''Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat'', or simply ''Sagwa'', is a children's

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

based on the children's book '' The Chinese Siamese Cat'', created by Amy Tan which aired on PBS Kids, co-produced by Canada-based animation studio CinéGroupe and Sesame Workshop. In the series, which is set , after the cinematograph was patented and during the late

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

, Sagwa has fun in her day-to-day life while learning and teaching valuable life lessons. The show is notable for its setting and messages about family obligations and loyalty. The show is also intentionally cross-cultural, with the theme song in both English and Chinese. The series was developed and produced for television by executive producers George Daugherty and Michel Lemire, and producers David Ka Lik Wong and Leon G. Arcand. The series aired from September 3, 2001, to October 5, 2002, running for one season and 40 episodes. It also aired reruns until 2009. The series won the Silver Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival for Children's Film in 2001, as well as winning an Outstanding Individual in Animation award for background artist Valery Mihalkov at the 29th Daytime Emmy Awards and a "TV Series - Family/Children" award at WorldFest Houston in 2002.

Premise

Sagwa resides in a palace of a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in what is assumed to be modern-day

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

province (possibly during the late Qing dynasty, as shown by the characters' clothes), as part of a royal family of

cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

who have the ability to write with their tails. She and her siblings, along with various other cats and Fu-Fu the bat, have adventures that are usually accompanied by moral lessons, as is typical with most children's shows. However, one aspect of the show which sets it apart is its display of various elements of

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the Cradle of civilization#Ancient China, world's earliest cultures, said to originate five thousand years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia called the Sinosphere as a whole ...

Characters

Miao family

* Sagwa Miao (傻瓜 ''shǎguā'', "silly melon") (voiced by Holly Gauthier-Frankel) is the middle of the Miao family, as well as the titular protagonist of the series. Kind, curious, quick thinking, creative and often a bit bossy. She was originally pure white in color, but later gained her current Siamese cat markings after falling into an inkpot. Sagwa is very talented in calligraphy and is said by her parents to have the best artistic

skill A skill is the learned or innate ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. Some examples of gen ...

s in the Miao family. She has a golden-yellow and salmon-red Miao Family collar on her neck. While her name literally means "silly melon", it translates to an affectionate way of calling someone a fool. * Dongwa Miao (冬瓜 ''dōngguā'', winter melon) (voiced by Oliver Grainger) is the oldest child of the Miao family. Intelligent, competitive and sometimes a bit stubborn, Dongwa is independent and often prefers the company of the Alley Cats or solitary martial-arts practice to playing with his younger sisters. He is the only male child of this entire family and is also very caring of his sisters despite the typical sibling squabbles that occasionally occur between them. He is cream-colored and has the traditional Siamese markings and has a purple Miao Family collar on his neck. * Sheegwa Miao (西瓜 ''xīguā'',

watermelon The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...

) (voiced by Jesse Vinet) is the youngest child of the Miao family. Curious, very friendly, cheerful and full of energy, Sheegwa is also very optimistic and ascribes good intentions to almost every creature she meets. She is pure white in color, except for a pink tinge on her cheeks, and has a folded right ear. She also has a pink Miao Family collar (with a purple flower symbol on it) on her neck. * Baba Wim Bao Miao (爸爸寶寶 ''bàba bǎobǎo'', "father darling") (voiced by Arthur Holden) is the father of the Miao family. He is very strict with his children, and in matters of very hard work and duty, but also has a much softer, playful side as well. Baba also fancies himself a devotee of

Chinese Opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

, although he has Beat deafness. He and Mama are the official calligraphers of the Foolish Magistrate. Baba, like Dongwa, is cream-colored and has typical Siamese facial markings. When Angwan took care of him, she called him Bu-Gu, "Cuckoo Bird". He is also voiced by Bruce Dinsmore in a flashback where he's shown as a younger version of himself. * Mama Shao Faing Miao (媽媽小風 ''māma xiǎo fēng'', "mother small wind") (voiced by Ellen David) is the mother of the Miao family. Like Baba, she is also a very loving but very strict parent, but is usually much more lenient and gentle than Baba. She and Sagwa have similar coloring and markings. * Nai-Nai Miao (奶奶 ''nǎinai'', paternal

grandmother Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, or Grandma and Grandpa, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maxi ...

