''Maggie and the Ferocious Beast'' is a Canadian

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 ...

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

created by

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

and

Betty Paraskevas Rita E. "Betty" Paraskevas (April 8, 1929 – April 7, 2010)

. The program was based on the 1996 book ''The Ferocious Beast with the Polka-Dot Hide'' and its sequels, which were also written by the Paraskevas. The show began as a series of shorts aired on the Canadian channel

Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and " cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts ...

in 1998. In the U.S, the first full-length episode premiered on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...

block on June 5, 2000, and in Canada, the first full-length episode premiered on

on August 26, 2000. The series ran for three seasons, airing its final episode on June 9, 2002.

Premise

A young girl named Maggie creates her own map of an imaginary world known as Nowhere Land that, in reality, takes the characters nowhere. She imagines that the characters Beast and Hamilton Hocks are her best friends.

Episodes

Characters

Main

* Maggie (voiced by Kristen Bone) is a redheaded 5-year-old girl (who later turns 6 years old) and the human protagonist of the show. She is Hamilton's and Beast's best friend. They both look up to Maggie very much and always turn to her for advice. Maggie is the leader of the group and is always there to be the compassionate voice of reason to her dear friends. * Beast (voiced by

Stephen Ouimette Stephen Ouimette is a Canadian actor and director. Although mostly known for his stage work, particularly at the Stratford Festival of Canada and recently on Broadway in '' La Bete'', he achieved TV fame (and a Gemini Award) as the ghostly Olive ...

) appears ferocious, but is actually gentle and kind. He is a yellow

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

-centaur (half-

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

, half-

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

, half-

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

and half-

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

), with big red removable spots, and a

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

's head with three horns. He often wears multi-coloured galoshes which he pronounces as "Goo-lashes". His favourite catchphrase is "Great googly moogly!", which he says several times per episode including the opening sequence of the series. In "Hide and Go Beast", it is shown that he is allergic to pollen. Beast loves pretty much any kind of food, especially Hamilton's cooking, and is almost always hungry. He even loves baths. Maggie and Hamilton are his best friends. Hamilton often corrects his pronunciation, but he does not believe him. * Hamilton Hocks (voiced by Michael Caruana) is a pig who can be bossy and quite fussy, but he does have a warm heart. He lives inside a portable

cardboard box Cardboard boxes are industrially prefabricated boxes, primarily used for packaging goods and materials. Specialists in industry seldom use the term cardboard because it does not denote a specific material. The term ''cardboard'' may refer to a va ...

which he loves, is the best cook in Nowhere Land, and is a total clean freak. Hamilton's most prized possessions are his beautiful "H" sweater and his cardboard box, which also happens to be his home. Maggie and the Beast are his best friends. In the episode "Hamilton the Ham", he has a great talent for singing. His catchphrase is "Hoo-wee!"

Recurring

* Rudy (voiced by John McGrath) is a cheese-loving mouse who lives in a large wheel of cheese in a part of Nowhere Land called Cheese Town. It is revealed in one episode that Rudy's hat and boots do not come off because they are glued to him. Strangely enough, this character started off with the name Pippy but was renamed by the writers soon after. * Nedley (voiced by

Dwayne Hill Dwayne Hill (born June 5, 1966) is a Canadian voice actor. In 2009, he was nominated for two Gemini awards, one in the solo category for '' Grossology'', the other, which he won, was for best ensemble in '' Atomic Betty''. Overall, he has voiced ...

) is a white

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

who speaks in rhymes. He says rhymes almost all through every episode that he appears in, but sometimes he talks normally a little bit before starting his rhyme again. Nedley lives in a rabbit hole next to his carrot patch in Nowhere Land. * The Moo Sisters (Mavis voiced by Tamara Bernier): They are the three cows who live in a part of Nowhere Land called Mooville. They all love to sing and do it very often. They are sisters and their names are Millicent, Mavis and Marge. * Mr. Moon: He is the only non-human and non-animal character in the episode "Blue Moon". He is actually grumpy because people say he is made of

green cheese Green cheese is a fresh cheese that has not thoroughly dried nor aged, which is white in color and usually round in shape. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives a reference from the year 1542 of the four sorts of cheese. The first sort is green ...

