The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu

The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu is a Kuboian animated television series created by John Axim and produced by Axim Films, Nightlife Animated Productions (series one) and Bubblegum Studios (series two to four). A slice-of-life series, the show focuses on two children who attempt to find constructive ways to live their lives due to not being able to attend school.

The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu ran for four series; the first two series aired on Bumper's Block from 1994 to 1995, a third series debuted on Vision 1 in 1997, with the fourth and final series debuting on KT in 1999. After the show ended production, reruns continued to air on KT until 2008. It was the first Kuboian animated television series to be produced using digital ink.

Premise and setting
Charlie, a thirteen year-old girl, and Tutu, a twelve year-old boy, are two siblings who share a close bond with each other. Neither have attended school a day in their lives due to a lack of a school in their town. Lacking friends close to their age, the siblings try to find ways to keep themselves occupied.

The main setting of the show, Axim Street (named after show creator John Axim), is a moderately populated urban district. Recurring areas seen on the show include a music shop where Charlie and Tutu sometime buy vinyl records, a bowling centre and a museum where Charlie volunteers.

The show and its episodes focus a lot on using optimism and/or creativity in order to solve one's problems and try out new things. Although the early series are tame, the show becomes more drama-based later on, with episodes centred around the consequences on making impulsive decisions and/or being manipulated by others.

Narration by show creator John Axim is provided at the start of every episode, and sometimes also a bit after the start of the episode. The show's characters occasionally speak to the audience when they are alone.

Characters
The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu features a diverse group of characters. The titular characters, a duo of siblings, play the leading roles in most episodes, and are the only characters to appear in every episode. Charlie is a thirteen year-old girl who volunteers at Axim Street's local museum. She is usually seen doing porter work (assisting in moving equipment), delivering messages to other employees and selling tickets to conferences and other gatherings. Tutu is an eleven year-old boy who helps the sibling's mother at an allotment as a hobby, and also enjoys baking cookies and making lemonade. When they are together, Charlie and Tutu enjoy playing bowling at their local bowling alley, listening to music and playing video games.

Some of the other recurring characters include Mr. Racket, the owner of Axim Street's museum, and Mr. Carter, the owner of a vinyl shop Charlie and Tutu like to go to. The sibling's parents, Kristle and Xyam, are seen regularly. Kristle is an audio-visual technician who grows food at an allotment with Tutu during her spare time, whilst Xyam is a stay-at-home parent who cooks the food and keeps the house clean.

A few more characters are introduced in later episodes. A middle-class woman, Petunia, attends the museum frequently from the second series, and often tries to flirt with Floyd, a catering assiatnt at the museum's cafe, to mixed results. Mr. Swindle, a greedy businessman, is introduced at the end of series one, and often tries to use underhanded techniques to take advantage of Charlie and Tutu or their friends and acquaintances, but is also shown to have a nicer side. Charlie and Tutu also occasionally cross paths with Flint, an Australian photographer who prefers to be left alone and avoid talking about his life and hobby.

Production
John Axim based the show's premise on his young adulthood, which was mostly spent being unemployed and with little to do. He intended to make a television series that would encourage children to use their imagination to counter times where they are bored and with little to do. However, he also wanted to make the programme down to earth and sophisticated. The show entered production in early 1992. In order to demonstrate how the action in each episode would work, the production team would film themselves acting the scenes out in person.

The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu was intended to only last for one series consisting of twelve episodes, but ended up continuing for another three series due to the show's popularity. It ultimately ended in 1999 after four series are forty-five episodes since Axim felt the show had "ran its course" and was afraid it would decline in quality if it continued.

Music
John Axim produced a soundtrack featuring new wave songs and rock/soul ballads for the show. English-Welsh singer Raelyn Moon co-wrote and sang a majority of the tracks present on the soundtrack, which features both cover versions with amended lyrics and original newly-written songs created for the show. The official soundtrack was released on 7th September, 1997 - it reached number two on the Karuboia Collaborative Albums chart.

