''The Littles'' (French: ''Les Minipouss'') is an animated television series originally produced between 1983 and 1985. It is based on the characters from ''

The Littles ''The Littles'' is a series of children's novels by American author John Peterson, the first of which was published in 1967. Sixteen years later, Peterson's books were adapted into ''The Littles'', an animated series by DIC Entertainment. The t ...

'', a series of children's novels by American author John Peterson, the first of which was published in 1967. The series was produced for the American broadcast network

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

by the French/American studio

DIC Audiovisuel DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production comp ...

. It was post-produced by a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

animation studio, Animation City Editorial Services.

Television history

Along with ''

Inspector Gadget ''Inspector Gadget'' is a media franchise that began in 1983 with the DIC Entertainment animated television series ''Inspector Gadget''. Since the original series, there have been many spin-offs based on the show, including additional animated s ...

'' and ''

Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats ''Heathcliff'' ( ''Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats'', known as ''Les Entrechats'' in French) is a children's animated series that debuted on September 3, 1984. Produced by DIC Audiovisuel, it was the second animated series based on the '' Heat ...

'', ''The Littles'' was one of the first cartoons produced by

DIC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production comp ...

for American television, and was the only one of the three to air on a network, rather than in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

. The first two seasons of shows feature The Littles around the Bigg household, but to improve the show's popularity the final season features the Littles traveling around the world. During the production run of the show, the Littles were also popular enough to warrant two movie tie-ins: * On May 25, 1985, the Littles starred in their first animated feature, ''

Here Come the Littles ''Here Come the Littles'' is a 1985 animated fantasy film produced in France by DIC Enterprises, Inc. and distributed by Atlantic Releasing. It was directed by Bernard Deyriès and adapted by Woody Kling from John Peterson's series of books, ' ...

'', which serves as a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...

to the television series. It was directed by Bernard Deyriès and written by Woody Kling. This is available on DVD. * The following year (1986), a made-for-TV movie was created starring the Littles: ''Liberty and the Littles''. This film was also directed by Bernard Deyriès and written by

Heywood Kling Woody Kling (April 14, 1925 – April 10, 1988) was an American television writer, producer, playwright, and composer. Biography Early life Born Heywood Fisher Kling in New York City, Kling was the son of Mayme and Ken Kling. Ken was a ...

. It aired in three parts during the tenth season of ''

ABC Weekend Special ''ABC Weekend Special'' is a weekly 30-minute American television anthology series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997, which featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated. Similar to bo ...

s''. It was subsequently edited into a three-part episode and included in the third season of the series. The episode is available on DVD. In 2003, the series began to air on the Syndicated

DIC Kids Network The Cookie Jar Kids Network (formerly DiC Kids Network) was a syndicated children's programming block that airs selected Cookie Jar Group shows on local Fox, The CW, MyNetworkTV, and independent stations to provide them with a source of E/I p ...

block in order to fulfill E/I criteria. However, not every episode of the series was syndicated during this run. The series also broadcast in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

TVAM TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchis ...

and in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

. Many other countries also picked up the series.

Characters

The Little family

* Tom Little – The older of the two Little children. * Lucy Little – The younger of the two Little children. * Grandpa Little – The oldest member of the family. * Dinky Little – A cousin of the family (as in the books, where he is always presented as 'cousin Dinky'). * Frank Little – the father in the family. * Helen Little – the mother in the family and the daughter of Grandpa Little. * Ashley Little – A second, younger cousin of the family. In the television series, the family tree is mostly clear. Frank and Helen are the parents of Tom and Lucy, Grandpa is the father of Helen, and Dinky is a cousin (on Helen's side, as said by Grandpa in the episode "Ben Dinky") of Tom and Lucy. In the books, the family tree is never explicitly identified. The Littles that often appear are Tom, Lucy, Dinky and Grandpa.

Supporting characters

* Henry Bigg – A 13-year-old boy and one of the few humans who knows about the existence of the Littles. They live in his house and are his best friends * Slick – A little turtle and Henry's pet.

Villains

* Dr. Erick Hunter – He has never seen a Little with his own eyes, but is very sure they really exist. His job is to find some evidence and build machines that can detect these tiny humans to prove to the others and himself that the Littles really exist. * James Peterson – the other bad guy and Dr. Hunter's assistant.

Other characters

* Mr. and Mrs. Bigg – Henry's parents. Both archeologists, they often go on journeys. * Marie – Henry's classmate and close friend.

