''Angelina Ballerina'' is a British animated preschool children's television series, based on the ''

Angelina Ballerina ''Angelina Ballerina'' is a children's book series by author Katharine Holabird and illustrator Helen Craig about a fictional mouse (full name Angelina Jeanette Mouseling) who is training to become a ballerina. The first book in the series was ...

'' series of children's books by author

Katharine Holabird Katharine Holabird (born January 23, 1948) is an American writer, best known as the author of the ''Angelina Ballerina'' series, illustrated by Helen Craig, and the ''Twinkle'' series, illustrated by Sharon Williams. Early life and education B ...

and illustrator

Helen Craig Helen Craig (born 30 August 1934) is an English children's book illustrator and writer. She is best known for creating the Angelina Ballerina series of children's books with writer Katharine Holabird. Craig was born in London, evacuated duri ...

. The series is about Angelina Mouseling, a young

mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

who loves to dance

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, and her family and classmates.

Finty Williams Tara Cressida Frances "Finty" Williams (born 24 September 1972) is an English actress. Life Williams was born on 24 September 1972 in London, the only child of Judi Dench and Michael Williams. Williams trained at the Central School of Speech an ...

performed the voice of Angelina, and her real-life mother

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

performed the voice of Miss Lilly, her old ballet teacher. The show had 39 15-minute-long episodes, as well as three longer specials, which first aired from 2001 to 2006. The series was produced by

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Soph ...

and Grand Slamm Children's Films. It aired on

PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Instead, ...

and

PBS Kids Sprout Universal Kids is an American children's television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel launched on September 26, 2005, as PBS Kids Sprout, a preschool-oriented channel jointly ...

in the United States, where it was presented by

Connecticut Public Television Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) is the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member network for the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, a community-based non-profit organization that holds the licenses ...

, and

CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

in the United Kingdom.

SD Entertainment SD Entertainment is an American animation studio specialising in direct-to-DVD and theatrical movies for children. The "SD" in the initials of the company name stand for Sabella Dern, the respective last names of its founders: former MGM Animation ...

and

produced a CGI revival, '' Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps'', which aired on

Milkshake! ''Milkshake!'' (stylised as milkshake!) is a British children's television programming block on Channel 5 and is currently aimed at children aged 3–7. History The block debuted on Channel 5's first full day on air, at 7.30am on 31 March 19 ...

from 2009 to 2010.

Episodes

Characters

* Angelina Mouseling (voiced by

) is a feisty, quiet, and soft-voiced little white dancing mouse who loves to dance and always dreams of becoming a famous prima ballerina. Angelina has the tendency to come off as rather hot-headed, but she ultimately means well. She often wears a pink leotard top, tutu, vest, hair ribbon, and ballet slippers. * Miss Lilly (voiced by

) is Angelina's ballet teacher. Miss Lily is a kind and motherly figure to the mouselings that attend her class. Although she has good intentions, can come across as quite negative at times as she scolds her class if they make mistakes. She also isn't that good at telling the twins off if they bully and can turn a blind eye. She seems like she favours them. She grew up in Dacovia, which is a faraway land from Mouseland. She speaks Russian with a Russian accent. * Alice Nimbletoes (voiced by

Jo Wyatt Jo Wyatt is an English actress. She is known for her voice as Tweak in '' The Octonauts'', Little Miss Helpful, Little Miss Naughty, Little Miss Scary and Little Miss Sunshine in '' The Mr. Men Show''. She also voiced Daisy Kribotnik in ''Lov ...

) is Angelina's soft-voiced best friend, who is very skilled at

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

. She is brown and often wears a green leotard top, tutu, vest, hair ribbon, and ballet slippers. She has a very big appetite and also appears slightly lighter in colour in '' Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps''. She speaks with a Yorkshire accent. * William Longtail (voiced by

Keith Wickham Keith Wickham is a British voice actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for providing the voices of various characters in the children's television series ''Thomas & Friends'', and Polluto in ''Tommy Zoom''. Career Wickham voiced Change ...

