Budgie the Little Helicopter (1994)
First episode title: Pippa Arrives
How familiar with the show am I?: I was only vaguely aware of it.
It's a world where helicopters and other vehicles are living, talking beings! And our star is a young helicopter named Budgie! I could already tell this one was going to be sweet.
Budgie himself is a small blue helicopter, with a human-like face, a tuft of brown hair, and a big yellow cap that seems to be built into him, as his propeller sits on top of it. He looks very much like a child in helicopter form - he even has a teddy bear constantly sticking out of a compartment on his side!
The start of the episode has a narrator, who isn't heard again after this. We learn from this narrator that the setting is called Harefield Airfield, which is lovely. It's early morning. Inside a hangar, Budgie is sleeping, and so is an older-looking helicopter with a moustache called Lionel, who is in charge.
Then a plane lands and is guided into the hangar, disturbing the peace and waking Budgie up. The episode makes a big deal about the process being noisy - are planes that much noisier than helicopters, or is it just because it's so early in the morning? The new arrival is green, and has a blonde curl of hair and a big pink bow on top, the latter of course being the standard cartoon marker for "girl".
The plane cheerily greets Budgie, but he's annoyed. She thinks he's bad-tempered because of his "accident" - when Budgie has no idea what she means, it becomes clear that she's never seen a helicopter before, so she thought Budgie's propeller was on top of his head because of a terrible crash rather than that just being where he has it. That's hilariously dark if you think for even a second about any human equivalent of the situation. It's also weird to emphasise the position of propellers when the plane doesn't even seem to have propellers - presumably it should be on the front, but she just has a nose there.
The plane still doesn't get how an aircraft could fly with its propellers on top, and, when Budgie tries to explain how it moves him up and down, she mockingly calls him a yo-yo. Well, as I always say, there's no shame in being a yo-yo.
By now, Lionel has woken up. The plane seems to quickly notice that this guy is much more imposing than Budgie, and is also a helicopter, dampening her mirth. Lionel, in his very posh voice, demands to know who she is - she's Pippa, and she's brand new from the factory. I suppose that's why she's only seen other planes.
Lionel tells Pippa and Budgie to get along because they're going to be working together. In this particular episode we don't get to see what they actually do in terms of work, but of course I would assume they move passengers and cargo around. Lionel then has to leave, but he turns back to remind Budgie to go through the heli-wash, which disappoints Budgie like a child being told they have to go and have a bath.
Next we see a few humans, a mother with a son and daughter, cleaning up in what must be the airfield's café. They're talking about the fact that a plane has landed. They're not very interesting in themselves - bring back the aircraft! A pair of workers called Ken and Mike come in for breakfast - they're apparently going to be checking Pippa over later. We actually saw them both briefly earlier, guiding Pippa into the hangar.
Back to Pippa and Budgie, and guess what, they're not getting along! They're each showing off all the things they can do that the other can't - Budgie spinning his tail propeller and Pippa moving her rudder. Eventually, Pippa challenges Budgie to a race, and Budgie agrees on the condition that they also have a "slow race" afterwards. Each of them bets that the other one "daren't", which is a very old-fashioned sounding term. They leave to race, although Budgie remembers that he still needs to get washed first.
Then there is a quick scene where an owl and a cat that both live in the hangar try to catch a mouse that's eating some cheese in a corner. The mouse gets out of the way and the owl and the cat crash into each other. The cat and the owl had some little appearances elsewhere in the episode but this is the only part where they do anything. It doesn't have much to do with the plot, but it's a fun little scene anyway.
The two human kids come out to see the new plane, and they also end up seeing Budgie going through the heli-wash. It's two spinning things side by side like in a car wash, and he's not enjoying it. Pippa mocks him for not liking being washed, and he responds by spinning his propeller to throw suds in her face. Another thing that would be weird if they were humans: the fact that she's just there watching him take what is essentially a shower!
They agree to have a race to a nearby church and back, and Budgie directs Pippa to the runway then surprises her by taking off without needing the runway, while she's still getting up to speed. Of course, she's pretty annoyed. And the kids can't tell why the aircraft have decided to have a race but they're excited anyway. I have to say, the kids tend to talk in kind of stilted way. I think they were played by actual children, which is usually an advantage, but perhaps they had no prior experience at this.
They reach the church. There's a pigeon perched on the roof, and its feathers get ruffled when Budgie flies by. Just as it composes itself, the same thing happens again when Pippa passes! Poor bird. It's cute though.
Then there's a scene where a fisherman in a boat has caught a strangely green lobster. He gets distracted by Pippa flying past, meaning the lobster pinches him and gets away. He shakes his fist at Pippa for that, but I don't think she can be blamed for this one! It's not her fault he got distracted! Right at the end of the race, Pippa takes the lead and wins, telling Budgie that actually he's not a yo-yo, he's a snail! Well, as I always say, there's no shame in being a snail.
Next it's time for the "slow race". Budgie challenges Pippa to see who can fly the slowest towards a truck carrying mobile steps. The truck has a face, which is our first indication that vehicles other than aircraft are also living in this world. Anyway, Budgie of course easily wins that one by hovering in place while Pippa can't help but keep moving forward. And he seems way too pleased with winning given that he obviously didn't give her a chance!
So now they're in the air again and they're each showing off more things they can do that the other can't, like Pippa flying upside down and Budgie flying backwards. Mike, cleaning windows, gets so distracted by this sight that he accidentally washes Ken's face too. Again, not something that Budgie and Pippa should be blamed for! Weirdly, Ken calls Budgie and Pippa "those two planes". Budgie is, as we have very much established by this point, a helicopter!
A tow truck called Dell, who wears his cap sideways, is towing some luggage along. We haven't caught sight of any passengers at any point during the episode, so I don't know whose luggage it is. Dell gets so distracted by Budgie and Pippa's antics that he crashes into a fire engine called Smokey! The fire engine, fitting the pattern of the other vehicles up to this point, wears a big firefighter's hat, and coughs when he talks, as if he's also a smoker. Budgie, continuing to show off, dives down and lifts a couple of Dell's luggage cases with his landing skids. Hopefully he gives them back off-screen!
Some time later, Pippa and Budgie are back in the hangar, and Lionel is berating them for their behaviour. He lists some of the problems they've caused, and includes a couple of those distraction incidents that I really don't think they can be blamed for. Still, Lionel does make the moral of the episode clear.
Lionel: Of course you can do things he can't do. Of course he can do things you can't. But it's not a competition. Work together, and the pair of you can do anything!
Pippa and Budgie both apologise and promise not to show off or boast any more. And that's when another new vehicle enters - a large two-propeller helicopter, who, in a loud American voice, immediately notes how small the other aircraft are and that he must be the strongest aircraft around. After a moment of tension, everyone just starts laughing. Even the new arrival, who wouldn't really be in on the joke. The theme song names all the main characters, so we already know this guy is called Chuck and that he will be a regular, but that's all we see of him this time because the show is over!
This was a lovely little show that was exactly what I wanted it to be. It was fun, it was cute, and it delivered a life lesson without being boring about it. Fun fact - it was based on books written by the Duchess of York. It's quite rare to see "Her Royal Highness" in the credits of a cartoon!