Rubbadubbers
Rubbadubbers is a British stop-motion children's television series produced by HIT Entertainment, with animation production by Hot Animation. The series was broadcast in the UK on BBC2 and CBeebies from 2 September 2002 to 14 February 2005. Created by Peter Curtis, it focuses on seven friendly, sentient bath toys as they find themselves in their dreams of imaginary worlds outside of the bathroom they live in – the ringleader in the series being a pink toy frog named Tubb. In the US, the series was broadcast on Nickelodeon, Noggin and PBS Kids Sprout.
The series was originally announced under the working title "Plugg". BBC started commissioning the show on 2 September 2002 after two lost pilots were made: "Plugg" from 1999 and "Splish Splash Splosh!" from 2001. It is unknown if these pilots even exist, but an animator has stated that they did some test animations. Hasbro licensed Rubbadubbers for producing a toy line to promote the series. The series concluded production on 14 February 2005 after 52 episodes.
Plot
Seven anthropomorphic bath toys called the Rubbadubbers live a peaceful life in the bathroom of a house somewhere in England. The toys belong to two children who live at the house named Benjie and Sis. Whenever the children or anyone else isn't in the bathroom, the Rubbadubbers come to life and usually begin a fun activity.However, in every episode, one of the toys become frustrated with the way a certain activity or situation goes. They then wish for it to go as planned by beginning the wish with "If only-". Suddenly, they begin dreaming about an alternate reality where the wish comes true. When they immediately realize this, they are surprised and say, "I said, if only!". Some of the other Rubbadubbers appear in their dream world as well, where they play different versions of their regular selves in order to either assist or hinder the character that made the wish.
It always turns out that the chosen Rubbadubber's wish never goes the way that they planned, much to their disappointment. They then complain again with another "If only-," wish, which automatically ends the dream. When the dream disappears, the Rubbadubber says "Oh, I'm back!" or "Oh, I'm back in the bathroom!" and they learn to be careful with what they wish for, and then decide that instead of changing the real-world situation to their will, they should simply leave it as it was and find a way to deal with it or even have fun with it. All the Rubbadubbers are then happy again. Every episode ends with Reg the robot, one of the Rubbadubbers, announcing to the others that Benjie and Sis are arriving in the bathroom for a bath. The toys then excitedly prepare themselves for it, ending the episode.
Characters
Rubbadubbers
- Tubb the Frog is a male Scottish rubber frog sporting a yellow, green and red T-shirt and patterned shorts. He is the ringleader of the Rubbadubbers and is admired by everyone for his cool attitude, but can sometimes get in over his head. He enjoys cleaning anything with his cotton bud and floating on a green lilypad.
- Sploshy the Starfish is the Rubbadubbers' silly mischief-maker. She has suction cups behind every one of her five arms, is dark reddish-pink at the front and yellow at the back, speaks with a childish English accent, is energetic and is known to have a hot and short temper.
- Finbar the Great Mighty Shark is a clockwork shark with an arrogant and self-centered attitude; he often refers to himself in third-person and enjoys playing games that involve pretend hunting and scaring. He also frequently uses the word 'mighty' in place of 'very' to describe things. He is less of a menace than he lets on, being just as willing to play in games with the others. In the dream worlds, he usually plays the role of rivals or villains, such as robbers, monsters and even his regular self.
- Terence the Bubble-Bath Crocodile is Amelia's closest friend who can blow bubbles through his nostrils and dislikes getting splashed, often avoiding liquids and water altogether. He has a favourite, red toothbrush for cleaning his singular tooth.
- Winona the Whale is the only Rubbadubber who cannot speak as well as cannot at all make 'if only-' wishes, but she can still make squeaking sounds in order to communicate with the other Rubbadubbers in a similar way to Sweep from The Sooty Show. She can also squirt water from her small blowhole.
- Reg the Robot is the sentry of the Rubbadubbers who speaks with a distinctive stammer where he cannot finish saying a word and says a similar word to that instead. Just like Terence, he avoids water, as simply getting splashed makes him short-circuit. He plays with the others but is always on the lookout for Benjie and Sis' presence in order to make the Rubbadubbers prepare themselves for bath time. At the end of every episode, he announces their arrival with his catchphrase: 'Rubbadubbers! Rubba-dubbers! Benjie and Sis/the children are coming! It's Bathtime scramble!'
- Amelia the Submarine is very athletic and has a large, red pair of retractable wings. Likely named after Amelia Earhart, she and the Rubbadubbers often call her 'the flying submarine'. She is very energetic, rarely seen with a frown, loves to try new things, and takes great pleasure in flying around the bathroom and performing tricks.
Other
- Lawrence is Terence's imaginary friend in the second episode of the first series. He is exactly identical to Terence, only he has two teeth and a blue tie. In the 'if only-' sequence, he demonstrated that he was better than Terence in every way possible.
- Benjie and Sis are the two young owners of the Rubbadubbers that are never seen or heard on-screen. They are two human siblings that are presumably British. Whenever they need to use the bathroom, Reg the Robot alerts the Rubbadubbers to prepare for their arrival. They also leave things in the bathroom that prompt the Rubbadubbers to start playing a game.