Blinky Bill (series)

Blinky Bill is an Australian book series written by author Dorothy Wall in the 1930s. The books inspired an animated series beginning in 1993, titled The Adventures of Blinky Bill, which was produced as a follow-up to the 1992 animated movie Blinky Bill: The Mischievous Koala. The animated series, by far the most well-known version of the character internationally, was produced by Yoram Gross and ran for two series from 1993-95 (the second series titled Blinky Bill's Extraordinary Excursion), with a third series (titled Blinky Bill's Around the World Adventures) airing in 2004.

The first season had the townspeople of Greenpatch (a fictional Australian bushland town and the main setting of the series) trying to rebuild their home (after it was destroyed by loggers in the 1992 movie), while coping with a family of playful tricksters and con artists in the form of the town's family of dingoes (who redeemed themselves by the end of the season). In the second season, Greenpatch is fully rebuilt and a story arc formed in which Blinky and his gang get lost while on a school camping trip and have to find their way home. The third season had Blinky, Flap and Nutsy leave Greenpatch and travel around the world in a hot air balloon/caravan with a gang of escaped circus animals, returning the animals to their proper homes while being chased by the circus' owners.

Blinky's gang

 * Blinky Bill: The series' protagonist. A young koala who often gets up to mischief, and is the leader of his gang of friends.
 * Nutsy: A female koala with a kind heart, who by the end of season 1 becomes Blinky's step-sister.
 * Flap: A platypus, and one of Blinky's best friends, known for his intellect and his large appetite.
 * Splodge: A youthful, boisterous kangaroo, and the strongest member of Blinky's gang.
 * Marcia: A bossy, hotblooded marsupial mouse who considers herself to be tough, with a tendency to rush into situations.

The Dingo family

 * Danny: A suave, smug dingo teen, almost always seen with his sunglasses on, who's usually thinking of ways to scam the townspeople. Despite this, he's got a heart of gold.
 * Daisy: A vain, flirtatious teenage dingo with aspirations of fame, who tends to use her good looks and seductive charm to get her way.
 * Meatball: A rather fat dingo, and Danny's younger brother; what he lacks in terms of intellect he makes up for in strength.
 * Shifty: A kindhearted, sensitive dingo, and the youngest member of the family, who becomes a member of Blinky's gang at the end of season 1. Despite his well-meaning nature, he's a popular target for insults from his family and friends, especially from Marcia.
 * Ma: The matriarch of the dingo family with a short temper and a huge appetite, even more so than Flap's.

The adults

 * Walter "Wombo" Wombat: Blinky's mentor, who hates being called "Wombo"; most of the town does it anyway.
 * Ms. Koala: Blinky's widowed mother, who's quick to discipline her son whenever he gets into trouble.
 * Miss Magpie: Blinky's teacher, who tends to struggle in teaching her usually-rowdy class.
 * Mayor Pelican: The scatterbrained mayor of Greenpatch and one of Blinky's favourite prank targets, who usually puts himself before others, much to the town's chagrin.

The Circus Bros.

 * Basil: The main villain of season 3, who'll stop at nothing to keep his travelling circus in business, even if it means abusing his animals.
 * Cyril: Basil's younger brother and bumbling sidekick, who eventually grows smarter as the season progresses.

The circus animals

 * Slippery: A clumsy seal who was returned to Antarctica by Blinky shortly after leaving Australia.
 * Leo: A cowardly lion, and the leader of a tribe of lions, who was returned to the African plains by Blinky.
 * Ling-Ling: A young panda experienced in magic tricks, who was returned to her village in China by Blinky.
 * Tico: A grumpy toucan, initially a double agent for the Circus Bros. who later switched to Blinky's side. The only animal of the group to not return to his own country (Brazil), instead staying in India with Yoyo to form a circus troupe of his own.
 * Yoyo: A hyperactive Indian monkey, who was returned to an Indian village by Blinky, where he joined Tico in making their own circus troupe.
 * Penelope: A glamorous French poodle, who was returned to Paris by Blinky to live with her rightful owner.

Notable miscellaneous characters

 * Ruff: A frill-necked lizard and Blinky's classmate, who considers himself to be a ladies' man, but is really a bit of a coward.
 * Jacko: A loudmouthed kookaburra with a dry sense of humour. Known for pranking the residents of Greenpatch, perhaps even more so than Blinky.
 * Slick: A smooth-talking vagabond possum who Blinky encounters twice in Season 2. At one point, Marcia points out that he sounds like Eddie Murphy.
 * Sirol: A sensitive crocodile who Blinky meets in Season 2, who was shunned by his father for being too soft. With the help of Blinky and his gang, he eventually became the winner of the Iron Croc Contest.

= Episodes =

Series 1 ("The Adventures of Blinky Bill")
After the peaceful bush town of Greenpatch is destroyed by loggers, Blinky and his gang must rebuild it while dealing with a family of con artist-like dingoes.

Series 2 ("Blinky Bill's Extraordinary Excursion")
'Continuing on from last season, Greenpatch has been fully rebuilt, and because peace has been made with the Dingo family, Shifty is now an official member of Blinky's gang. However, when Miss Magpie takes Blinky's gang on a school excursion, the kids become lost. Now without their teacher and without a plan, the gang has to fend for themselves in the brutal Australian wilderness, and try to find their way back home.'

Series 3 ("Blinky Bill's Around the World Adventures")
'A circus comes to Greenpatch and intrigues the town, however, the animals are begging to escape and get back to the countries they came from! Blinky, Nutsy and Flap leave their friends and Greenpatch behind, and bring along the circus animals in an effort to return them to their respective countries, but the circus owners, Basil and Cyril, are constantly on their tail, and want Blinky for themselves! With Blinky, Flap, Nutsy and their new friends travelling the world and on the run, the stakes have never been higher!'

TV Movie ("Blinky Bill's White Christmas")
= Trivia =


 * The first two seasons of the series only featured two voice actors, being Keith Scott, who voiced the male characters, and Robyn Moore, who voiced the female characters as well as Blinky himself. The third season added more voice actors on top of Keith and Robyn, such as Drew Forsythe and Sarah Aubrey.
 * The series (as well as Blinky himself) is known as Vili Vilperi in Finland, and is hugely popular in said country, as well as Israel, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

= See also =


 * The Adventures of Blinky Bill on Wikipedia

= External links =


 * The Adventures of Blinky Bill on TV Tropes