Rex the Runt

Rex the Runt
300px The main characters. (Left to right) Vince, Wendy, Bad Bob and Rex
Genre	Comedy Clay animation Stop motion Live action Surreal humor Off-color humor Teen sitcom Animated sitcom Black comedy Pixilation
Created by	Richard Goleszowski
Developed by	Aardman Animations
Written by	Richard Goleszowski Alan Gilbey Kevin Wrench Andrew Franks David Max Freedman Andrew Viner Peter Holmes Ben Caudell
Directed by	Richard Goleszowski Dan Capozzi Peter Peake Christopher Sadler Sam Fell
Creative director(s)	Peter Holmes Richard Goleszowski
Voices of	Andrew Franks Colin Rote Kevin Wrench Andy Jeffers Elisabeth Hadley Paul Merton Steve Box Arthur Smith
Theme music composer	Kevin Wrench Andrew Franks
Opening theme	"Rex the Runt" by Kevin Wrench Andrew Franks
Ending theme	"Rex the Runt" by Kevin Wrench Andrew Franks
Composer(s)	Stuart Gordon Ben Jones
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	26 2 (Only for Short Films)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Executive Producers for Aardman: Michael Rose Peter Lord David Sproxton Executive Producer for BBC: Colin Rose Executive Producers for Egmont Imagination: Paul Kofod Tom Van Waveren Mikael Shields Steve Walsh Ulla Brockenhuus-Schack
Producer(s)	Michael Rose Jacqueline White
Production location(s)	England
Cinematography	Frank Passingham Fred Reed
Editor(s)	Ben Jones James Mather
Running time	10 minutes
Production company(s)	Aardman Animations BBC Bristol Egmont Imagination EVA Entertainment
Distributor	BBC A&E Home Video
Release
Original network	BBC Two
Picture format	16:9
Original release	21 December 1998 – 16 December 2001
Chronology
Related shows	Angry Kid Creature Comforts The Amazing Adventures of Morph
External links
Website

Rex the Runt is a British live action stop motion animated claymation comedy franchise, primarily consisting of a television show and two short films produced by Aardman Animations for BBC Bristol in association with EVA Entertainment and Egmont Imagination. Its main characters are four plasticine dogs: Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob and Vince.

The series began with a short, Ident, in 1989 directed by Richard Goleszowski. After a long gestation period this developed into two unaired shorts and then thirteen ten-minute episodes that first aired over two weeks on BBC2 from December 1998. A second thirteen episode series aired from September 2001 on the same channel. As well as the core cast guest voices included Paul Merton, Morwenna Banks, Judith Chalmers, Antoine de Caunes, Bob Holness, Simon Day, Bob Monkhouse, Jonathan Ross, Graham Norton, Arthur Smith, June Whitfield, Kathy Burke, Pam Ayres and Eddie Izzard.

The animation is unusual in that the models are almost two-dimensional and are animated to exaggerate this - they are flattened in appearance and animated on a sheet of glass with the backgrounds behind the sheet.

Main characters

Rex, the protagonist — a timid, irritable runt. He is quick-witted and usually comes up with plans to get out of the scrapes the gang finds themselves in. However, he can also annoy the others by being a smart aleck. His favourite superhero is Rocket Raymond.

Bad Bob is a "big, fat slob", interested in food and TV. His friends, and occasionally even himself, describe him as a "Big, fat, jelly-wobbly, fat bast-", usually getting cut off towards the end. He is distinguishable by his eye patch, which changes from eye to eye, and often carries around a revolver almost the size of himself. However grumpy he might be, he is intelligent and loyal.

Wendy is the only female housemate, distinguishable by her eyelashes, pink colour, noticeably hemispheric breasts, and wears a pink bow on her head. She is cynical, sarcastic, and fiercely independent. Wendy provides solutions to problems albeit in a distant or non-caring way.

Vince is the pet of the household, although all four are dogs. He is distinguished by his prominent buckteeth and mismatched eyes. He speaks in single words or short disjointed phrases, his favourites being "Spaghetti", "Tuesday", "Jam", and "Trousers". Vince suffers from "Random Pavarotti Disease", causing him to randomly blurt out snatches of opera. While he appears to be unintelligent, he occasionally shows great ingenuity, for example by building an elaborate Heath Robinson machine designed to kill a mouse.

