Noddy first appeared in a book series published between 1949 and 1963, illustrated by the Dutch artist Harmsen van der Beek from 1949 until his death in 1953, after which the work was continued by Peter Wienk.

He is made by a woodcarver in a toy shop but runs away after the man begins to make a wooden lion, which scares Noddy.

As he wanders through the woods naked, penniless, and homeless, he meets Big Ears, a friendly brownie.

The judge accepts that Noddy is good after a doll tells the court that he saved her little girl from a lion, and he is allowed to stay in Toyland.

On occasion, Noddy will allow people to make his head nod, in exchange for small items such as his morning milk.

Noddy is kind and honest, but he often gets into trouble, either through his own misunderstandings or because someone, usually one of the naughty goblins Sly or Gobbo, has played a trick on him.

While kind to Noddy, Big Ears has an intimidating presence and voice that makes him feared by goblins.

On rare occasions, however, Big Ears finds himself in trouble, in which case Noddy comes to his aid.

By the end of the journey, Tubby misses his parents and brings them back presents from his trip, as an apology.

The finale was a scene at the "Faraway Tree", with many of the children dressed as fairies, flying on wires.

It ran for several years, but the Stoll was knocked down and replaced by an office block in the late 1950s.

[5] In 1993, a stage production of Noddy opened at the New Wimbledon Theatre, followed by a long UK national tour, including a Christmas season in London at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, and was released on home video in 1994.

The production was written and directed by David Wood with scene and costume designs by Susie Calcutt.

The original cast included Eric Potts as Big Ears and Karen Briffett as Noddy.

The show was very well received among critics, audiences and even Enid Blyton's daughter Gillian Baverstock.

David Wood adapted a successful sequel to the play entitled "Noddy and the Tootle" which opened at the Wimbledon Theatre and endured on a long UK National Tour in 1995–1996.

Karen Briffett reprised her role as Noddy and Big Ears was played by Jonathan Broxholme.

This was created by Chorion, in association with SD Entertainment and the 100 episodes were produced in 2001 externally.

A CG animated series, called Noddy in Toyland, was made in 2009 by Chorion and produced by Brown Bag Films in Ireland.

Sly and Gobbo's cousins, Sneaky and Stealth, are introduced and usually work alongside them.

In Alan Moore's series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Toyland is a real nation located in the Arctic Circle.

The King and Queen of Toyland are Frankenstein's Monster and Olympia, the automaton from The Tales of Hoffmann.

Smiler is dressed as Noddy complete with a smaller version of his car in order to tow a bouncy castle with the rest of the characters on it, but it deflated while they were taking part.