Blinky Bill

Blinky Bill is an anthropomorphic koala who is a children's fiction character in three stories of New Zealand-born Australian author Dorothy Wall. These stories are Blinky Bill, Blinky Bill and Nutsy, and Blinky Bill Grows Up. The books are considered quintessential Australian children's classics, and have never been out of print in Australia. While telling the adventures of Blinky, who is a rather naughty little boy in the form of a koala, the stories also present messages of conservation. Wall tells the stories directly to the children and Blinky often interacts with the readers in an introduction. Her dedications are often to 'All the Kind Children', with her own son Peter and other common Australian names of the 1930s appearing. They are also illustrated by Dorothy Wall herself. Though the books have never been out of print, the Blinky Bill story has also been adapted for television and cinema. The first television series from the 1980s featured actors interacting with puppet animals and went under the title of The New Adventures of Blinky Bill. Blinky Bill was also made into an animated movie by Yoram Gross Film Studios in 1992 and in 1994 there was a second children's series on the ABC Kids channel. It was called The Adventures of Blinky Bill. More recently there have been computer games based on the Blinky Bill franchise, and these have been moderately successful. Blinky Bill is also the nickname of the light at the top of Sydney Harbour Bridge. The New Adventures of Blinky Bill - TV Animated Series The series is based on the books, but brings the language and relationships up to date, and introduces new characters. The main character, Blinky Bill, is known for his mischievousness and his love for his mother. His friends include his adopted sister Nutsy, his kangaroo friend Splodge, his Platypus friend Flap, Marcia his Marsupial friend, and his mentor Mr Wombat or Wombo, as Blinky prefers to call him. In general throughout the stories he does things that are realistic for koalas as well as things that child readers would like to do. One of Blinky's favorite words is "extraordinary" and he ends most episode with his catchphrase. In the first series, Blinky and the others have to save Green Patch Hill from the woodchip mill. In the second series, Blinky has adventures in Green Patch Hill. Halfway through the series, the school has an excursion. During the excursion, Blinky, Nutsy, Flap, Marcia and Splodge decide to venture while the rest of the class were taking a nap. Blinky originally wanted to scare Miss Magpie and the other kids with a spooky voice, but suddenly, he and his friends fell down from a cave and couldn't get back to them. This then left Blinky and his friends have adventures away from Green Patch Hill, while the townspeople from Green Patch Hill try to find Blinky and his friends. In the end, Blinky and his friends come back home safely. Another series called Blinky Bill round the world adventures. Blinky, Nutsy and Flap go on a balloon with other animal companions from a circus on a round the world trip. While trying to get all their companions back to their home towns, two people from the circus try to catch them and get them back to their circus.