''Whoopi's Littleburg'' is a musical puppet animated television

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

of three specials produced for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

's Nick Jr. block. It was created by Jonny Belt and Robert Scull, the latter of whom co-directed the show along with Tim Hill and later made the more notable Bubble Guppies also for Nickelodeon. The show uses a blend of puppetry and live-action characters. The miniseries focuses on a five-year-old piglet named Spencer, who has recently moved to the town of Littleburg. Young children and puppets make up the majority of the population and hold the community's jobs, and very few adult characters are seen. The only major adult characters are Spencer's mother and Mayor Whoopi (portrayed by

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ...

), whose behavior resembles that of a

preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...

teacher. The setting was modeled after a nursery school classroom. Multiple original songs are woven into each story, normally in conjunction with the episode's moral.

, Dr. John, and Guy Davis composed the theme music.

Characters

Main

* Spencer Piggle (performed by Josh Gustin and voiced by Sean Curley) is a light-pink pig and the newest Littleburg citizen. He is five years old. * Mayor Whoopi (played by

) is Spencer's

tour guide A tour guide (U.S.) or a tourist guide (European) is a person who provides assistance, and information on cultural, historical and contemporary heritage to people on organized sightseeing and individual clients at educational establishments, rel ...

around Littleburg, and the only major human character in the series. * TJ/Tiger Jane (performed by Sofie Zamchick) is a light-purple cat who is Spencer's closest friend. She is six years old. * Mrs. Peg Piggle (performed by Mary Birdsong) is Spencer's mother, who teaches him about the town through song. * Peggy Piggle is Spencer's baby sister. * The Sun (voiced by Dr. John) is an anthropomorphic

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

(who can set and become the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

at night) seen above Littleburg. * Phil is a horse with a love of painting. He is dressed in a necktie. * Dave is a chicken who is almost always seen with his favorite food, pretzels. * Gordy (performed by Timothy Doner) is a male bird that is green and yellow. He is the town shouter. He is two years old and learns new words.

Guest stars

Rosie Perez Rosa Maria Perez (born September 6, 1964) is an American actress. Her breakthrough came at age 24 with her portrayal of Tina in the film '' Do the Right Thing'' (1989), followed by '' White Men Can't Jump'' (1992). Perez's performance in '' Fear ...

, Mary Testa, and

Sandra Bernhard Sandra Bernhard (born June 6, 1955) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy, where she often critiqued celebrity culture and political figures. Bernhard is also well kn ...

made guest appearances on the show.

Episodes

Three specials and a pilot episode were produced.

Pilot (2003)

Season 1 (2004)

Release

''Whoopi's Littleburg'' was first announced at Nickelodeon's upfront presentation on March 24, 2003. In June, it joined the channel's 2004–05 programming slate. It was advertised as a series of specials. Episodes were aired sporadically throughout 2004, with reruns shown once weekly. During its run, VITAC representatives deemed ''Littleburg'' "educational enough" to receive free

closed captioning Closed captioning (CC) is the process of displaying text on a television, video screen, or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information, where the viewer is given the choice of whether the text is displayed. Closed cap ...

and subtitling. In 2006, the series' soundtrack was released to Nick Jr. Radio, a

webcasting A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, webca ...

station featuring songs from preschool-oriented programs.

Reception

The miniseries received positive reviews from critics, many of which praised its music and appeal towards multiple age groups. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

''s Marilyn Moss stated that ''Whoopi's Littleburg'' was "a lively and educational adventure into a friendly television space" and that the series was "likely to attract a wide audience." Writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Kathryn Shattuck called the series a "saga of empowerment" and dubbed the series' songs "fanciful." Lynne Heffley of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' praised the show's music, saying that it "is a standout component, woven deftly throughout." In his review for ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...

'', M.S. Mason noted that "this amusing, sweet-natured show for tiny tots will earn kudos from parents as well. Whoopi Goldberg has a wonderful ability to make kids giggle with the aid of puppets." Jacqueline Cutler of the '' Hays Daily News'' lauded Goldberg's performance in particular and felt that "Goldberg emanates no-nonsense warmth. When she talks to the puppets, she neither camps it up or talks down, and that even approach makes the show work."

References

External links

*
''Whoopi's Littleburg''
at

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''Whoopi's Littleburg''
at

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{{Nick Jr. American English-language television shows Treehouse TV original programming 2000s Nickelodeon original programming Nick Jr. original programming American children's musical television series American preschool education television series American television shows featuring puppetry 2000s preschool education television series 2004 American television series debuts 2004 American television series endings 2000s American children's television series 2000s American music television series 2000s American television miniseries Children's television series about talking animals Television series about cats Television series about chickens Television series about horses Television series about pigs Television series about children