A children’s animated film produced by Michael Gough about a young boy called Charlie Clyde who is never satisfied and so runs away from home. While on his adventure he falls into a stream and is swept away by the current. Realising his terrible mistake and wishing he was at home in bed, he is rescued by a man and his dog. The film ends with him tucked up in bed with his favourite teddy bear having learned his lesson.  Title: The Ballad of Charlie Clyde The figure of Charlie bounces a ball...

A children’s animated film produced by Michael Gough about a young boy called Charlie Clyde who is never satisfied and so runs away from home. While on his adventure he falls into a stream and is swept away by the current. Realising his terrible mistake and wishing he was at home in bed, he is rescued by a man and his dog. The film ends with him tucked up in bed with his favourite teddy bear having learned his lesson.  Title: The Ballad of Charlie Clyde The figure of Charlie bounces a ball with a bat appears on one side of the title. Title: Written and animated by Michael Gough The ball bounces away from Charlie and comes to rest next to a pile of toys. The narration explains that he is never satisfied with what he has, and he throws his bat onto the pile. The film cuts to Charlie looking into a toy shop window. The film zooms into new toys on display before cutting back to Charlie who thinks of all the things he wishes he could have, a different face, a different home, a desire to have strong muscles, and to wear long trousers and not to have to go to school. Charlies runs away along a path to where he might find an idyllic existence. He crosses a bridge over a stream and stops in the middle. He hanging on to the rail at one side of the bridge and jumps up and down with joy. The rail breaks, and Charlie falls into the stream. Charlie waves his hands above the water and shouts for help, but no one hears him. He grabs hold of a log which floats past. He hangs on for his life as it floats downstream. Over an underwater scene populated with fish, a clam, an octopus and a sea-horse, the narrator explains that Charlie had once dreamt it might be fun to be a shark. A shark comes into view and frightens the other inhabitants. The film cuts to Charlie dreaming in bed next to his teddy bear. But this was far different from his current predicament as the film cuts back to the stream with Charlie, cold and wet hanging onto the log. A travelling shot shows Charlie floating further away. The narrator says this is a situation Charlie would never have wished for. The shot stops at a point along the bank where a man and dog who spot Charlie floating past. The dog jumps in and swims towards Charlie. Charlie hangs onto the dog and, the narrator explains, both are pulled onto the bank by the man.  The film cuts to a silhouette of a house lit by moonlight. Charlie is now back at home and tucked up in bed. He reflects on his day away from home. His mother hands him his favourite teddy bear as he smiles, finally acknowledging the good things he already has. His mother kisses him goodnight. End credit:  The End. A Studio 103 Production