the main characters from left to right Vince, Wendy, Bad Bob and Rex
Rex the Runt is a British live action stop motion animated claymation pixilation comedy franchise, primarily consisting of a TV Series and two short films produced by Aardman Animations shown on BBC Two. Its main characters are four plasticine dogs Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob and Vince.
The series began with a short, Ident, in 1989 directed by Richard Goleszowski. There were two unaired shorts and then a TV Series which was released on December 21st 1998-December 16th 2001. thirteen 10 minute episodes that first aired over two weeks on BBC2 from December 1998. A second thirteen episode series aired from September 2001 on the same channel.
Characters
- Rex
- Bad Bob
- Wendy
- Vince
- Doctor Dog
- Arthur Dustcart
- Mrs. Bloomers
- Mr. Formal
- Melting Blob Man
- Kylie Mandlebrotska
- Mr Chittock
- Auntie Brenda
- Johnny Saveloy
- Stinky Basil Smarmy
- The Happy Rabbits
- Mouse
- Tiddles
- Handsome Rex
- Ants
- Osvaldo Halitosis
- The Plants
- Gordon
- Chris the Space Turtle
- Sergeant Major
- Rocket Raymond
- Wayne the Zebra
- Lloyd Grossman
- Dingo
Refrences to other Aardman productions
Several episodes of Rex the Runt contain inside references to other television programmes created by Aardman Animations.
- In the episode "Adventures on Telly Part I", Wallace (from the Wallace and Gromit series) is washing the windows on Rex's house, until Bad Bob pushes his ladder over (in the film A Close Shave, Wallace operates a window washing business).
- Pib and Pog, two of Aardman's lesser known creations, are present in the spectator gallery during the courtroom scene from "The Trials of Wendy" and are also present in the audience watching Rex's band in "Stinky's Search for a Star"
- In the episode "Johnny Saveloy's Undoing", two of the jars containing the chemical essences of various stars are labelled "Wallace" and "Gromit". Another jar on the top shelf reads "Nick Park".
- The exorcist called upon in "Patio" is actually Morph, a character from an Aardman children's show, wearing a trench coat, hat, and large moustache.
- There are two references in the episode "Wayne the Zebra": A Chicken Run-style chicken is rejected during the auditions (with Bad Bob making a comment regarding the recent popularity of chickens, referring to the film's success), and Bad Bob consults the Aardman book Cracking Animation (ISBN 0-500-28168-8, published in the US as Creating 3-D Animation).
- The episode entitled "A Crap Day Out" may be a pun on the Wallace and Gromit short film A Grand Day Out.
Both Wallace from Wallace and Gromit and Rex live on streets that sound similar to their names: whereas Wallace and Gromit live on "West Wallaby Street", it can be seen from the various post that arrives for the household that Rex and company live at "7, Marsupial Way, Rexford"
Series 1
- Holiday in Vince
- The Adventures of Telly Part 1
- The Adventures of Telly Part 2
- The Adventures of Telly Part 3
- Bob's International Hiccup Centre
- Easter Island
- Too Many Dogs
- The Trials of Wendy
- Stinky Search for a Star
- Under the Duvet
- Johnny Saveloy's Undoing
- The City Shrinkers
- Carbonara
Series 2
- Mouse in me Kitchen
- Hot Date
- Patio
- A Crap Day Out
- Slim Bob
- Private Wendy
- Rocket Raymond
- The Plasticene Gene
- Wendy's New Hairdo
- Wayne the Zebra
- The Art of Cooking
- Bob joins a Gang
- Hole in the Garden