, though it hasn't been proven if he is though. * The Kindly Giant is not at all scary but instead kind-hearted. The others are scared at first but they soon get used to him and they sometimes go to him for advice or a favour. He refers to Maggie, Hamilton and the Beast as little ones. He owns a garden full of fruits and vegetables, from which he always lets the ever-hungry Beast scarf up a giant blueberry or two. His face is never shown, and he only appears in a few episodes. He is big and strong. Even the Beast seems small compared to the giant. The Kindly Giant lives in an area of Nowhere Land where all the fruits and vegetables are giant-sized. Usually, only his shoes and ankles are seen due to his largeness. * The Dream Sheep are white sheep that make baa sounds. They are occasionally up in the clouds. * The Jellybean Team are a group of seven coloured jellybeans. There is a red one, an orange one, a yellow one, a purple one, a black one and two green ones. They are small, of course, but have big personalities. They also tend to argue with each other a lot because they each think they are more important than the others. * The Triplets (All voiced by

Julie Lemieux Julie Lemieux (born December 4, 1962) is a Canadian voice actress. Career Lemieux has provided the voice for characters such as Sammy Tsukino in '' Sailor Moon'', young Darien Shields in '' Sailor Moon R: The Movie'', and Peruru in '' Sailor Moo ...

) are Maggie's baby cousins (Zack, Max, and Oscar). They only appear in four episodes, "One, Two, Three", "Home of the Kindly Giant", "The New Rubber Ball" and "Which Way Did They Go?" * Big Duck is a large duck with white feathers who lives in the water. She is the focus of the episode "The Big Duck" and appears in the series' theme song. * Reggie Van Beast (voiced by

Dan Chameroy Dan Chameroy (born November 12, 1970) is a Canadian actor. Personal life Raised by French parents in Edmonton, Dan started his career competing in vocal competitions in Canada and America. He is married to actress Christine Donato. They met i ...

) is Beast's cousin. His colouring is the inverse of Beast's, being red with yellow spots, and he wears a

monocle A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the visual perception in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string or wire. The other ...

. Unlike Beast, Reggie is rather stuck up and rude, and never really seems to enjoy anything that Beast and his friends want to do. He also often speaks in rhymes, similar to Nedley. He first appeared in "Guess Who's Coming to Visit".

Production

The theme song for the show is "Maggie and the Ferocious Beast in Nowhere Land," which is an original theme music was performed by Isabella Molley. ''Maggie and the Ferocious Beast'' is produced by

Nelvana Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...

and produced with the participation of

, and directed by Jamie Whitney and Stuart Shankly. The show premiered in 2000 and aired its final episode in 2002. The show is distributed by Nelvana.

Telecast and home media

In Canada, ''Maggie and the Ferocious Beast'' aired on

and

Treehouse TV Treehouse TV is a Canadian English-language specialty channel for preschoolers aged 2 to 5 that was launched in 1997. Its name comes from YTV's former preschool block, " The Treehouse". The channel is owned by YTV Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of ...

. In the U.S., it aired on

as part of its

block ahead of its Teletoon debut from June 5, 2000, to September 6, 2004. Repeats aired on

Noggin Noggin may refer to: General * Noggin or gill (volume), a unit of volume * Noggin (cup), a small cup * Noggin, slang for head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, an ...

, a channel co-founded by Nickelodeon. It also aired on the

channel when it replaced Noggin from September 28, 2009, until November 1, 2010, when the show was pulled from its lineup.

Qubo Qubo ( ; stylized as qubo) was an American television network for children between the ages of 5 and 14. Owned by Ion Media, it consisted of a 24-hour free-to-air television network often mentioned as the "Qubo channel" (available as a digital ...

picked up the show later on and aired repeats from May 28, 2018, until the channel ceased all operations on February 27, 2021. In the early 2000s, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released the show on video and DVD. Also,

Phase 4 Films Phase 4 Films was a Canadian film distribution company based in Toronto. It had two branches in the United States: Los Angeles, California and Fort Mill, South Carolina. Its subsidiary kaboom! Entertainment markets children's entertainment. Histo ...

Kaboom! Entertainment Phase 4 Films was a Canadian film distribution company based in Toronto. It had two branches in the United States: Los Angeles, California and Fort Mill, South Carolina. Its subsidiary kaboom! Entertainment markets children's entertainment. Histo ...

in Canada and

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 ...

in the U.S. released the show as well, with Vivendi Visual Entertainment handling DVD distribution for the Shout! Factory releases.

Revival

On March 18, 2021, it was announced a revival is now in the works. The computer-animated revival is titled ''The Ferocious Beast Show'' and will be produced by US-based

Frederator Studios Frederator Studios is an American animation television production studio which is a division of Frederator Networks, Inc. It was founded by Fred Seibert in 1997 with its first series launching in 1998. (Seibert resigned from Frederator in Augus ...

and Nelvana.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maggie And The Ferocious Beast 2000 Canadian television series debuts 2002 Canadian television series endings 2000s Canadian animated television series Animated television series about children Animated television series about ducks Animated television series about mice and rats Animated television series about pigs Animated television series about rabbits and hares Canadian children's animated comedy television series Canadian children's animated fantasy television series Canadian television series revived after cancellation Canadian television shows based on children's books English-language television shows Fictional duos Treehouse TV original programming Television series about cattle Television series by Nelvana Nick Jr. original programming