Other characters

Many one-off and recurring characters in Rex The Runt are voiced by various well-known UK celebrities. These include:

Doctor Dogg is a medical doctor. Moustachioed, complacent and greedy, he's an opportunistic money-grabber, whose habitual charge for any treatment is "ten quid" - regardless of whether the cure works or does more harm than good. He isn't above using the main characters in medical research.

Arthur Dustcart, another semi-regular character, who first makes an appearance in the last episode of the first series, but appears quite frequently in the second. He is an ugly but experienced dustman, sporting sleepy mismatched eyes, a neckerchief, a pair of dirty underpants and a large nose with prominent nasal hair. Despite his grotesque appearance and smell, he and Wendy get on rather well, much to the annoyance of Rex. He becomes a friend of the household when he helps find Rex after he was turned into spaghetti.

Mrs. Bloomers Head of Kumfy Kennels and treats dogs with care, until she put Vince in the kennel and he ate a chihuahua.

Judith Poodle Hostess of a holiday program and usually ends her sentences with "Ruff!".

Mr. Formal The Runts' bank manager, until Bad Bob brought his gun and made him think they were bank robbers.

Melting Blob Alien A 3-year-old, but very smart alien who warned the Runts about the black hole.

Kylie Mandlebrotska Rex's old math teacher, until she fell into the black hole.

Easter Island Aliens Three space aliens from the planet Thribb where the people look like the Moai statues from Easter Island.

Mr Chittock Angry neighbour to Rex, after the gang went into his house and drank his beer. Voiced by veteran alternative comedian Stephen Frost.

Johnny Saveloy A teenage sausage who was really very old but was kept in a state of artificial youth due to the Church of Chemicology.

Stinky Basil Smarmy French talent-spotter. Voiced by Antoine De Caunes, known best in the UK for presenting the Channel 4 late-night adult entertainment show 'Eurotrash'.

The Happy Rabbits A band who may sing beautifully but are really cranky and will let anybody stand in their way.

References to other Aardman productions

Several episodes of Rex the Runt contain inside references to other television programmes created by Aardman Animations:

• In the episode "Adventures on Telly Part I", Wallace (from the Wallace and Gromit series) is washing the windows on Rex's house, until Bad Bob pushes his ladder over (in the film A Close Shave, Wallace operates a window washing business).
• Pib and Pog, two of Aardman's lesser known creations, are present in the spectator gallery during the courtroom scene from "The Trials of Wendy" and are also present in the audience watching Rex's band in "Stinky's Search for a Star"
• In the episode "Johnny Saveloy's Undoing", two of the jars containing the chemical essences of various stars are labelled "Wallace" and "Gromit". Another jar on the top shelf reads "Nick Park".
• The exorcist called upon in "Patio" is actually Morph, a character from an Aardman children's show, wearing a trench coat, hat, and large moustache.
• There are two references in the episode "Wayne the Zebra": A Chicken Run-style chicken is rejected during the auditions (with Bad Bob making a comment regarding the recent popularity of chickens, referring to the film's success), and Bad Bob consults the Aardman book Cracking Animation (ISBN 0-500-28168-8, published in the US as Creating 3-D Animation).
• The episode entitled "A Crap Day Out" may be a pun on the Wallace and Gromit short film A Grand Day Out.
• Both Wallace from Wallace and Gromit and Rex live on streets that sound similar to their names: whereas Wallace and Gromit live on "West Wallaby Street", it can be seen from the various post that arrives for the household that Rex and company live at "7, Marsupial Way, Rexford"

Episode list

Series 1 (1998 - 1999)