) (voiced by Sonja Ball) is the grandmother of the Miao family. Grey in color, she is old-fashioned, patient and full of wisdom. She often tells the kittens stories, and the family treats her as a respected ancestor. * Yeh-Yeh Miao (爺爺 ''yéyé'', paternal grandfather) (voiced by Neil Shee) is the grandfather of the Miao family. Like Nai-Nai, he is very wise and patient. He is a good storyteller, and the kittens treat him with great love and respect. * Uncle Miao (voiced by Neil Shee) is the paternal uncle of Sagwa and Baba's brother. He's very much into ancient local history. * Mae-Mae Miao is an aunt of Sagwa and Baba's in-law. She and her husband adopt a dog named Cha-Siu. That dog then became a cousin to the Miao kittens. * Cha-Siu Miao (叉烧 ''chāshāo'',

cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...

) (voiced by Daniel Brochu) is the adopted child of Uncle Miao and Aunt Chi-Chi, and a cousin of Sagwa, Dongwa and Sheegwa. He is a puppy dog and is very different than the rest of the family. Sagwa and Sheegwa are very happy to meet him for the first time and immediately bond with him. However, Dongwa isn't very sure about him at first because he's a dog and different than everyone else. After the Sleeve Dogs make fun of him for being a dog and not being able to do anything, Dongwa later comforts him and they bond together. * Chi-Chi Miao (voiced by Susan Glover) is another aunt of Sagwa and Mama's sister. She is an acrobat and teaches Sagwa and Sheegwa the art of

acrobatics Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance (ability), balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sports, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most ...

. * Uncle Catfish (voiced by Richard Newman) is a mysterious Uncle to the Miao kittens who could also be a first cousin to Yeh-Yeh. He is half cat and half fish who lives in the water. Sagwa visited him once and he told her a tale of his great-grandmother. She was a cat who fell in the water to meet a fish and that made him who he is today.

Humans

* Shoo-Jee-Deh-Shan-Taiyeh Suen, the Foolish Magistrate is the ruler of the province, Shoo-Jee-Deh-Shan-Taiyeh ( ''xū jī de xiàn tàiyé'', "county high master of strain spirit ground-bowing") (voiced by Hiro Kanagawa) is a large and rather absent-minded man. He occasionally makes rules without any reason, or makes ill-conceived decisions under pressure from his wife, Tai-Tai, but for the most part he is portrayed as a just and reasonable ruler. He is very fond of his cats, both for their calligraphy skills and for their ability to keep away mice and rats, of which he is deathly afraid of. In one episode, when he says "No rules, no race.", his phrase turns into a musical drumbeat song as a result of being chanted by him. * Tai-Tai Suen ( ''tàitài'', "wife") (voiced by Khaira Ledeyo) is the Foolish Magistrate's wife. She is a very irritable, strict, and status-conscious woman who really needs to prove her superiority to the "common" people of the village; however, she occasionally shows kindness and rationality, in which she sees the consequences of her actions and apologizes to those she has wronged. She is very attached to the Sleeve Dogs who live in her robe, and values the cats only when they can bring praise to the family. She has a niece called Angwan. * The Three Daughters are the Magistrate's children, each distinguished by their differently-colored robes. Ba-Do ( ''bái dòu'', "white bean") (voiced by Kathy Tsoi) is the oldest of the three, and usually wears pink. Ba-Do is the most prominent of her sisters, having received several episodes partly or entirely centered around her. Luk-Do ( ''lǜ dòu'', "green bean") (voiced by Leanne Adachi) is the middle daughter and usually wears yellow. Huang-Do ( ''huáng dòu'', "yellow bean") (voiced by Rosa Yee) is the youngest daughter, the tallest of her sisters, and usually wears blue. The girls are generally spoiled, mischievous, and argumentative, but do love and care for each other, and can often be seen playing together. * Chef Cook (voiced by Raugi Yu) not only prepares meals, but he also attends to medical care and other emergencies around the palace. He is a very good friend of the Reader. Of the humans, he seems to have the closest relationship with the Miao cats. * Seeyeh Suen is the Advising Reader of the Rules Seeyeh ( ''shīyé'', "division master") (voiced by Russell Yuen) is the Magistrate's brother who is in charge of reading his rules to the villagers; informally, he and the Cook often serve as advisors to the Magistrate as well. He also served as a tutor to the three daughters, and in one episode is discovered to be a very talented poet as well. The reader is often the victim of mishaps caused by others in the palace. * Jun (voiced by

Annette Bening Annette Carol Bening (born May 29, 1958) is an American actress. With a career spanning over four decades, she is known for List of Annette Bening performances, her versatile work across screen and stage. Bening has received List of awards an ...

