The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu

The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu is a Kuboian animated children's television series created by Janet Rose and John Axim for Bubblegum Studios. It follows a sister and brother duo who company each other as they explore the urban fringe village they live in. The show debuted in 1994 on Vision Network as part of Bumper's Block, and was eventually transferred over to Tiny Vision during its last few series before coming to an end in 2000, spanning seven series and ninty three episodes. As it is fondly remembered, it continues to see sporadic broadcasts on television in the present day. In 2002, the show ranked second in a poll by TVVC for Kuboia's favourite children's television programme.

Premise
The show focuses on Charlie, a thirteen year-old girl, and her eleven year-old brother Tutu, who live in a newly-established village called Axim Street. Each episode focuses on the two very close siblings and their day-to-day activities, whether it be finding creative ways to find time, helping to expand Axim Street and establish new landmarks or solving problems that have risen in the local community.

Characters
The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu features a large cast of characters, though there are only a few recurring characters in early episodes, with more being introduced as time goes on.

Main

 * Charlie (voiced by Julia Rose Tucker) is a thirteen, later fourteen year-old girl. As the older sister of Tutu, she is often the one who takes care of him when the two are out and about. As well as spending time with her brother, Charlie also helps out at the Axim Community Centre. She is shown to be very intelligent, caring and dedication, and although she has the tendency to overwork and tire herself out, she is also good at recovering from any setbacks.
 * Tutu (voiced by Macie Raven) is an eleven, later twelve year-old boy and Charlie's effeminate younger brother who idolises his sister. He is initially not very good at coping on his own, but eventually begins to develop new hobbies such as helping his mother at their allotment or making lemonade and biscuits at home. Although usually shy, Tutu regularly acts as a voice-of-reason towards other less sensible individuals.
 * Kristle (voiced by Lilian Pond) is Charlie and Tutu's mother who works at the Axim Community Centre, and is often the one to tidy up the rooms and help prepare for events. She is often the one Charlie and Tutu go to for advice when they are dealing with a difficult situation.
 * Xyler (voiced by John Axim) is Charlie and Tutu's stay-at-home father, who is often seen reading, cooking or helping his wife take care of any leftover work when she is busy. It is implied on multiple occasions that he does not leave the house a lot and gets anxious meeting other people.
 * Mr. Racket (voiced by Darren Marion) is the owner of Axim Community Centre and Kristle's boss, who is friendly but a workaholic who has a habit of working for long hours several days in a row. When he is not working, he usually likes to play golf or go fishing. Because of his work and hobbies, Mr. Racket rarely spends time with his wife and son, though he tries to make it up to them in later series.

Supporting

 * Ms. Honeyburn (voiced by Judith Rose) is a middle-class woman who runs a second-hand shop in Axim Street and also runs an arts and crafts group in the Axim Community Centre from series four. Although friendly, she appears to be a bit snobby and enjoys spreading gossip about other people, which occasionally gets out of hand and spreads within the community.
 * Mr. Swindle (voiced by Lenny Carter, his only mainstream acting role) is a sleazy and underhanded businessman introduced at the end of series one, who resides in Axim Street and regularly tries to con others into making deals that only he will benefit from. Mr. Swindle also shows a more tactical and sneaky side, though tends to get outwitted by Charlie and Tutu in the end. Despite his greedy nature he has a lot of respect for his deceased parents.
 * Spy (voiced by Emily Merletta is Mr. Racket's son who likes to explore the outside world. He doesn't spend much time with his father due to the latter's work commitments. He becomes closer friends with Charlie and Tutu around series two, and later runs a photography group at the Axim Community Centre from series six.
 * Mrs. Racket (voiced by Janet Rose) is Mr. Racket's wife and Spy's mother, whom often tries to convince her husband to take life easier, though to no avail.
 * Maisie (voiced by Lucy Hudson is a ten year-old girl who resides in Axim Street. Introduced in the second series, she appears to be quite mischievous and her wild imagination tends to get her into trouble, though this is caused more over naiveness and curiosity than malice. She is close to and appears to have a crush on Tutu.
 * Winnie (voiced by Winnie Porter) is Maisie's twelve year-old sister who she has a habit of arguing with a lot, and doesn't seem to be much more mature despite beng older, yet gets along well with Charlie and Tutu. She has a habit of changing her mind on things a lot, especially when it comes to her relationship with Tutu - sometimes she seems to have a crush on him (much to Maisie's annoyance) whilst other times she sees him as just a friend.
 * Mr. Ball (voiced by Darren Marion) is the overweight park keeper of Axim Gardens who helps Kristle and Tutu with their allotment. He appears to be quite lazy, often putting off jobs until the last minute, and has his mind set on food a lot of the time.
 * Jadzia (voiced by Jadzia Ślusarski) is a thirteen year-old Eastern European girl who is introduced in series four, whose parents run a village corner shop, though she herself prefers the outdoors. Although Jadzia is normally shy, she is more confident and extroverted when trouble arises or somebody needs help, and is good at encouraging Charlie and Tutu during their less motivated periods. She later becomes best friends with Spy, and it is hinted on several occasions she may have a crush on him.
 * Mrs. Peppermint (voiced by Millie Tucker) is a teacher who teaches Charlie, Tutu and their friends in a single multi-age classroom. She is very kind and caring to her students, though often has difficulty finding the funds to keep the classroom running. She is introduced as a minor character in series two, though is given a larger role starting with series six.