Voices

* Jimmy E. Keegan as Henry Bigg *

Alvy Moore Jack Alvin "Alvy" Moore (December 5, 1921 – May 4, 1997) was an American actor best known for his role as scatterbrained county agricultural agent Hank Kimball on the CBS television series ''Green Acres''. His character would often make a st ...

as Grandpa Little *

Gregg Berger Gregory Alan Berger (born December 10, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jecht from ''Final Fantasy X'' and the ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'' games, Grimlock from '' The Transformers'', Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter from '' ...

as Frank Little *

Patricia Parris Patricia Parris (also professionally credited as Pat Parris, Patty Parris, Patti Parris and Patricia E. Parris) is an American actress who provided voice-overs for several animated television series for such studios as Hanna-Barbera, The Walt Di ...

as Helen Little * Donavan Freberg as Tom Little (seasons 1–2) * David Wagner as Tom Little (season 3) *

Bettina Bush Bettina Bush, also known professionally and simply as Bettina, is an American actress and pop music singer. Early life She was born the youngest of three children. Her father was Charles V. Bush, the first African-American graduate of the US ...

as Lucy Little * B.J. Ward as Ashley Little (seasons 2–3) *

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 ...

as Slick (season 1) *

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 ...

as Slick (seasons 2–3) *

Robert David Hall Robert David Hall (born November 9, 1947) is an American actor, best known for his role as coroner Dr. Albert Robbins, M.D. on the television show ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''. Early life Born in East Orange, New Jersey, Hall attended ...

as Mr. Bigg and Dinky Little * Laurel Page as Mrs. Bigg *

Ken Sansom Frank Kenneth Sansom (April 2, 1927 – October 8, 2012) was an American actor. Among his best known roles, Sansom voiced Rabbit in animated television series, television specials, and films for Disney's ''Winnie the Pooh'' franchise from 1988 t ...

as Dr. Hunter and Peterson (seasons 1–2) Rachelle Cano provides the opening and closing theme vocals

Additional voices

* Candace Craig *

Paul Eiding Paul Eiding (born March 28, 1957) is an American actor and instructor, best known for his voice roles as List of Metal Gear characters#Roy Campbell, Colonel Roy Campbell in the ''Metal Gear (series), Metal Gear'' series and Max Tennyson in the '' ...

Jonathan Goldsmith Jonathan Goldsmith (born September 26, 1938) is an American character actor. He began his career on the New York stage, then started a career in film and television. He appeared in several TV shows from the 1960s to the 1990s. He is best known ...

* David Hollander * Erv Immerman *

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 ...

Mona Marshall Mona Marshall is an American voice actress, known for her work in a number of cartoons, anime shows, films and video games. Her major credits include ''South Park'', where she voices many of the female characters on the show; '' Fraggle Rock: The ...

Julie McWhirter Julie McWhirter, also known as Julie Dees and Julie McWhirter-Dees (born October 12, 1947), is a retired American voice actress and impressionist best known for her work as Jeannie in the animated version of '' Jeannie'', Bubbles in ''Jabberjaw' ...

* Hal Smith - Mr. Finnegan (in "When Irish Eyes are Smiling") *

Marilyn Schreffler Marilyn Sue Schreffler (June 14, 1945 – January 7, 1988) was an American voice actress who provided voice-overs for several animated television series, mostly for Hanna-Barbera Productions. Biography Marilyn Schreffler was born in Wichita, Ka ...

* John Stephenson *

Russi Taylor Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She is best remembered as the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019, and was notably married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, until his ...

Crew

* Marsha Goodman - Voice Director (Season Three), Talent Coordinator *

Ginny McSwain Ginny McSwain is an American voice actress, voice casting director, and animation production professional from Los Angeles, CA. Life and career McSwain graduated from Stephens College in 1974, before moving to Los Angeles. She has worked as cas ...

- Voice Director (Season Two)

Episodes

A dagger (†) denotes an episode that was not rerun in syndication.

Season 1 (1983)

Season 2 (1984)

Season 3 (1985)

Home media releases

Other merchandise

Some of the merchandise that was released during the series run included: tie-in story books, a

Milton Bradley Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased by Hasbro in 1984, and ...

board game, stickers and greeting cards. Foreign merchandise included many more items such as Halloween Masks, a set of figures, card game, VHS videos, records, and more.

References

External links

''The Littles'' episode guide
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Littles, The 1983 American television series debuts 1985 American television series endings 1980s American animated television series 1983 French television series debuts 1980s French animated television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated fantasy television series American television shows based on children's books French children's animated adventure television series French children's animated fantasy television series French television shows based on children's books Animated series based on novels Anime-influenced Western animated television series Animated television series about children Animated television series about families Disney Channel original programming First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television series by DIC Entertainment American Broadcasting Company original programming ABC Weekend Special English-language television shows