) is one of two boys in Miss Lilly's ballet class. In one of the episodes, it's shown that he has a crush on Angelina. * Mr. Longtail (voiced by

) is William's father who works as a Station Porter and praises his son for any efforts he tries to make, especially if it is his first time. * Priscilla (voiced by

) and Penelope Pinkpaws (voiced by Jonell Elliott) are twin sisters who tease and belittle nearly everyone, including each other. They are particularly jealous of Angelina for her dancing talent. Priscilla wears lilac leotard tops, tutu, lilac ballet slippers, and wears a purple hair ribbon. Penelope wears a purple leotard top, tutu, purple ballet slippers, and wears a lilac hair ribbon. They also have a baby brother in the episodes ''Angelina's Surprise'' and ''The Ballet Tickets''. * Sammy Watts (voiced by

) is one of Angelina's classmates in school. Sammy is a bully who often causes trouble for William and Angelina particularly but has a heart of gold. He can often be seen wearing a yellow hat with a red dot in the middle. * Mr. Watts is Sammy's dad who only appeared in a few episodes. His first name is never used. * Mr. Maurice Mouseling (voiced by

) is Angelina and Polly's father and the proprietor of the ''Mouseland Gazette''. * Mrs. Matilda Mouseling (voiced by Jonell Elliott) is Angelina and Polly's mother. Her maiden surname is Fielding. She has a sister Amanda, who has a son. * Polly Mouseling is the youngest daughter of Maurice and Matilda and the little sister of Angelina. Polly is an infant with brown fur and often wears a pink dress. In the TV series ''Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps'', Polly is four years old with white fur instead of brown and she wears a blue jumper with a yellow T-shirt. * Grandma Sophia Mouseling and Grandpa Jeffrey Mouseling (voiced by

Adrienne Posta Adrienne Posta (born Adrienne Luanne Poster, 24 March 1949) is an English actress and singer, prominent during the 1960s and 1970s. She adopted the surname 'Posta' in 1966.Adrienne Poster, page on "Ready Steady Girls" (readysteadygirls.eu). Retr ...

and

) are Angelina, Polly, and Henry's paternal grandparents, Maurice and Louis' parents and Matilda and Lavender's parents-in-law. They are sometimes mentioned in ''Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps''. * Uncle Louis Mouseling (voiced by

Rob Rackstraw Robert Rackstraw (born 31 October 1965) is a British voice actor who has worked in various animated films, television shows and video games. Career Rackstraw has an extensive voiceover career over 20 years. He voiced the main villain Pew in ' ...

) is Lavender's husband, Maurice's brother, Angelina and Polly's paternal uncle, Matilda's brother-in-law and Henry's father. * Aunt Lavender Mouseling (voiced by

) is Louis's wife, Angelina and Polly's paternal aunt, Maurice's sister-in-law, Matilda's sister-in-law and Henry's mother. * Henry Mouseling (voiced by

) is Angelina and Polly's soft-voiced paternal cousin, Lavender and Louis's son, Grandma and Grandpa's grandson, and Matilda and Maurice's nephew. * Mrs. Hodgepodge (voiced by

) is Angelina and Polly's next-door neighbor who does not like dancing. She always appears grumpy and is viewed with fear by most of the Chipping Cheddar mouselings, but occasionally helps the mouselings often when they least expect it. * Dr. Tuttle (voiced by

) is the doctor in the town of Chipping Cheddar. * Miss Quaver (voiced by

) is Miss Lilly's nervous pianist, who plays the piano during dance classes. * Mr. Ivor Operatski (voiced by

Derek Jacobi Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. He has appeared in various stage productions of William Shakespeare such as ''Hamlet'', ''Much Ado About Nothing'', ''Macbeth'', ''Twelfth Night'', ''The Tempest'', ''King ...

) is an old friend of Miss Lilly's and a stern

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

. Angelina is convinced (wrongly, as it turns out) that he hates mouselings. * Queen Seraphina (voiced by

) is King George's wife and a childhood friend of Miss Lilly's and the present Queen of Mouseland. She speaks Victorian with a Victorian accent. * King George (voiced by

) is Queen Seraphina's husband and the King of Mouseland. He speaks English with an English accent. * Princess Valentine (voiced by Adrienne Posta) is Queen Seraphina's middle daughter. * Anya Mousezauski (voiced by

) is a shy mouse who comes to Chipping Cheddar as part of a migrant family from Dacovia working through the

harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

season. She has an ear with a black patch that Sammy and the Pinkpaws twins make fun of. She befriends Angelina and Alice and later joins Miss Lilly's ballet class when she returns to Chipping Cheddar for a visit. * Mrs. Pinkpaws (voiced by Jonell Elliott) is the mother of the twins Priscilla and Penelope and their baby brother. She appears in a couple of the episodes. She speaks with a Southern accent and wears a lot of

jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...

