40 Fun Facts About The Wombles

Which English author created the Wombles in a children's novel first published in 1968?

Elisabeth Beresford was a struggling freelance journalist until the Wombles changed everything. Within ten years she had written more than 20 Womble books.

Which actor narrated the 1970s Wombles television series and voiced every Womble as well?

Bernard Cribbins supplied the narration and every Womble voice single-handed. He was already known for 1960s novelty records such as Right Said Fred.

The Wombles were the interval act at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, won by which group?

ABBA won with Waterloo that night and became internationally known. The Wombles appeared in a pre-recorded film shot at locations around Brighton.

To promote the Wombles' first single, their songwriter wore a Womble costume made by which relative?

His mother ran up the costume, and he then wore it for most of the working week to plug the record.

Some Wimbledon residents complained that the Wombles encouraged children to do what on the Common?

Drop litter was the ironic complaint, aimed at creatures who spend their days collecting and recycling the rubbish humans leave on the Common.

Which Star Wars actor played Bungo in the Wombles film Wombling Free?

Kenny Baker, the man inside R2-D2, wore the Bungo suit as the film band's drummer. His wife Eileen was inside another of the Womble costumes.

In the Wombles books, which legendary creature is revealed to belong to a clan of water Wombles?

The Loch Ness Monster is really a water Womble. The books add that the yeti of the Himalayas are giant snow-white Wombles.

Young Wombles choose their own names from which kind of book, kept by the burrow's elderly leader?

An atlas supplies every name, which is why Wombles are called after places. Bungo simply pointed at a page without looking.

Which Womble, a shirker who loves food and sleep, was modelled on the creator's teenage son?

Orinoco is lazy by nature yet capable of surprising courage. In the pop group he fronted the band as lead vocalist.

Which songwriter gave up his fee for the Wombles' TV theme in return for the musical rights?

Mike Batt turned down a flat £200 and took the rights instead. He then scored eight UK Top 40 singles performing as the Wombles.

Which Womble leads the Wimbledon burrow and glares at youngsters through two pairs of spectacles?

Great Uncle Bulgaria is stern on the surface but actually very kind. The author based him on her father-in-law.

Which gruff Womble, the burrow's engineer, is named after the main town on the Isle of Mull?

Tobermory was modelled on the author's brother, a skilled inventor. He has been friends with the burrow's old leader for many years.

What job does the kind-hearted but short-tempered Madame Cholet do in the Wombles' Wimbledon burrow?

Cook Madame Cholet affects a French accent, yet she is no more French than any other Wimbledon Womble. She simply likes to think of herself that way.

Which animation technique brought the Wombles to BBC television in 1973, in five-minute episodes?

Stop-motion is an expensive way to make a programme because of how long it takes. Studios once relied on overseas sales to cover the cost.

The BBC ordered the Wombles TV series after the first book featured on which children's programme?

Jackanory made the stories so popular that an animated series soon followed. Little thought was given to toys or other merchandise at first.

The first Wombles book pictured them looking like what, before television gave them pointed snouts?

Teddy bears were the original look. The TV designers felt too many children's shows already starred them, so the Wombles were redrawn.

At which British music festival did the Wombles perform live in June 2011?

Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis called booking them a bit of a mistake. The band quipped that its offer to tidy up the site afterwards was withdrawn.

Tomsk, the largest and strongest Wimbledon Womble, is an extremely keen player of which sport?

Golf is his game, played on the course on the Common itself. Human visitors there have occasionally noticed his talent.

A feral pack of Wombles fought a fierce wrestling match in which BBC comedy series?

The Goodies sent up the Womble craze in the episode The Goodies Rule – O.K.?, with Oddie grappling the furry mob.

Which glam rock band kept the Wombles' 'Wombling Merry Christmas' at number two in December 1974?

Mud spent four weeks at the top with the Elvis-style ballad Lonely This Christmas. The Wombles' festive single stayed stuck one place behind.

The Wombles' hit single 'Minuetto Allegretto' borrowed its music from a symphony by which composer?

