''It's Punky Brewster'' is a 1985–1986

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

spin-off of the live action television sitcom ''

Punky Brewster ''Punky Brewster'' is an American sitcom television series about a young girl (Soleil Moon Frye) being raised by a foster parent (George Gaynes). The show ran on NBC from September 16, 1984, to March 9, 1986, and again in syndication from Octobe ...

''. It was animated by

Ruby-Spears Productions Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was a Burbank, California–based American entertainment production company that specialized in animation with another branch in Rome, Italy. This company was founded in 1977 by vete ...

. The show uses the same premise and main cast as its parent series, but also includes a magical sprite named Glomer. 26 episodes were produced over two seasons.

Synopsis

The series featured the voices of the original ''Punky Brewster'' cast as their respective characters. A new character, Glomer (voiced by

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

), was added as the "leprechaun gopher". He came from Chaundoon, a city at the end of the

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

and possesses various magical powers. One such power was the ability to transport Punky and her friends, Margaux, Cherie, and Allen, and at times her dog, Brandon, to any part of the Earth instantly. Some episodes included Glomer having to correct his own mistakes, as when he plays around with magic and transforms Henry into a statue of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

. ''It's Punky Brewster'' is the series' unofficial name (''Punky'' when the show first premiered); on the title card and in TV listings, it was simply called ''Punky Brewster.'' In season 2, shows 4 through 13 had a first-run episode and a repeat from the first season. The series was canceled in September 1987, but reruns returned from October 1988 until September 1989 after NBC's live action pre-teen show '' 2 Hip 4 TV'' was cancelled. The show was syndicated as a revolving feature of ''

Maxie's World ''Maxie's World'' is a 1987 American animated children's television program produced by DIC Animation City. Distributed by Claster Television and Saban International and originally aired in first-run syndication in the United States from Septemb ...

'' during the 1989–1990 season.

Cast

Soleil Moon Frye Soleil Moon Frye (; born August 6, 1976) is an American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She began her career as a child actress at the age of two. When she was seven, Frye won the role of Penelope "Punky" Brewster in the NBC sitco ...

- Punky Brewster *

George Gaynes George Gaynes (born George Jongejans; May 16, 1917 – February 15, 2016) was a Finnish-born American singer, actor, and voice artist. Born to Dutch and Russian-Finnish parents in the Grand Duchy of Finland of the Russian Empire, he served in the ...

- Henry Warnimont *

Ami Foster Ami Foster is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Margaux Kramer in the TV series ''Punky Brewster''. Biography Foster, a native of California, won the National Tap Dance Championship after which she was discove ...

- Margaux Kramer *

Cherie Johnson Cherie Johnson (born November 21, 1975) is an American actress, writer, film producer, and author. She is known for her roles on ''Punky Brewster'' as Punky's best friend Cherie and ''Family Matters'', where she played Laura Winslow's best fri ...

- Cherie Johnson *

Casey Ellison Casey Ellison (born March 2, 1976) is a former American child actor best known for his role as Allen Anderson on ''Punky Brewster''. In 1986 he left the show because he was disgruntled. Career Ellison had a recurring minor role on '' Mr. B ...

- Allen Anderson *

- Glomer, Brandon (barking; speaking voice in "Brandon the Dialogue Dog")

Additional voices

René Auberjonois René Murat Auberjonois (; June 1, 1940 – December 8, 2019) was an American actor and director. He was best known for portraying Odo on ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). He first achieved fame as a stage actor, winning the Tony A ...

(Season 1) *

Vince Edwards Vince Edwards (born Vincent Edward Zoine; July 9, 1928 – March 11, 1996) was an American actor and director. He was best known for his TV role as doctor Ben Casey and as Major Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film '' The Devil's Brigade''. Ear ...

(Season 2) *

Pat Fraley Patrick Howard Fraley (born February 18, 1949) is an American voice actor and voice-over teacher, known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman and numerous other characters in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated tele ...

* Alejandro Garay (Season 2) *

Linda Gary Linda Gary (born Linda Gary Dewoskin, November 4, 1944 – October 5, 1995) was an American actress. Career Live-action appearances Gary worked as a voice-over artist in animation and also appeared in two live-action films, 1977's ''Joyride T ...

