Stoppit and Tidyup

Stoppit and Tidyup
Title screen showing the series' logo and two main characters - Stoppit (left) and Tidyup
Created by	Charles Mills Terry Brain
Written by	Charles Mills Terry Brain Steve Box
Narrated by	Terry Wogan
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Production
Producer(s)	John Howson
Editor(s)	Robert Copeland
Running time	5 minutes
Production company(s)	CMTB Animation, The Tidy Britain Group, Queensgate Productions
Release
Original network	BBC1
Original release	12 September – 5 December 1988
Chronology
Preceded by	The Trap Door (1984–1986)
Followed by	Bump (1990–1994)

Stoppit and Tidyup is a British children's animated cartoon series that was originally broadcast by the BBC in 1988. The series was created by Charles Mills and Terry Brain, the duo behind CMTB Animation, who had previously created a claymation called The Trap Door. Apart from the main characters Stoppit, a red ball of fluff with arms and legs, and Tidyup, a necktie-wearing purple creature shaped like a bowling pin, the supporting characters include Comb Your Hair, Wash Your Face, Hurry Up, Go and Play, poor little Calm Down, nasty little Not Now, the two bees, BeeHave and BeeQuiet, sleepy old Go to Bed, Don't Do That, Take Care, Eat Your Greens, Clean Your Teeth, and the big, bad I Said No; not to mention Say Please And Say Thank You. There are also extra characters called Naughties and Sit Downs, and they all live in the mythical land of Do As You're Told. Each episode was five minutes in length. The series was partly funded by The Tidy Britain Group, a Wigan-based organisation whose aim was to reduce the amount of unsolicited rubbish in and around the United Kingdom.

The short-running series is about cartoon characters who live in the land of Do As You're Told, which is a strange and colourful place whose inhabitants are named after orders directed at children by their parents. The episodes in which these characters appear are named after their character; only one series of thirteen episodes was produced. Stoppit, Tidyup and their friends were cel-animated, unlike its stop-motion predecessor. The third hand in CMTB Animation was animator Steve Box, who has since had independent success via Aardman Animations, animating Wallace and Gromit's penguin nemesis Feathers McGraw for The Wrong Trousers and directing the BAFTA-winning short film Stage Fright. Both he and Terry Brain were also key animators for Aardman's first feature film, Chicken Run.