#	Title	Summary	Airdate
1	Holiday in Vince	The Runts try to cure Vince of his Random Pavarotti Disease (a Tourette syndrome-like singing of phrases of opera) by miniaturising a submarine to go on a journey though Vince's brain.	21 December 1998
2	Adventures on Telly, Part I	After their television getting broken, the Telly wants them to cover for him while he is fixing the family's TV. First, they need to find money to start their adventure, which causes Bad Bob to accidentally Rob a bank.	21 December 1998
3	Adventures on Telly, Part II	The family is short of money again, and lend themselves to Dr. Dogg's animal experiments. NOTE: This episode is an expanded version of the pilot "North by North Pole".	22 December 1998
4	Adventures on Telly, Part III	After accidentally destroying the Earth, the Runts head towards a black hole.	22 December 1998
5	Bob's International Hiccup Centre	Bob loses his comic timing, so he turns to medicine.	23 December 1998
6	Easter Island	The Runts' helicopter lands on Easter Island, where they meet visiting aliens who resemble the local statues.	23 December 1998
7	Too Many Dogs	After Rex's house is stolen, the Runts go back in time to recover it, and meet parallel versions of themselves.	24 December 1998
8	The Trials of Wendy	Wendy is arrested after shooting Vince. After she is proven not guilty, she starts to make a name for herself, causing Rex the Runt to get cancelled by the Telly.	25 December 1998
9	Stinky's Search for a Star	The Runts enter a talent contest hoping to win enough money to pay the gas bill.	27 December 1998
10	Under the Duvet	The Runts visit the University of Love under their bed, while Vince falls in love with a vacuum cleaner.	30 December 1998
11	Johnny Saveloy's Undoing	Wendy joins Johnny Saveloy's following.	31 December 1998
12	The City Shrinkers	The Runts win Birmingham in the lottery. After shrinking it with their shrinking gun, Bad Bob and Wendy go on a city-shrinking craze.	31 December 1998
13	Carbonara	Rex is accidentally run through a sausage mincer, and must avoid the attentions of a hungry Vince.	1 January 1999

Series 2 (2001)

#	Title	Summary	Airdate
1	Mouse in Me Kitchen	Upon returning home, Rex finds that his kitchen has been occupied by a mouse.	23 September 2001
2	Wendy's Hot Date	Wendy gets a date with a handsome dog, who is also called Rex.	30 September 2001
3	Patio	The garden ants object when the Runts lay down a patio.	7 October 2001
4	A Crap Day Out	A new garden centre is opening, and Bad Bob needs a new shed.	14 October 2001
5	Slim Bob	Bad Bob consults Dr. Dogg about weight loss.	21 October 2001
6	Private Wendy	Vince, Wendy, Rex and Bob join the army.	28 October 2001
7	Rocket Raymond	The inhabitants of a distant planet believe that Rex is their hero, Rocket Raymond.	4 November 2001
8	The Plasticene Gene	Dr. Dogg cons Rex out of his ear, and later clones Vince.	11 November 2001
9	Wendy's New Hairdo	Wendy gets a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for her truth drug.	18 November 2001
10	Wayne the Zebra	With Rex on holiday, Bob is left in charge of a production involving "The Beast of Granite Moor", but can his choice for the star character, Wayne the Zebra, fulfil expectations?	25 November 2001
11	The Art of Cooking	Bad Bob steals Rex's food creations and enters them in an art exhibition.	2 December 2001
12	Bob Joins a Gang	Bad Bob joins a not-so-bad gang.	9 December 2001
13	Hole in the Garden	Bad Bob's lawn mower crashes through the garden and lands in Australia.	16 December 2001

Cast

Main cast

• Andrew Franks as Rex (series 1)
• Colin Rote as Rex (series 2)
• Kevin Wrench as Bad Bob (series 1)
• Andy Jeffers as Bad Bob (series 2)
• Elisabeth Hadley as Wendy
• Steve Box as Vince
• Paul Merton as Doctor Dogg
• Arthur Smith as Arthur Dustcart

Guest stars

These include:

