''Little Wizards'', also called ''Young Wizards'', is a 1987–1988 American

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

, created by

Len Janson Len Janson is an American writer and director whose career in animated cartoons and live-action motion pictures spanned several decades beginning in the 1960s. He began work as an in-betweener at the Walt Disney cartoon studio. By 1965 he had becom ...

and

Chuck Menville Chuck Menville (April 17, 1940 – June 15, 1992) was an American animator and writer for television. His credits included '' Batman: The Animated Series'', '' Land of the Lost'', '' The Real Ghostbusters'', ''The Smurfs'', '' Star Trek: The An ...

and produced by

Marvel Productions New World Animation Ltd., formerly known as Marvel Productions, was the television and film studio subsidiary of the Marvel Entertainment Group, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It later became a subsidiary of New World Entertainment ...

and New World International. The series follows the fortunes of Dexter, a young prince without a crown, whose father, the old king, is dead. Soon after that, the evil wizard Renvick stole the crown and proclaimed himself king. He ordered his servants to imprison Dexter for fear that he would get in his way. However, Dexter fled into the woods, where he was found by the good magician Phineas, who rescues him. Phineas lives with a young dragon called Lulu. When preparing a potion, Dexter unwittingly caused an explosion bringing to life three monsters endowed with magical powers – Winkle, Gump and Boo. Ownership of the series passed to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

in 2001 when Disney acquired

Fox Kids Worldwide ABC Family Worldwide is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Television that is responsible for the operations of the U.S. cable network Freeform. The company was originally formed as International Family Entertainment, a spin-off of the Christian Broad ...

, which also includes

. The series is not available on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

Characters

Main

* Dexter – a young prince without a crown, whose father, the former king is dead. He fled into the woods, where he was rescued by the good magician and teacher Phineas. He won a singing sword. * Phineas Willodium – a magician and teacher, which he saved the prince Dexter from the hands of the evil wizard Renvick. * Lulu – Phineas' dragon *Three monsters accidentally created by Dexter ** Winkle – a cheerful, childlike pink monster who can make herself fly after taking a deep breath. ** Gump – a grumpy orange monster who can shapeshift into other objects, but still retains many of his own features. ** Boo – a timid, cowardly blue monster who can turn invisible, except for his eyes. * Renvick – an evil wizard, which he stole the crown from the late king, the father of the young prince Dexter and proclaimed himself king. He hates Phineas and the Little Wizards. At all costs he wants to beat them, but he doesn't always succeed.

Recurring

* Clovie – a young servant girl. She holds the secret to Renvick and her mother and she helps the Little Wizards. She is probably in love with Dexter. * William – Clovie's pet sparrow.

Production

Len Janson and Check Menville created the show for Marvel Productions and developing it for ABC. ABC had brought in consulting company Q5 Corporation to help develop the show along with other series for the 1987–1988 season. Q5's consultants consist of psychology

PhDs A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

and advertising, marketing and research professionals. The show was promoted as a part of the third annual ABC Family Fun Fair, which brings the voice talent of the characters to perform highlights of their show. The show stopped in Oklahoma City Friday August 28 through Sunday August 30, 1987.

Episodes

References

External links

* {{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1980s 1980s American animated television series 1987 American television series debuts 1988 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming American children's animated fantasy television series American English-language television shows Fictional humanoids Fictional quartets Television series by Disney–ABC Domestic Television Television series by Marvel Productions Television series by Saban Entertainment American Broadcasting Company animated television series