Mozart's Symphony No. 41 supplied the tune. The same album also tried calypso and surf rock in the style of the Beach Boys.

The animator who gave the TV Wombles pointed snouts went on to produce which children's series?

Postman Pat was the earliest and most popular series from the company he founded with his wife to make programmes for the BBC.

Which animator of The Magic Roundabout designed and directed the 1973 Wombles television series?

Ivor Wood gave the TV puppets their floppy ears. He later animated Paddington for the same studio.

Which British animation company, later the maker of Paddington, produced the original Wombles series?

FilmFair made the series for the BBC with Graham Clutterbuck producing. The firm had already made The Herbs in 1968.

The 1990s Wombles revival left the BBC to be shown on which British television network?

ITV screened the new ten-minute episodes. They added fresh Wombles such as Stepney, a Cockney wide boy.

In The Wandering Wombles, the Wombles move from Wimbledon Common to which central London green space?

Hyde Park hosts them in the second novel. By the later novel The Wombles to the Rescue they are back on Wimbledon Common.

The Wombles keep a library of abandoned books, and their elderly leader enjoys which newspaper?

The Times is his paper of choice. Wombles think little of humans in general but respect their literature and make an exception for the Queen.

Which young Womble shares a name with the place where the Wombles' creator spent her later years?

Alderney, named after the Channel Island, is Madame Cholet's assistant in the early books. Left out of the 1970s series, she returned in the 1990s revival, living up a tree.

Bungo, the bossy and over-enthusiastic Womble, is named after a former province of which country?

Japan's old Bungo Province lay on the island of Kyushu. The Womble himself was modelled on the author's daughter.

A track on the Wombles album Superwombling parodied two concept albums by which keyboard player?

Rick Wakeman's King Arthur and Journey to the Centre of the Earth albums were both sent up in a single track starring King Merton Womble.

Which guitarist, Wellington in the Wombles band, later produced the first Sex Pistols recordings?

Chris Spedding was one of England's most sought-after session players. He rejoined the Wombles on stage as a guest for their 2011 festival comeback.

Members of which folk rock band once wore the Womble costumes to perform on Top of the Pops?

Steeleye Span's members performed Super Womble in the suits, thanks to their link with the Wombles' songwriter. The costumes always held experienced musicians.

The Wombles' songwriter later wrote which chart-topping ballad for the film Watership Down?

Bright Eyes, sung by Art Garfunkel, topped the UK chart for six weeks. It became Britain's biggest-selling single of 1979.

In 2022 the Wombles' songwriter revealed he had done what to the band's original multitrack tapes?

Destroyed them, he said, so that nobody could remix the Wombles' music after his death. The tapes covered Wombling Songs and the three Wombles albums that followed it.

Which Mary Poppins star played the father, Roland Frogmorton, in the Wombles film Wombling Free?

David Tomlinson, Mr Banks in Mary Poppins, played a father forced to believe in Wombles when his daughter invites them to her birthday party.

AFC Wimbledon's Womble mascot takes which name from the railway station nearest the Plough Lane ground?

Haydon is named after Haydons Road station. The Wombles' creator herself picked the winning name after a competition.

The Wombles' licence for Wimbledon F.C.'s mascot was not renewed after the club relocated to where?

Milton Keynes was the destination. The owners of the Wombles brand then declined to renew the licence for the club's Womble mascot.

The Wombles began when the creator's daughter mispronounced Wimbledon Common on a walk on which day?

Boxing Day was the day young Kate said Wombledon Common. That same day the author wrote down a list of Womble names.

The 1990s Wombles revival used voice actors from which country, home of its co-producer Cinar?

Canada's Cinar had bought the Wombles' original animation studio. Several actors then replaced the single British narrator of the 1970s episodes.

Which future Doctor Who companion played Kim, the girl who spots the Wombles, in Wombling Free?

Bonnie Langford was a child star when she played Felicity 'Kim' Frogmorton. She joined Doctor Who as Melanie Bush in 1986.