''Iris, The Happy Professor'' (also known as ''Iris'' and ''Professor Iris'' and in French as ''Iris, le gentil professeur'' or ''Professeur Iris'') is a Canadian-produced television show that run for 156 episodes from 1992 to 1994, created by former Belgian-born comic book artist Henri Desclez and revolving around Professor Iris, a purple

ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word ...

who teaches a class of three students: Piano, Skeleton, and Plant. The Professor teaches a variety of subjects to his students and always wears a bowtie based on the topic of the lesson in each episode. A French-language version was made by Montreal's Cinélume Film et Vidéo (under the supervision of Vincent Davy for the first two seasons, uncredited on the first and credited on the second; then Christine Boivineau for the remaining episodes, with Joey Galimi for song adaptation).

Characters

* Professor Iris: played by Pier Paquette (English); Pierre Auger (French) – A purple

and teacher at the unnamed school that serves as the series' setting. He is knowledgeable, optimistic, and the series' protagonist. * Skeleton: played by

Frank Meschkuleit Frank Meschkuleit (born 1962) is a Canadian voice actor, puppeteer and comedian known for his role as Toopy on the Canadian television series '' Toopy and Binoo''. Meschkuleit began his performing career as a mime, and broke into puppeteering wi ...

, Rob Mills (English); Jean Galtier (French) – A skeleton of an

with

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

s laid over a red cardigan. * Piano: played by

Tim Gosley Tim Gosley is a Canadian puppeteer who is primarily known for his work on numerous Muppet productions. He is originally from Victoria, British Columbia. Gosley earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from the University of Alberta and studied pu ...

(English); Élise Bertrand (French) – A pink piano who loves music. * Plant: played by

(English); Gilbert Lachance (French) – A whimsical flower in a flowerpot. * Ms. Principal: played by

, Rob Mills (English); Daniel Picard (French) – A yellow duck who is headmistress of the school. She often walks into the class to complain about the racket when it gets noisy. * Mr. Plumeau: played by

Michel Lapointe Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

(English); Edgar Fruitier (French) – A grey dog who serves as the school's janitor. * Kiwi: played by

Jani Lauzon Jani Lauzon (born September 29, 1959) is a Canadian puppeteer and musician of Métis heritage from East Kootenay, British Columbia. She is a three-time Juno Award Nominee with Muppet Show credits that include additional puppetry on ''Follow ...

(English); Lisette Dufour (French) – A green frog who is Ms. Principal's niece.

International broadcasting

''Iris, The Happy Professor'' has aired in several countries and territories including Canada, France, the United States, Israel, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Latin America, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Scotland, Brunei and Jordan.

External links

Iris The Happy Professor Super Website
on archive.org *
Information about the show on UNIS TV

Information about the French dub

1992 Canadian television series debuts 1994 Canadian television series endings Canadian television shows featuring puppetry 1990s Canadian children's television series Treehouse TV original programming Television shows filmed in Montreal Television series about birds Television series about educators English-language television shows {{Canada-kids-tv-prog-stub