This is a cartoon about dolls in a reject box at
Grimes Soft Toys factory. Each has been rejected due to a certain defect, but these defects prove to be what help them come together and help each other, as well as many others, in a series of short
adventures. The show is a fairly obvious attempt at
political correctness, showing how those who have been rejected or who are
disabled can be
heroes too.
A discussion among my friends recently revealed just how many people resent The Raggy Dolls, which always baffled me, since I'd thought they were just harmless fun. Most of those who dislike the show take issue with the way in which we were all, by extension, made to feel like rejects, thanks to a line in the show's theme tune - 'dolls like you and me'. Nevertheless, it has that kitsch '80s feel we all seem to lap up...
The cartoon was created by Melvyn Jacobson and ran from 1987-1989 on Yorkshire TV. It was written by Neil Innes, who also wrote the horribly catchy theme tune and acted as the narrator. (Neil Innes is also famous as an occasional Monty Python star and member of The Rutles). It was produced by Joy Whitby.
An original series lasted for 13 episodes, each ten minutes long, and the show was picked up again by Yorkshire TV to run for a further 65 episodes, with the help of Mark Mason's Orchid Productions, who also created some extra characters.
The main characters are as follows:
Hi-Fi - a talking toy with a personal stereo and a stammer.
Back-To-Front - a workman with his head attached backwards.
Lucy - a pun on 'loose' I guess. A perfectly ordinary doll, but badly sewn, so falling apart.
Dotty - covered in splashes of paint.
Princess - a tale of riches to rags.
Claude - a stereotypical French doll, who missed the export ferry.
Sad Sack - a stuffed sack with a sad expression, too expensive to continue making.
And, for those of you who thought you'd escape without ever having to think of its theme tune again, here are the words:
(It's not much of a life when you're just a pretty face)
Just to be whoever you are is no disgrace
Don't be scared if you don't fit in
Look who's in the reject bin!
It's the Raggy Dolls (Raggy Dolls)
Raggy Dolls (Raggy Dolls)
Dolls like you and me
Raggy Dolls (Raggy Dolls)
Raggy Dolls (Raggy Dolls)
Made imperfectly
So if you got a bump on your nose or lumps on your toes
Do not despair
Be like the Raggy Dolls, and say I just don't care
Cause Raggy Dolls (Raggy Dolls)
Raggy Dolls (Raggy Dolls)
Are happy just to be
Raggy Dolls, Raggy Dolls
Dolls like you and me!