''Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies'' is an animated

educational Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

wildlife children's television series. The live action footage comes from the BBC Natural History Unit archives, as well as the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

. The series originally aired on

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

in the UK and was created by Douglas Wood, who is also the author of the companion children's picture book ''When Mama Mirabelle Comes Home'', published by National Geographic Books. A total of 52 episodes were produced; in the United States, they were packaged as 26 half-hours. In the American version, all of the animals except Karla and Bo have American voices.

Vanessa Williams Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, model, producer and dancer. She gained recognition as the first Black woman to win the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. She would later Vanes ...

is the voice of Mama Mirabelle in the US, and

Floella Benjamin Floella Karen Yunies Benjamin, Baroness Benjamin (born 23 September 1949), is a Trinidadian-British actress, singer, presenter, author and politician. She is known as presenter of children's programmes such as ''Play School (British TV series), ...

is the voice for Mama Mirabelle in the UK. The series is produced by UK animation studio King Rollo Films, whose other shows include '' The Adventures of Spot'', Discovery Kids' '' Paz'', the Nick Jr. block and Noggin's '' Maisy'', Sprout's '' Poppy Cat'' and '' Mr. Benn''. The show's opening theme was written by Lester Barnes (the composer for '' Horrid Henry'', '' Me Too!'', '' Paz'' and '' Urmel'').

Premise

Set in the African

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

, it focuses on an enthusiastic elephant named Mama Mirabelle, who travels around the world to film real wildlife footage and project them onto a screen of fireflies in front of almost the entire animal kingdom. The "Home Movies" are used for educational purposes not only for the main young characters but for the pre-school audience at home.

Characters

*Mama Mirabelle (voiced by

in the United Kingdom and

in the United States) – The show's title character; an

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

who always wears a beautiful orange hat with blue flowers on it and is the lead mother of the series. *Max (voiced by Phillipa Alexander in the United Kingdom, Teresa Gallagher in the United States, and Josephine Schmidt in Germany) – Mama Mirabelle's son, who loves a good bit of muddy fun with his adopted siblings Karla and Bo. *Karla (voiced by Teresa Gallagher in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and Jennifer Wieb in Germany) – A

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. ...

who is a bit of a prim and proper animal but also loves mud. Her favourite game is called Nuzzle Tag. She is the adopted daughter of Mama Mirabelle and the adopted sister of Bo and Max. *Bo (voiced by

Jules de Jongh Jules de Jongh is an American voice actress. She provided the voices of Yugo and Evangelyne in the first 2 seasons of ''Wakfu: The Animated Series'', the voice of the protagonist Faith Connors, Faith from the video game ''Mirror's Edge'', and th ...

in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and Jesco Spirgen in Germany) – A

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large Felidae, cat and the Fastest animals, fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, wit ...

who is adopted son of Mama Mirabelle and adopted brother of Max and Karla. He loves to pounce. *Merlin the bat (voiced by Kuchi Brasso in the United Kingdom and

Tajja Isen Tajja Isen is a Canadian writer, editor, and actress. Her first book, the essay collection Some of My Best Friends: Essays on Lip Service, was published in April 2022. As an actress, she is best known for voicing the title character '' Atomic Be ...

in the United States) *Kayla (voiced by Moya O'Sullivan) – A

red kangaroo The red kangaroo (''Osphranter rufus'') is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest terrestrial mammal native to Australia, and the Largest mammals#Marsupials (Marsupialia), largest extant marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, exce ...

who is friends with Mama Mirabelle. *Ronjy – A

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

who appears in the episode "Muddy Wonderland". *Kylie (voiced by Gabriella Lewis) – Kayla's daughter. She only has one line in each episode she appeared in. *Daddy Stripes (voiced by David Holt in the United Kingdom and Lucien Dodge in the United States) – Karla's father. *Keisha (voiced by Emma Tate in the United Kingdom and

Katie Leigh Katie Leigh is an American voice actress. She has voice acted in both television, film and occasionally video game roles. Career Katie Leigh is known for her voice roles such as Sunni Gummi in '' Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears'', Zuzu in ...

in the United States) – Karla's

wombat Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials of the family Vombatidae that are native to Australia. Living species are about in length with small, stubby tails and weigh between . They are adaptable and habitat tolerant, and are ...

friend. *Benny (voiced by Lizzie Waterworth-Santo) – a bird who loves to aid. *Winnie (voiced by Sarah Williams) – A

wildebeest Wildebeest ( , ,), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-toed ...

who is Karla's friend. *Jacques (voiced by Alan Marriott) – A

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped marine mammal with discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only extant species in the family Odobeni ...

who is a fellow traveller of Mama Mirabelle. *Mama Bird (voiced by Elly Fairman) – Benny's mother. *Edna (voiced by Felicia Hamilton) – a young

echidna Echidnas (), sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the Family (biology), family Tachyglossidae , living in Australia and New Guinea. The four Extant taxon, extant species of echidnas ...

who lives in Australia.

Crew

* Susan Blu – Voice Director *Kent Meredith – Voice Director

Episodes

* 01. Elephant Walk * 02. The Sounds of the Savanna * 03. A Little Help from My Friends * 04. Baby of a Different Stripe * 05. Hide and Go Seek * 06. Tell Me About It * 07. To Sleep with Wombats * 08. All Creatures Great and Small * 09. Anybody Home? * 10. Healthy Habits * 11. Play's the Thing * 12. Sam Spades of the Savanna * 13. Gourmet Grazing * 14. Kings and Queens of the Savanna * 15. I Spy * 16. Eyes, Ears, Noses, and Trunks * 17. The Boy Can Blow * 18. I Don't Like Spiders and Snakes * 19. What's in a Tail * 20. Footprints in the Sand * 21. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow * 22. Nobody's Perfect * 23. Things That Go Yip, Howl and Screech in the Night * 24. Cracking the Code * 25. A Savanna Kwanzaa * 26. You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby * 27. Change is Gonna Come * 28. Trumpet While You Work * 29. Spot the Difference * 30. Hot-and-Cold Running Critters * 31. Why Zebras Can't Fly * 32. Super Duper Savanna Animals * 33. Come Out of Your Shell * 34. Travels with Mama * 35. Tails of the Galápagos * 36. Happy Habitats * 37. Savanna Lullaby * 38. It Gives You Paws * 39. Out of Reach * 40. Family Style * 41. Curtain Up! * 42. Listen Up! * 43. Rainy Day Blues * 44. Take Me to the Water * 45. Find Your Way Home * 46. The Nose Knows * 47. Jumbled Jungle * 48. Alone Together * 49. Muddy Wonderland * 50. Do You See What I See? * 51. Have You Heard? * 52. This is Mama's World

References

External links

*
Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies at CBeebies''Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies''
at

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