(Season 1) * Patty Glick (Season 2) *

Renae Jacobs Renae Jacobs (born February 1, 1957) is an American voice actress, who is perhaps best known for voicing journalist and reporter April O'Neil in the original ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated series. Early life Renae Jacobs was born Febr ...

(Season 1) * Christina Lange (Season 1) *

Katie Leigh Katherine Elizabeth "Katie" Leigh Joseph (born December 16, 1958) is an American voice actress, best known for her roles as Sunni Gummi in ''Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears'', Zuzu in ''Poppy Cat'', Alex in the first two seasons of ''Tot ...

* Joycelyne Lew (Season 1) *

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series ''Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrench ...

* Mea Martineau (Season 1) * Janet Mays *

David Mendenhall David Athen Mendenhall (born June 13, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Space Raiders'', ''Over the Top'', '' The Transformers: The Movie'' and ''They Still Call Me Bruce''. Early life and acting career ...

(Season 2) *

Scott Menville Scott David Menville (born February 12, 1971) is an American actor who is known for his voice work in animated films, television series and video games. Life and career Menville was born on February 12, 1971, to television animator and writer ...

- Chucky * Lilly Moon (Season 1) *

Pat Musick Patricia Anne Musick is an American voice actress, who has provided numerous voices in many television shows, films and video games. She and her husband, Jeff Whitman, a personal manager and set construction coordinator, are the parents of actre ...

(Season 1) * Denise Pickering (Season 1) *

Hal Rayle Hal Rayle (born January 4, 1955) is an American voice actor. He has done many roles for both animated series and live action movies. Career Rayle has had a number of voice acting jobs over his career. Rayle's animated series roles include Miss Pi ...

(Season 1) * Josh Rodine (Season 1) *

Neil Ross Neil David Ross is a British-American voice actor and announcer. Noted for his Trans-Atlantic accent, he has provided voices in many American cartoons, most notably ''Voltron'', '' G.I. Joe'', and ''Transformers'', as well as video games, incl ...

(Season 2) * Shavar Ross (Season 2)

Susie Garrett Susie Garrett (December 29, 1929 – May 24, 2002) was an American actress of theatre and television, jazz vocalist and acting teacher. She is best known for playing Cherie's grandmother Betty Johnson on the NBC series ''Punky Brewster''. Person ...

, who played Betty, and T.K. Carter, who played Mike, are the only regular cast members of the sitcom that did not appear in the series.

Episodes

Season 1 (1985)

Season 2 (1986)

Home media

The show was released on VHS in 1991, and several different tapes were made. The series is available on DVD as part of the ''Punky Brewster'' DVD releases. Each season also contains a certain number of episodes from it as a bonus feature. Due to music rights issues, "The Shoe Must Go On" is the only episode not released on DVD in the season box sets released by

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

; a song featured in that episode was "

Axel F "Axel F" is the electronic instrumental theme from the 1984 film ''Beverly Hills Cop'' performed by Harold Faltermeyer. It was an international number one hit in 1985. Background The title comes from the main character's name in the film, Axel ...

" by

Harold Faltermeyer Hans Hugo Harold Faltermeier (born 5 October 1952) is a German musician, composer and record producer. Faltermeyer is best known for composing the "Axel F" theme for the feature film ''Beverly Hills Cop'', an influential synth-pop hit in the 1 ...

, the theme to ''

Beverly Hills Cop ''Beverly Hills Cop'' is a 1984 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Martin Brest, screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr., story by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr., and starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit cop ...

''.

Popular culture

* The series was parodied in the ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...

'' episode "But Not In That Way" (aired February 8, 2009) with Soleil Moon Frye reprising Punky Brewster, Henry Warnimont voiced by Seth Green, and Glomer voiced by

Tom Kane Thomas Kane Roberts (born April 15, 1962) is a retired American voice actor. He is best known for his work in animation and video games, most notably in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Career Kane began his voice-over career in 1977, at fifteen yea ...

References

External links

* {{Punky Brewster 1980s American animated television series 1985 American television series debuts 1986 American television series endings American animated television spin-offs American children's animated fantasy television series Animated television series about orphans English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series by Ruby-Spears Television series by Universal Television Television series by Sony Pictures Television Animation based on real people