• Morwenna Banks as Mrs Bloomers ("A Holiday in Vince")
• Judith Chalmers as Judith Poodle ("A Holiday in Vince", "The Trials of Wendy")
• Bob Holness as Mr Formal ("Adventures on Telly, Part I")
• Eddie Izzard as Melting Blob Man ("Adventures on Telly, Part III"), and Easter Island Head Aliens ("Easter Island")
• Kathy Burke as Kylie Mandelbrotska ("Adventures on Telly, Part III", "Rocket Raymond", "Wendy's New Hair Do")
• Antoine de Caunes as Stinky Basil ("Too Many Dogs", "Stinky's Search for a Star", "Bob's International Hiccup Centre"), and French Delegate ("Bob's International Hiccup Centre")
• June Whitfield as Judge Pikelet ("The Trials of Wendy")
• Simon Day as Constable Funnyname ("The Trials of Wendy", "Stinky's Search for a Star", "Bob Joins a Gang")
• Pam Ayres as Aunty Brenda ("Under the Duvet", "Slim Bob")
• Stanley Unwin as Mr Wangle, Accountant to the Stars ("Johnny Saveloy's Undoing")
• Bob Monkhouse as Johnny Saveloy ("Johnny Saveloy's Undoing", "The City Shrinkers")
• Tommy Cannon as Tiddles the Destroyer ("Mouse in Me Kitchen")
• Graham Norton as Osvaldo Halitosis ("Patio") and the Plants ("A Crap Day Out")
• Bobby Ball as Wayne ("Wayne the Zebra")
• Phill Jupitus as Morris the One-Gloved Mouse ("Mouse in Me Kitchen"), The Ants ("Patio") and Sergeant Major ("Private Wendy")
• Jonathan Ross as Handsome Rex ("Wendy's Hot Date") and Awards Announcer ("Wendy's New Hairdo")
• Loyd Grossman as himself ("The Art of Cooking")

Credits

Series 1

• Writers: Richard Goleszowski, David Max Freedman, Alan Gilbey, Kevin Wrench & Andrew Franks
• Music & Theme Tune: Stuart Gordon
• Songs Composed by: Kevin Wrench & Andrew Franks
• Executive Producers: Mikael Shields, Steve Walsh (EVA Entertainment), Ulla Brockenhuus-Schack, Poul Kofod (Egmont Imagination)
• Series Producer: Michael Rose
• Producer: Jacqueline White
• Devised & Directed by: Richard Goleszowski
• Executive Producers for Aardman: Peter Lord, David Sproxton
• Executive Producer for BBC Bristol: Colin Rose
• An Aardman Animations Production for BBC Bristol in association with EVA Entertainment & Egmont Imagination

Series 2

• Written by: Ben Caudell, Peter Holmes, Andrew Viner
• Original Music: Stuart Gordon, Ben Jones
• Executive Producer for BBC: Colin Rose
• Executive Producers for Egmont Imagination: Paul Kofod & Tom Van Waveren
• Executive Producers for Aardman: Peter Lord & David Sproxton, Michael Rose
• Producer: Jacqueline White
• Directed by: Richard Goleszowski, Dan Capozzi, Chris Sadler, Sam Fell, Peter Peake
• An Aardman Animations Production for BBC Bristol in association with Egmont Imagination

Merchandise

Series One has been released on VHS in the United Kingdom and on DVD in South Korea. A DVD of all 26 episodes has been released in the United States, which is region-free.

• Rex The Runt: The Complete First Season (VHS) (B00005NB24)
• Rex The Runt: The Complete Collection (DVD) (Region 0) (B000068QOF)
• Rex The Runt: Rainy Day Companion (Book written by Andrew Franks and Kevin Wrench, a.k.a. the voices of Rex and Bad Bob) (ISBN 0-340-74862-1)
• Aardman's Darkside (a compilation DVD featuring episodes of Rex The Runt, released on 18 October 2006) (DVD) (B000FS9SDM)
• Rex The Runt plush toys of the four main characters were available via Aardman at one point, as well as a handbag of Vince's head, though this is particularly rare.
• Sweets shaped like the main characters were available in the early 2000s

Underdog

Underdog is an advertising character, first appearing in 2010, animated by Aardman Animations, in the same style as the Rex the Runt figures, but wearing bandages, promoting the personal injury claims company National Accident Helpline.

External links

• Official website
• Aardman Animation at Atom
• Rex the Runt at British Comedy Guide
• Rex the Runt at IMDb
• Rex the Runt at TV.com