) is the new tutor to the three daughters who appears in the final episodes. She wears purple clothing and is shown to be from another village. * Sir Richard (voiced by Simon Peacock) is a very clumsy English archaeologist who goes to the palace for tasks. He has brought Sagwa as his good luck kitten into caves and a hot air balloon to help find artifacts. They found the old poetry scrolls from the magistrate's ancestor, and an ancient fossil in a balloon as they were always up for adventure.

Best friends / allies

* Fu-Fu (福蝠 ''fú fú'', literally "lucky bat") (voiced by Rick Jones) is Sagwa's best friend and a sidekick. A cave-dwelling bat who wears round glasses, he is an extremely clumsy bat who often crashes into trees and other objects. He acts as Sagwa's conscience, warning her against taking unneeded risks, and then rescues Sagwa from the consequences of her adventures. * The Mice (all voiced by Jaclyn Linetsky) are a large group of other

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

live unseen behind the Palace walls. They are close friends of the three kittens and do no harm to the Palace nor its inhabitants. However, the Foolish Magistrate and his family are very afraid of mice in general, so their presence must remain hidden. * Tung (voiced by Thor Bishopric) is a cricket that belonged to the magistrate that lived in a cage in his study. He sang a song that really annoyed everyone, except the Magistrate who loved him. Tai-Tai snuck behind his back to get rid of him and everyone else thought he died. With the help of Sagwa, he found his way back into the palace. He sang again, but everyone thought he was a different cricket. * Hai-Yo (voiced by Thor Bishopric) is a bluebird. Dongwa accidentally hurt his wing in the alley. Dongwa tried to help him out and hide him in the clubhouse from the alleycats. He tried to get rid of him to impress his friends, but was looking for him in the end to see if he's alright. They made up in the end. This bird loves flying and looking for worms in the alley. He also made a cameo appearance in "Sagwa's Lucky Bat", as he accidentally ran into FuFu while flying. * Ping Wing (voiced by Sonja Ball) a pigeon kept by the magistrate in an episode. Sagwa and FuFu fought on who would get more attention for her. She hated the fighting between them and she only wanted to talk to them, if everyone made up. She's also skilled at flying while making music.

Other

* The Alley Cats are a group of cats who live in the streets and alleys outside the palace grounds. They include "bullies" such as Wing Wing (voiced by Michael Yarmush), Jet Jet (voiced by Mitchell Rothpan), and Lik Lik (voiced by Terrence Scammell) who often tease the Miao kittens because of their "goody-goody" ways and privileged lives. Others, however, are good friends to their siblings Sagwa, Dongwa, and (to a lesser extent), Sheegwa, such as two female alley cats named "Hun-Hun" (voiced by Kathy Tsoi) and "Ling" (voiced by Kamiko Taka in her only mainstream appearance) and three male ones named "Wong Ton" (voiced by Ian James Corlett), Shao-Pao (voiced by Jesse Camacho) (from the birds, bees and silkworms' episode), and "Fam" (voiced by Kyle Fairlie). * The Sleeve Dogs Ping (voiced by Dean Hagopian), Pong (voiced by Michel Perron), and Pang (voiced by Sonja Ball) are three small Pekingese dog triplets who live in the sleeves of Tai-Tai's robe. They antagonize the cats and boast of their superior status, but invariably their taunting and plots cause them to appear ridiculous and get into lots of trouble in the end. * Gunji (voiced by Ricky Mabe) is a large red cat that is owned by Tai-Tai's aunt. She has a rooster pillow for her but when she was chasing Sagwa, Sagwa's paw accidentally got stuck in the thread wrecking it. Gungi was blamed at first, but Sagwa told the truth of the accident then everyone knew what happened. In the end, Gungi apologized for being mean and Sagwa was rewarded by her parents. * Fi-Fu (voiced by Dean Hagopian) and Fo-Fu (voiced by Michel Perron) are two bullies in a pack of bats that antagonized Fu-Fu and made fun of his confidence before he had to leave a full moon flight, and whom Sagwa once blamed as her kidnappers when making up a story about how she got a bad haircut. * The Rat (voiced by Michael O' Reilly) is a hungry brown rodent who always breaks into the palace to steal food. He led onto the kittens' making deals with them before they realized they were tricked. He was always chased by other cats to leave the palace. * Oogway (voiced by Howard Ryshpan) is an elderly tortoise. He guided Sagwa in the garden and showed her the beauty of it. He did sleep a lot, and got a rose thorn out of Sagwa's foot. He also made cameo appearances in "The Favorite", and "Lord of the Flies". * Bei-Hu (voiced by Eleanor Noble) is a tribal cat with larger ears who are owned by traveling entertainers. He and his family do things much different than other cats, as they catch and eat locusts as a hobby. He also pretty smart as he taught Sagwa how to travel home quick and what's East and West. Many of the names of the characters derive from the

Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...

. Their spellings are romanizations (though not always Wade–Giles, but possibly dialects also), and differ from the standardized

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

system.

Episodes

Home media

Canada

From 2002 to 2003, CinéGroupe Star released six volumes of the series in Canada. The VHS versions were released in both separate English and French versions, while the DVD counterparts featured both languages.

United States

In 2003, PBS Home Video and Warner Home Video brought each compilation of individual episodes to VHS and DVD. On VHS, there were eight volumes with each containing three episodes. On DVD, there were four volumes which each contain six episodes each. Each DVD combined episodes from each pair of the VHS tapes. A pair of VHS titles (''Best Friends'' and ''Family Fun'') were renamed for the ''Feline and Friends'' and Family DVD. There was also a 6 volume DVD box set, with each disc consisting of 5-6 episodes. Every disc comprises episodes based on themes and were divided in half for those select sections of segments. In 2006, Paramount Home Entertainment brought sixteen episodes from the show were released on one disc as part of the PBS Kids pack anthology set, with the two other discs containing episodes from ''

Zoboomafoo ''Zoboomafoo'' is a live-action/animated children's television series that originally aired on PBS from January 25, 1999, to November 21, 2001. After the original run on public television, reruns were shown on Universal Kids#As PBS Kids Sprout/S ...

'' and '' George Shrinks''.

VHS

July 30, 2002 * ''Cat Nights, Flights and Delights'' – "Firefly Nights", "Fu-Fu's Full Moon Flight", "Shei-Hu's Secret" * ''Feline Frenzy'' – "Explorer's Club", "Treasure Hunters", "Sick Day" January 28, 2003 * ''Cat Tales'' – "How Sagwa Got Her Colors", "Fur Cut", "Stinky Tofu" * ''Feline Festivities'' – "The New Year's Clean-Up", "Ba-Do and the Lantern Festival", "By the Light of the Moon" April 1, 2003 * ''Best Friends'' – "Sagwa's Lucky Bat", "Cat and Mouse", "Dongwa's Best Friend" * ''Family Fun'' – "Royal Cats", " The Cat and the Wind", "Ciao, Meow!" July 29, 2003 * ''Kitty Concerto'' – "Alley Night Opera", "Comic Opera", "Tung, the Singing Cricket" * ''Sagwa's Petting Zoo'' – "The Birds, the Bees and the Silkworms", "Panda-monium", "Sagwa, Fu-Fu, and the Whistling Pigeon"

DVD

January 28, 2003 * ''Sagwa's Storybook World'' (combines ''Cat Nights, Flights and Delights'' and ''Feline Frenzy'') * ''Cat Tales and Celebrations'' (combines ''Cat Tales'' and ''Feline Festivities'') July 29, 2003 * ''Great Purr-formances'' (combines ''Kitty Concerto'' and ''Sagwa's Petting Zoo'') * ''Feline Friends and Family'' (combines ''Sagwa's Feline Friends'' (a.k.a. ''Best Friends'') and ''Sagwa's Family Tree'' (a.k.a. ''Family Fun'')

Online streaming

In 2018, TFO's MiniMation

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel began uploading episodes from the French version. The series was also briefly on

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

References

External links