Development
Janet Rose started making plans to create a "realistic, non-fantasy" children's animated series in late 1989 to counter The Incredible World of Riddles. Rose travelled between the different settlements of Kuboia to learn about their culture and day-to-day living. She noted that each area had its own community that was regularly and voluntarily looked after by the locals. Development began in 1991, with John Axim acting as a director and Bubblegum Studios serving as the production company.

The character of Mr. Swindle was based on Jacob Stoepker, a politician from Gutstone who was arrested for blackmailing Rose in 1988. Stoepker mentioned in an 2021 interview that he was "amused" by Rose's interpretation of him. It is largely rumoured that the titular characters were named after Charlie Karma and Tutu Stoic, though this has neither been confirmed nor denied by either Rose nor Axim.

Production
The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu was the first Kuboian traditionally animated television series, as well as one of the first animated television series in general, to use digital ink in contrast to traditional ink that had been used beforehand. Axim explained that recent Disney films such as The Rescuers Down Under and Beauty and the Beast looked "stunning" with digital ink.

A majority of the episodes from the first two series were written by Rose and Axim themselves. From the third series, several of the episodes were written by the show's cast on suggestion by Axim. The sixth series brought some changes to the show, such as cutting the runtime of episodes down to nineteen minutes, and reducing Mr. Swindle's role to a minor character, who is completely absent from series six and makes only two appearances in series seven. After consideration, both Rose and Axim opted to end the show after seven series feeling it had "ran its course", with Axim also fearing that TVVC would request the show's format to be changed had more episodes been produced.

Broadcast history
Throughout its entire seven-series run, new episodes of The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu premiered on Saturdays. The first three series premiered on Bumper's Block during the latter portion of 1994, 1995 and 1996 respectively, with reruns occuring during the earlier portions of the following years. Following the axe of Bumper's Block, the fourth and fifth series aired on Vision One as part of its short-lived Vision Saturdays lineup. The fifth series began airing the week after the last episode of the fourth series aired - according to Rose, TVVC requested if the first few episodes of the fifth series could be aired earlier, with her admitting "I don't know what we would have done if they were not ready by then." The final two series of The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu premiered on Tiny Vision in the autumn of 1999 and early 2000 respectively.

Reruns
Tiny Vision aired reruns of the first two series after it launched in August 1996, and continued to do so after production of the show came to an end. The show also aired on Nick Jr. Kuboia from October 1997 until April 2005 - during this period, the arrangement was usually that Tiny Vision would air newer episodes whilst Nick Jr. Kuboia would air older episodes, though the latter channel did air the later series later on. After Tiny Vision closed in 2008, the show was carried over to its successor Junior Vision until May 2011.

Since September 2019, The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu has returned to airing on TVVC in reruns, typically during special occasions such as Moon Sunday and Christmas.

