Budgie the Little Helicopter Kiddie Rides

**Budgie the Little Helicopter** is a British children's TV series that ran from 4th January 1994 to 25 March 1996 on CiTV. It was based on a 1989 series of children's books by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. It was a co-production of The Sleepy Kid Company (now DreamWorks Classics) and Fred Wolf Films Dublin for both ITV broadcasters, HTV Limited and Scottish Television Enterprises (STE). Several rides based on the show were made, between 1994 and 1997.

## R.G. Mitchell

### Budgie

#### Information

* History of the ride: The ride was released on the same year when it was first broadcast. It was a success but has become rarer over the years. Budgie has blue irises.
* License: H.R.H. The Duchess of York (Sarah Ferguson) and The Sleepy Kid Company
* Design: The ride is based on the titular helicopter himself. inside the ride has a coin slot in the middle with left and right joysticks. The ride also has a flashing light pattern on the left and right side of the dashboard. Later the light display was removed and the start button was moved to the top via an updated dashboard.
* Seater: 2
* Year of release: 1994
* Other releases: Australia
* Faults: Buttons usually get jammed.
* Audio track: Budgie the Little Helicopter theme song
* Attract sound (if enabled): "Come on, climb aboard and let's take for the sky!"
* Trivia:

#### Buttons (or in this case, joysticks)

* START: Well, It just starts the ride
* Left joystick: "Juddering joysticks!"/"Rocketing rotors!" (Some low-pitched versions replace the former line with "Come on, climb aboard and let's head for the sky!")
* Right joystick: "Budgie to Pippa. Come in Pippa."/"Weeee! This is fun!"

#### Controller Timers/Kiddie Ride Boards

* PCM-001 (1994-199?)
* PCM-002 (199?-200?)

#### Versions

* V1 (1997): Not much to say since it is the common version.
* V2 (199?): The ride now has an updated dashboard.

### Little Lighthouse

#### Information

* History of the ride: It is unknown why R.G. Mitchell wanted to make the lighthouse. But it looks like the ride failed and is super hard to find.
* License: H.R.H. The Duchess of York (Sarah Ferguson) and The Sleepy Kid Company
* Design: The ride is made out of a lighthouse. it features Budgie, Chuck, Jean Claude, Lionel, Pippa, and Oliver the Owl on the outside. Inside the ride has a picture of a lighthouse with Budgie and his friends flying by it. It also has a memory game where the child has to press the right button corresponding to the flashing part of the picture and buttons.
* Seater: 1
* Year of release: 1997
* Other releases: Unknown
* Faults: None
* Audio track: Budgie the Little Helicopter theme song
* Attract sound (if enabled): "Budgie and friends are always working hard together, Pippa, Chuck, and Lionel and a new adventure"
* Trivia: Even in the UK it is hard to find.

#### Buttons

* START: Well, It just starts the ride
* Lighthouse
* Chuck
* Lionel
* Pippa
* Budgie
* Jean Claude
* Oliver the Owl
* Sun

#### Questions and answers of the game

* Match the buttons with the pictures flashing.
* Can you see the big lighthouse, helping all the ships across the sea safely?
* Well done. Yes. That's the lighthouse.
* Chuck has four windows. Can you see him?
* Well done. Yes. That's Chuck.
* Lionel has a big moustache. Can you spot him?
* Well done. Yes. That's Lionel.
* Wow! Watch Pippa go! There she is, with a pink bow on her hair.
* Well done. Yes. That's Pippa.
* Budgie has the letter B on his cap. Can you find him?
* Well done. Yes. That's Budgie.
* Look for Jean Claude. He's the French plane with a beret and a scarf.
* Well done. Yes. That's Jean Claude.
* Can you hear Oliver the Owl? \*wooooo\*
* Well done. Yes. That's Oliver.
* It's a really warm day, can you see the sun shining in the sky?
* Sorry, that's incorrect. Please try again.

#### Versions

* V1 (1996): Not much to say since it is the only version of that ride.

## KidzStuff Fun & Games Australia

### Information

* History of the ride: The ride was released in 1997 after OMC Electronics closed their business. The ride might have been designed by ex-OMC Members, Norman Lever, Arthur Combe and Tony Brookes.
* License: H.R.H. The Duchess of York (Sarah Ferguson) and The Sleepy Kid Company
* Design: The ride is also based of the titular helicopter himself. It is now smaller and has a coin slot placed where the candy cane was on the RGM version. The buttons are placed on the front of the dashboard below the window. It originally came out with the translucent windshield with eye stickers, one seat and only one doorway to get in. Later the ride had two seats and Budgie's windshield changed into the same colour as his skin. It also has a picture of Budgie and Chuck flying through the hills. The ride now has 2 doorways and has 2 seats.
* Seater: 1 or 2
* Year of release: 1997
* Other releases: Unknown
* Faults: None
* Start sound: "Hello everyone. Rocketing rotors!"
* Audio track: Budgie closing and opening theme on loop
* Attract sound (if enabled): "Hello everyone. Rocketing Rotors!" "Gee, you guys are slow!" (Just a guess)
* Trivia: There was one in the UK somewhere, but it was gone from here years ago.

### Buttons

* START: It just starts the ride and plays the start sound when moving
* Budgie: "Rocketing rotors!"
* Chuck: "Gee, you guys are slow!!"

### Versions

* V1 (1997): Has one seat and Budgie's windshield is translucent.
* V2 (1997): Has two seats and Budgie's windshield is the same colour as his skin.

## Other Releases

* A V1.5 of Budgie exists, which has updated joystick designs with no buttons.
* At Skegness Pleasure Beach, a Budgie that is possibly a V2 was spotted. It has the V1.5 joysticks and an updated dashboard.
* At Playland In Stourport, a Budgie that has a Stamar board with their messages and the chiptune music loop exists.