. * Ms. Chalk (voiced by Jonell Elliott) is a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

in Angelina's class at school and can be both strict and fair to her pupils. * Mrs. Thimble (voiced by

) is the elderly kind-hearted store owner. * Mr. Ratchett (voiced by

) is a builder and crane driver. * Miss Twitchett (voiced by

) is a gentle old lady who loves wrapping things up.

Release

Hit Entertainment UK/US
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and VHS releases

* ''Angelina Ballerina: The Gift and Other Stories'' (2001, UK/2003, US) (The Gift, Angelina in the Wings, Arthur the Butterfly, The Costume Ball, Miss Lilly is Leaving) * ''Meet Angelina Ballerina'' (2004) (The Ballet Tickets, Two Mice in a Boat) * ''Angelina Ballerina: Rose Fairy Princess'' (2002, UK/2004, US) (The Rose Fairy Princess, Two Mice in a Boat, Angelina at the Fair, The Ballet Tickets) * ''Angelina Ballerina: Angelina's Baby Sister'' (2002, UK/2004, US) (Promotional VHS) * ''Angelina Ballerina: Friends Forever'' (2002, UK/2004, US) (Ballerina Rag Doll, Angelina's Surprise, Treasure Tandems, Alice's Present) * ''Angelina Ballerina: The Lucky Penny'' (2003) * ''Angelina Ballerina: The Magic of Dance'' (William the Conjurer, Angelina and Grandma, Miss Lilly Comes to Dinner, Angelina's Valentine) * ''Angelina Ballerina: The Dance Of Friendship'' (2005) (Angelina and Anya, Alice's Present) * ''Angelina Ballerina: Lights, Camera, Action!'' (2005) * ''Angelina Ballerina: All Dancers on Deck'' / ''Angelina Ballerina: Angelina Sets Sail'' (2006) * ''Angelina Ballerina: Angelina And The Sleeping Beauties'' / ''Angelina Ballerina: Princess Dance'' (2006) * ''Angelina Ballerina: The Big Performance'' (2006) (The Royal Banquet, Angelina the Mouse Detective, Angelina's Baby Sister, The Costume Ball) * ''Angelina Ballerina: Angelina Follows Her Dreams'' (2007)

Reception

At Indie Awards in 2004, the first episode in season 2 "The Proposal" was named the winner of Best Animation category.

Other media

Merchandise

Plush doll sets by

American Girl American Girl is an American line of dolls released on May 5, 1986, by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray eight- to fourteen-year-old boys and girls of a variety of ethnicities, faiths, and social classes from different time periods throughou ...

were released and produced around the early 2000's in tandem with books by author Katharine Holabird and illustrator Helen Craig.

Revivals

and

produced a new CGI series called '' Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps'' which ran from September 5, 2009, to November 13, 2010. The series is about Angelina going to a performing arts school. The series was criticized by fans of the original for the redesigns or removals of several characters and the change in setting and format, among other things. In October 2015, during the

MIPCOM MIPCOM (Marché International des Programmes de Communication, English: International Market of Communications Programmes) is an annual trade show held in the French town of Cannes, traditionally in the month of October and running for 4 days. It ...

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

and

9 Story Media Group 9 Story Media Group Inc. (formerly known as 9 Story Entertainment) is a Canadian children's television series, children's media production company and international distributor founded by Vincent "Vince" Commisso, Steve Jarosz, and Blake Tohana o ...

announced a long-term business alliance for a second revival of ''Angelina Ballerina'', intended to air in 2017 alongside a revival of fellow HIT Entertainment program ''

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomorp ...

''. However, neither came to fruition.

References

External links

* *
''Angelina Ballerina''
at the

Big Cartoon Database The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featu ...

{{Former PBS Kids shows 2000s British children's television series 2000s British animated television series 2000s British drama television series 2001 British television series debuts 2006 British television series endings 2000s preschool education television series Animated preschool education television series British children's animated television shows British preschool education television series British television shows based on children's books British television series with live action and animation English-language television shows PBS Kids shows PBS original programming Elementary school television series Animated television series about children Animated television series about mice and rats Television series about ballet Television series by Mattel Creations Television series by 9 Story Media Group HIT Entertainment Dance animation