King Rollo is a children's character, created by

David McKee David John McKee (2 January 1935 – 6 April 2022), was a British writer and illustrator, chiefly of children's books and animations. For his contribution as a children's illustrator, he was UK nominee for the biennial international Hans Chris ...

in 1980. He is the main character in a series of books, animations narrated by Ray Brooks, and a

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

in the magazine ''Buttons''. Thirteen episodes of the animation were produced in 1980 by McKee's own

King Rollo Films King Rollo Films Ltd, known as King Rollo Films, is an animation production company established in 1978 by David McKee that produces cartoons for children's television. Their studios are based in Honiton, England England is a Countries ...

, where the character is the company's mascot and namesake, and were originally shown as part of the pre-school 'See-Saw' strand. Rollo himself is a childlike king who is always in need of advice and assistance from his friends. Among these are The Magician (a

father figure A father figure is usually an older man, normally one with power, authority, or strength, with whom one can identify on a deeply psychology, psychological level and who generates emotions generally felt towards one's father. Despite the literal t ...

); Cook (the king's cook, a mother figure, who was arguably the real ruler of the kingdom); his neighbour and girlfriend, Queen Gwen; King Frank; and Rollo's cat,

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

, who was generally portrayed as wiser than Rollo himself. The

animations Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

used the same colourful cut-out paper look as McKee's other works, such as

Mr Benn Mr Benn is a character, created by David McKee, who originally appeared in several children's books. The first, ''Mr Benn Red Knight'', was published in 1967, followed by three more; these became the basis for an animated television series of t ...

. The 2D animation style saved on production costs. The characters' legs would rotate outwards when walking until they were at right-angles to the sides of their body.

Episodes

Books

* King Rollo and the New Shoes (1979) * King Rollo and the Bread (1979) * King Rollo and the Birthday (1979) * King Rollo and the Balloons (1980) * King Rollo and the Tree (1980) * King Rollo and the Dishes (1980) * King Rollo and the Bath (1981) * King Rollo and King Frank (1981) * King Rollo and the Search (1981) * King Rollo and the Playroom (1982) * King Rollo and the Breakfast (1982) * King Rollo and the Dog (1982) * King Rollo and the Mask (1982) * King Rollo's Letter and Other Stories (1984): collection containing: King Rollo and the Letter; King Rollo and the Bush; King Rollo and the Present; King Rollo and the Tent * King Rollo's Winter (1986): board book * King Rollo's Spring (1987): board book * King Rollo's Summer (1988): board book * King Rollo's Autumn (1988): board book * King Rollo and Santa's Beard (1990): also published as King Rollo's Christmas * King Rollo and the New Stockings (2001)

Collections

* The Adventures of King Rollo (1982): King Rollo and the New Shoes; King Rollo and the Birthday; King Rollo and the Bread; King Rollo and the Tree * The Further Adventures of King Rollo (1983): King Rollo and the Dishes; King Rollo and the Balloons; King Rollo and King Frank; King Rollo and the Search * King Rollo's Playroom and Other Stories (1984): King Rollo and the Playroom; King Rollo and the Breakfast; King Rollo and the Dog; King Rollo and the Mask * The Adventures of King Rollo (2016): collection of separate hardback books containing: King Rollo and the New Shoes; King Rollo and the Bread; King Rollo and the Birthday; King Rollo and King Frank

References

External links

*
Toonhound
1980s British children's television series 1980 British television series debuts 1980 animated television series debuts 1980 British television series endings British children's animated adventure television series King Rollo Characters in British novels of the 20th century King Rollo King Rollo Rollo, King King Rollo Television shows based on children's books British English-language television shows 1980s British animated television series BBC animated television series Television series about kings {{child-lit-char-stub