Willow the Wisp

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Willow the Wisp is the title of a 1981 BBC children's programme, and The Remake in 2005. It tells the story of various magical beings living in Doily Woods, all voiced by Kenneth Williams. In the remake, they were voiced by James Dreyfuss of The Thin Blue Line and Gimme Gimme Gimme.

Characters:

• Willow The Wisp: The Narrator, a will o' the wisp.
• Arthur: H'an h'opinionated caterpillar who never quite turned into a butterfly. A Know-Nothing Know-It-All.
• Mavis Cruet: A very overweight fairy who can't fly. A bit of a romantic.
• The Moog A very dim dog-like being. Arthur's pet.
• Carwash: A highly intelligent cat. Usually too intelligent to actually be involved in the story, and just snarks from the sidelines.
• The Beast: A handsome prince who gets turned into a beast by Evil Edna in the first episode. Generally obsessed with becoming a handsome prince again.
• Evil Edna: A Wicked Witch. Also, a talking television set with legs. (In the remake, she transforms herself into a flatscreen in the first episode.)

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Tropes used in Willow the Wisp include:

• And I Must Scream: In one episode Edna turns the Beast into an iced lolly ("And in your old shape, too!"). Then he starts to melt...
• British Brevity: Both versions lasted for one season of 26 5 minute episodes, making a total run time of four hours and twenty minutes.
• Cats Are Snarkers: Carwash.
• Dogs Are Dumb: The Moog.
• Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: The Beast. The magic words he must recite to revert to his true form are, of course, "Round and round the rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran".
• Inept Mage: Mavis.
• Ink Suit Actor: Willow the Wisp is clearly modeled on a caracticure of Williams.
• Fat Girl: Mavis.
• Furry Confusion: The caterpillar has a pet dog. Let's not even get into the size discrepency between the characters.
• Larynx Dissonance: Mavis and Edna.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: Carwash.
• Spin-Off: In a way; the characte design of Willow has its origins in an animated advermentary about British Gas, in which he was a talking blob of natural gas (still played by Williams), initially mistaken for a will o' the wisp.
• Talking to Himself: Williams (and later Dreyfuss) do all the voices.