The Perishers (1978)

An animated adaptation of the long-running comic strip "The Perishers" (1959-2006) by Maurice Dodd. The setting is the fictional industrial town of Croynge, depicted as a borough in South London. The main characters are a group of children who hang out together. The orphan boy Wellington lives in an abandoned railway station, and earns a living by selling handmade gravity racers. He is a somewhat pessimistic intellectual, worried that the world is heading towards "ruin". Marlon is an inept inventor. He lacks innovative ideas and often reinvents concepts from previous centuries. He daydreams about working as a brain surgeon. Maisie is a domineering girl, who resorts to aggression and violence to get her way. She has phobias about insects and spiders, and can freeze in place at the thought of being touched by them. She also has an unrequited love for Marlon, and daydreams of becoming the heroine of a romantic novel. Baby Grumpling is Maisie's kid brother. He primarily feeds on worms. He enjoys digging on the ground, playing pranks on his sister, and discussing about philosophy and folklore. Besides the kids, the cast includes Wellington's pet dog Boot. He is An Old English Sheepdog, but he is convinced that he is an 18th-century English lord who was transformed into a dog by a curse.