''The Littles'' (French: ''Les Minipouss'') is an

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 ...

originally produced between September 10, 1983 and November 2, 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. 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 by the French/American studio DIC Audiovisuel. It was post-produced by a Canadian animation studio, Animation City Editorial Services.

Television history

Along with '' Inspector Gadget'' and '' Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats'', ''The Littles'' was one of the first cartoons produced by DIC Entertainment for American television, and it was the only one of the three to air on a network rather than in syndication. The first two seasons of shows featured The Littles around the Bigg household, but to improve the show's popularity the final season featured 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'', which serves as a prequel 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. It aired in three parts during the tenth season of '' ABC Weekend Specials''. 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 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on TVAM and in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on Network 10. 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 Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

and Henry's pet.

Villains

* Dr. Erick Hunter – A scientist whose primary goal is to prove the existence of the Littles. He often builds machines that can detect these tiny humans to prove to the others and himself that the Littles really exist, but his plans are always foiled by the Littles and Henry. Dr. Hunter's plans often get him in trouble with the police. * James Peterson – Dr. Hunter's assistant. He is named for series creator John Peterson.

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 as Grandpa Little * Gregg Berger as Frank Little * Patricia Parris as Helen Little * Donavan Freberg as Tom Little (seasons 1–2) * David Wagner as Tom Little (season 3) * Bettina Bush as Lucy Little * B.J. Ward as Ashley Little (seasons 2–3) * Frank Welker as Slick (season 1) *

Pat Fraley Pat Fraley 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 television series and voiced Falcon in ...

as Slick (seasons 2–3) * Robert David Hall 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 (Winnie-the-Pooh)#Disney adaptations, Rabbit in animated television series, television specials, and films for Disney ...

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

Additional voices

* Candace Craig * Paul Eiding * Jonathan Goldsmith * David Hollander * Erv Immerman * Tress MacNeille * Mona Marshall * Julie McWhirter * Hal Smith - Mr. Finnegan (in "When Irish Eyes are Smiling") * Marilyn Schreffler * John Stephenson * Russi Taylor Svenska Röst Gunna Ernblad Knatte Farfar Per Sandborgh Knatte Dinky Beatrice Järås Knatte Lucy Staffan Hallerstam Knatte Tom

Crew

* Marsha Goodman - Voice Director (Season Three), Talent Coordinator * Ginny McSwain - 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 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 (TV series), The 1983 American animated television series debuts 1985 American television series endings 1980s American animated comedy television series 1980s American children's comedy television series 1983 French television series debuts 1980s French animated television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy 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 comedy television series French children's animated fantasy television series French television shows based on children's books Animated series based on novels Animated television series about families Disney Channel original programming Television series by DIC Entertainment ABC Weekend Special American English-language television shows American teen animated television series American Broadcasting Company animated television series