VHS and DVD releases
In Kuboia, the first two series (except one series two episode) were released on VHS in five volumes, with each volume having four episodes.

In the United Kingdom, The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu was released on VHS in six volumes through BBC Video from 1997 to 1999, with each volume having four episodes from the first three series. Later, from 2001 to 2002, a further four VHS tapes were released, each containing three episodes from the final two series.

On 4th December, 2006, Abbey Home Media released the complete collection, consisting of all forty-five episodes, on DVD in Region 2.

Video games
A European-exclusive 2D side-scrolling video game, The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu: Charlie's Nightmare, was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy on 6th October, 1995. The player plays as Charlie, who has to rescue Tutu after he is kidnapped by Mr. Swindle. The game received criticism for its slowdown issues and repetitive gameplay, with show creator John Axim saying he "would like to pretend the game does not exist".

An action-adventure video game based on the show, simply titled The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu, was released for the Nintendo 64 and Microsoft Windows on 5th September, 1997. The player plays as either of the two titular characters, as they explore Axim Street and complete missions given to them by the other characters. The game also features sixteen minigames which can be play with up to four players. The game received positive reviews from critics.

The final game, The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu: Axim Street Festival, was released for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2 on 17th May, 2002, exclusively in PAL regions. It is a party game which features minigames sandwiched between larger events. British magazine Nintendo Official Magazine praised the game's graphics and variety of minigames, but criticised its similarity to other party games.

Bootleg games
An unlicensed bootleg video game based on the show, titled Super Charlie and Tu Bros & Sis!, was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. It is a reskin of the 1985 video game Super Mario Bros., with a few of adjustments, such as worlds three and five being removed, shortening the game to six worlds.

Another bootleg released in 1996, Charli the Human, is a remake of the Sega Master System version of the 1991 video game Sonic the Hedgehog, but with Sonic's sprite replaced with one of Charlie, and Dr. Robotnik's sprite replaced with one of Mr. Swindle. Show creator John Axim called the bootleg "hilarious, for all the wrong reasons".

Ratings
Though the first few episodes had mediocre ratings for Bumper's Block, The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu eventually became a popular show for the block, which resulted in it continuing past its original intended run of episodes. In the United Kingdom, CBBC saw as many as five million viewers tuning in to watch new episodes for the third series.

Impact and legacy
Though the show did not market itself as such, The Adventures of Charlie and Tutu was the first Kuboian animated television series (and one of the first in general) to use digital ink. After the show's premiere, almost every mainstream Kuboian animated series had switch to digital ink (instead of traditional ink). A BBC reporter commented on the show in 2006, stating that it "was clearly ahead of its time".

Although John Axim intended to make the show appeal to children of all ages, it has often been marketed as a show for younger children. This was especially reflected in the 2000s, when the show saw reruns on pre-school television networks. Axim has reportedly been disappointed with this, as he feels the marketing discourages older audiences from giving the show a chance.

Kuboia

 * Vision One (1994-2008)
 * Bumper's Block (1994-1997)
 * KT (1998-2008)
 * Venus (2009-2011)

Australia

 * ABC Kids (1995-2003)
 * Tiny TV (2003-2007)

Canada

 * CBC (1994-1996)
 * Treehouse (1996-2004)
 * Teletoon Retro (2007-2012)

France

 * TF1 Jeunesse (1997-2006)
 * Gulli (2005-2010)

Latin America

 * ZAZ (1996-2003)
 * Boomerang (2006-2008)
 * Tooncast (2008-2010)

United Kingdom

 * BBC One/BBC Two (1994-2004)
 * CBBC (1994-2001)
 * CBeebies (2002-2004)
 * POP! (2003-2006)
 * Pop Plus (2003-2004)
 * Tiny Pop (2004-2011)

United States

 * Disney Channel (1997-2001)