve Karpf
                                   Rob Rackstraw
                                   Sue Sheridan

 

      On the web


      The Lampies
      The official site for this sparking show...

      Lampies Blog
      They have their own blog, as well...

      MySpace: The Lampies
      And a MySpace page...

      Lampies Fans
      And - goodness - here they are on Facebook...

      Uli Meyer
      The series was animated by Uli Meyer Studios. They also
      developed Red Balloo's follow-up "Dr Otter" when it was still a
      2D affair...

      Digital Animators.
      This professional ezine article supplies the detail behind the show's
      production...

      Michael Hirsh
      Michael identifies two of his Lampies backgrounds for us,
      alongside others on his extensive CV....


 
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