Reception and legacy
The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu received positive reviews from critics and Bumper's Block audiences. A poll ran on the television programme Harvy's House in 1995 noted that it was one of the most popular shows on Bumper's Block. Praise has mostly went towards the show's writing, music, animation and characterisation.

A writer for the Fahrbahnin Post reviewed the show in 1996, noting that the titular characters had "so much chemistry and development" and that the show "is constantly progressing with new characters and ideas, yet in a way that isn't hectic or forced", though he did criticse the character of Mr. Swindle, citing him as a "pointless character" who "only exists so the show can have a baddie". Two of the "founding fathers" of the country of Jetania, Arthur Burford and Sterling Alfredson, both enjoyed The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu, with Alfredson calling it "very charming".

The show is fondly remembered by Kuboian audiences even decades after ending production and thus continues to receive national reruns and references in popular culture. John Axim mentioned that he "felt proud" and was glad the show had not "faded into obscurity". However, he has also criticised TVVC marketing it as a preschool-orientated programme, as he did not write the show with the intention of it only catering and appealing to young children.

Awards and allocations

 * KEMPA Award for "Best Pre-School Animation"
 * 1995 - Won
 * 1996 - Nominated (lost to Ouraine)
 * 1997 - Won
 * 2000 - Won

United Kingdom
The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu aired on several different television channels in the United Kingdom. It premiered in the United Kingdom on CBBC (then called Children's BBC) in October 1994, and also aired on The Children's Channel around the same time. The show later aired on CBeebies from February 2002 until December 2004. Reruns were also shown on POP! for a brief period in 2003, and also Tiny Pop from 2004 until late 2010.

Other countries
In the United States, the show aired on The Disney Channel from 1996 to 2002. In Canada, it aired on CBC Playground from 1995 to 2000, Treehouse TV from 1998 to 2005 and Teletoon Retro from 2007 to 2011.

The show also aired on ABC in Australia, El TV Kadsre 2 in El Kadsre, Super RTL and Junior in Germany, TF1 in France, Nederland 3, Z@ppelin and Kindernet in the Netherlands, Antena 3 in Spain and Spacetoon in the Arab world (albeit censored). A Japanese dub also aired on NHK. In Italy, the show premiered on Italia 1 in 1995. It later aired in reruns on Boing from 2004, and also DeA Kids from 2008.

VHS releases
VHS tapes were released in Kuboia by Vision Video and BBC Video in the United Kingdom.

DVD releases
These discs also featured some special extras, such as music videos or clips where the characters discuss some of their favourite moments in the show. Some episodes were never released on home media, and were considered lost media until all ninty-three episodes were uploaded to the JangleNet! YouTube channel throughout 2020.

Other television appearances
A majority of the cast reprised their roles in 2003 for a series of animated advertisements for Pizza 24. Julia Rose Tucker and Macie Raven reprised their roles as Charlie and Tutu again in the autumn of 2008 for a government-funded campaign called Clink and Think, which featured a series of advertisements discussing road safety.

For the show's twenty-fifth anniversary in September 2019, Rose and Axim reunited the entire cast (barring Millie Tucker, who died in 2007) for a 45-minute documentary discussing the production and any amusing or interesting behind-the-scenes facts. The documentary aired on BBC Four in the United Kingdom in April 2021.

Merchandise
Merchandise based on The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu was released throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, which included clothing, posters, play tents, children's toys and puzzles. Some of the show's characters were also featured on food packaging in the late 1990s.

Books
A Charlie and Tutu magazine started being published in August 1997, with a new issue being released every two months. These included stories written in comic book form, puzzles and activities such as colouring pages, as well as fan letters, behind-the-scenes facts about the voice cast and producers and fact files about the show's characters. The August 1999 issue came with a promotional VHS that included an episode of the sixth series approximately two months before its television premiere. The magazine was abruptly discontinued after its February 2004 issue.

Books based on episodes from the television series were also released. Later from 1997 to 1998, three books were released which were centred around Charlie, Tutu and Mr. Swindle respectively.

Video games
A CD-ROM titled The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu: Axim Street Festival was released for Windows computers in October 1996, and features several activities and minigames based on elements seen in the show. Later, an action-adventure game titled The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu: Axim Street Adventure was released for the PlayStation on 30th October 1998 in PAL regions and Japan.