''The Numtums'' is a British computer-

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 ani ...

children's television series created by Barry Quinn for

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

. It is about a group of 10 creatures called the Numtums, each with a number on their tummies. The show debuted on

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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on 27 February 2012, and ended on 17 December 2013, and in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

the show debuted on

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 ...

on 1 January 2015 with a total of 3 series.

Plot

''The Numtums'' is about a group of 10 multicolored numbats who live in Gumnut Gorge called the Numtums with numbers on their tummies. The Numtums are based on numbats, hence their fondness for eating termites in their café, the Tasty Termite, and they are named after Australian towns, except Champer. Bizarrely, the environment in which they live (featuring saguaro cacti, mesas and rock arches) appears to be more akin to the Colorado plateau and sonora deserts in the southwest United States than any part of Australia.

Characters

The Numtums

* Bendy Go (formerly named Number 1 in series 1) is the tallest Numtum in his green number one. * Dar Dar (formerly named Number 2 in series 1) is skateboarder Numpup in her pink number two. * Champer (formerly named Number 3 in series 1) is the highest jumper in his yellow number three. * Gladdy (formerly named Number 4 in series 1) acts as the parental figure of the Numpups, she likes neatness in her blue number four. * Little Sandy (formerly named Number 5 in series 1) is the smartest Numpup, and a scientist in her pink number five. * Flinders (formerly named Number 6 in series 1) is a very old Numtum and gives the Numpups adventures in his green number six. *

Humpty Do Humpty Doo is a small town in Australia's Northern Territory, situated just south of the Arnhem Highway, approximately 40 km from Darwin. At the , Humpty Doo had a population of 4,380 people. Its local government area is Litchfield Munici ...

(formerly named Number 7 in series 1 and also known as Humpty) is the hungriest Numpup in his light blue number seven. * Coogee (formerly named Number 8 in series 1) is a baby in his yellow number eight. * Hobart (formerly named Number 9 in series 1) is a very talented dancing Numtum in his light green number nine. * Nimbin (formerly named Number 10 in series 1) is a painting Numtum in her purple ten of a one and a zero. * Super Numtum is a superhero in series 1, 2 and 3. * Billy is an indigo numtum-like hedgehog. He is the coolest Numtum in the Gumnut Gorge. Billy appears in series 2 and 3.

Other animals

* Larry is a lyrebird. * The Flamingos live in the Gumnut Gorge and need the Numtums to get them in order. * Fluffy McTuffy is Super Numtum's enemy, a

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the w ...

with plans for world domination. * Frilly Lizzy is McTuffy's sidekick, a smart, timid, silent, and somewhat stoic frilled lizard.

Production

''The Numtums'' was animated by Beakus in series 1 and A Productions in series 2 and 3. Series 1 was aimed at toddlers, but series 2 and 3 was revamped for an older audience, introducing more complex concepts such as subtraction, shape recognition and numbers from 11 to 20 with computer animation, and using a more Australian theme. The creator Barry Quinn said in an interview that "we were looking at doing a show about numbers for the early years and an educational expert told us bright, cute characters were a good way to get kids interested." A lot of animal names were suggested but he settled on numbats who had 'num' in their name.

Episodes

Broadcast

''The Numtums'' debuted on

in the

on 27 February 2012 on the channel's Love to Learn block. The series aired on ABC3KIDS in Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

References

External links

* * * on Beakus * on A Production {{DEFAULTSORT:Numtums, The 2010s British animated television series 2010s British children's television series British children's animated fantasy television series British computer-animated television series British preschool education television series English-language television shows CBeebies Television series by BBC Studios Animated preschool education television series 2010s preschool education television series