Jellabies (partially found Australian children's animated TV series; 1998-2003)

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Jellabies title.jpg

The series's logo.

Status: Partially Found

Jellabies is an Australian 3D-animated children's series, produced by Winchester Entertainment. It ran from 1999-2003 and was one of the first TV series to be completely animated in CGI.[1] It originally aired on ABC Kids in Australia, then was exported overseas to among others Fox Family Channel in the United States, Treehouse TV in Canada, Kindernet in The Netherlands, and GMTV in the UK, where it went under the name Jellikins and later The Jellies. Despite this innovative style and evident popularity, all the original episodes are currently unavailable in any official format and attempts to unofficially upload them to online sites routinely earn copyright strikes.

Overview

The animation for the series was done by Johnny and Mikel Lewis using 3D Studio Max and was roughly based off the concept of Jelly Babies, a type of gummi candy popular in the UK & Australia. The show features six similarly rounded, rubbery, brightly colored little beings named Pepper (red, carries a backpack full of tools), Bouncy (yellow, drives a bumper car), Strum (purple, musician), Denny (blue, lives on a boat), Amber (orange, rides a hot-air balloon), and her twin Coral (pink, lives in a Meccano-set-style playhouse). Their occasionally seen friend Duffy the Dragon is the only other character.

They all live in the Jolly Jelly World at the end of the rainbow, where the Jellabies are apparently in charge of creating more rainbows for the entire Earth using a special computer called the Jelliscope, which monitors the weather and summons the troupe when needed. It also functions as a sort of semi-sentient replicator, providing the childlike beings with toys and other accessories on request.

The series focused on the characters having different small everyday experiences in their downtime from rainbow creation, such as learning to plant seeds, giving gifts, and putting on a circus. As the Jellabies do not speak intelligibly (save for exclamations like "Woo-hoo!") British comedy legend Rik Mayall provides interactive narration for the English-language versions, serving as a bridge between the characters and the viewer.

Missing Episodes

All 95 episodes of the Australian original appear to have been taken down from YouTube some years ago and have not resurfaced except in brief promo clips or fan-made dubs. Attempts to upload various episodes in other languages have likewise been removed due to copyright claims. The issue seems to be only with the original artwork, as most of the UK Jellies/Jellikins episodes are still available online. This version changed the design of the characters considerably, making them explicitly gummi-bear-like in appearance.

Besides a few Canadian TreehouseTV broadcasts filmed off a TV set, the only full original Jellabies episode remaining online is in Dutch. The series intro in German plus promos for the Fox Family Channel and Korean broadcasts have also been preserved, along with what seems to be a mini making-of documentary. A similar, longer pitch video is also available for the UK series (under the name Jellies).

Korean Redub

In the 90s, a Korean company released 2 volumes of a redubbed Jellabies English version onto video. The dub is being restored but is available in its orginal form.

Found Videos

Internal Use Only VHS.jpg

VHS Rip from an acquired internal use only tape that has one complete episode but two episodes that are audio only.

https://youtu.be/mp4iFc08j8Y?si=xrGfCblNOl1akXRq







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References

  1. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 444. ISBN 978-1476665993.

External Links