Penny Crayon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Penny Crayon |
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| Created by | Peter Maddocks |
| Voices of | Su Pollard Peter Hawkins |
| Opening theme | "Penny Crayon" |
| Ending theme | "Penny Crayon" (Instrumental) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Maddocks Animation Parkfield Publishing |
| Running time | 10 minutes per episode (approx.) |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC1 TV2 BBC Kids BFBS SSVC Television |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Original release | 14 September 1989 – 1 October 1990 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | |
Penny Crayon is a fun British children's television series from 1989. It's all about a clever school-girl named Penny Crayon. She lives in London and loves to draw. Her best friend, Dennis, joins her on exciting adventures.
Penny has special magic crayons. Anything she draws with them comes to life! This helps them get out of tricky situations. But sometimes, it also causes a lot of funny chaos. The drawings usually disappear when they are erased or washed away.
The show never explained where Penny got her magic crayons. However, the creator, Peter Maddocks, later shared a prequel story. This story, released in 2012, finally told how Penny found her amazing crayons.
Meet the Characters
Penny Crayon: The Creative Heroine
Penny Crayon is a very smart and clever schoolgirl. She has a Northern English accent and loves to draw. Her magic crayons and pencils can draw on almost any surface. This includes brick walls, cave insides, and even inside a whale's mouth!
The famous comedy actress Su Pollard provides Penny's voice. Penny's look in the show was even changed to resemble Su Pollard.
Dennis Pillbeam: Penny's Best Friend
Dennis Pillbeam is Penny's best friend. His last name is not said in the show, but it appears in books about the series. He is an excited and kind boy. You often hear him praising Penny for how smart or brave she is.
Dennis is the only other main character in the series. He is voiced by Peter Hawkins. Peter Hawkins also did voice work for other shows by Maddocks Animation.
How the Show Was Made
Bringing Penny Crayon to Life
Penny Crayon was made for the BBC in the United Kingdom. It first aired weekly as part of Children's BBC on BBC One. The first episode was shown on September 14, 1989.
The show was produced by Maddocks Animation. This company also made other popular shows like Jimbo and the Jet-Set and The Family-Ness. Many of the same people worked on all three series. Peter Hawkins, for example, lent his voice to all of them.
Episodes and Repeats
Twelve episodes of Penny Crayon were made. They were shown in two different groups in 1989 and 1990. The series was repeated many times after that. It even aired into the early 2000s. Later, it was also shown again on GMTV2.
Penny's First Appearance
Before the animated series, Penny Crayon first appeared as a story. It was read on an early episode of Playdays. This show was originally called Playbus. In that story, Penny's school trip to the zoo was canceled due to rain.
To cheer up her classmates, Penny drew zoo animals on the school hall walls. These drawings, including a Tyrannosaurus Rex, came to life! They caused a lot of fun trouble around the school. Penny eventually drew a huge cage to catch them. This allowed her to rub them out.
In this early version, Penny had darker hair. For the TV series, her hair was made blonde to match Su Pollard. Penny and Dennis's looks were also updated. One line from Dennis in the original story made some people wonder if they were siblings. However, this was never mentioned in the TV series.
The Penny Crayon story was very popular. The head of Children's Programmes at the BBC, Anna Home, suggested it be made into a full series. Because of this early story, some episode guides mistakenly list thirteen episodes for the series.
Episode Guide
| No. | Title | Original air date | |
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| 1 | "The Tower of London" | 14 September 1989 | |
| 2 | "The Cookery Class" | 21 September 1989 | |
| 3 | "A Circus Lion" | 28 September 1989 | |
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This was the first episode made. It shares some ideas with the original Penny Crayon story from Playbus.
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| 4 | "An Amusement Park" | 5 October 1989 | |
| 5 | "The Waxworks Museum" | 12 October 1989 | |
| 6 | "The Pantomime" | 19 October 1989 | |
| 7 | "A Haunted House" | 26 October 1989 | |
| 8 | "A Silly Day-Dream" | 2 November 1989 | |
| 9 | "The Camping Holiday" | 10 September 1990 | |
| 10 | "The Treasure Hunt" | 17 September 1990 | |
| 11 | "A Dickens of A Mess" | 24 September 1990 | |
| 12 | "The Dog Show" | 1 October 1990 | |
Home Video Releases
VHS Tapes from Parkfield Publishing
In 1989 and 1990, Parkfield Publishing released two video cassettes. Each tape had four episodes of Penny Crayon.
| VHS video title | Year of release | Episodes |
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| Penny Crayon: Volume 1 (MKC 0001) | 1989 |
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| Penny Crayon: Volume 2 (MKC 0002) | 1990 |
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Later Releases by TeleVideo
In 1992, TeleVideo released three more videos. Each of these tapes also contained four episodes.
| VHS video title | Year of release | Episodes |
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| The Adventures of Penny Crayon: Camping Holiday (TELVID 22) |
1992 |
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| The Adventures of Penny Crayon: Dog Show (TELVID 23) |
1992 |
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| The Adventures of Penny Crayon: Treasure Hunt (TELVID 24) |
1992 |
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Carlton Home Entertainment Release
In 1994, Carlton Home Entertainment released one more video. This tape also had four episodes.
| VHS video title | Year of release | Episodes |
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| Penny Crayon: As Seen on TV (30073401430) |
1994 |
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Besides videos, several books based on the show were released. There was also an annual book in 1990.
See also
In Spanish: Penny Crayon para niños
