The Littles (French: Les Minipouss) is an animated television series whose original episodes aired from September 10, 1983, to November 2, 1985. It is based on the characters from The Littles, 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.
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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, while the final season featured the Littles traveling around the world.
The series also had two film tie-ins:
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. It was released on May 25, 1985 and is available on DVD.
The following year (1986), a made-for-TV film was created starring the Littles: Liberty and the Littles. This film was also directed by Bernard Deyriès. It was written by Marc Scott Zicree. It aired in three parts during the tenth season of ABC Weekend Special. 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, but not every episode of the series was syndicated during this run.
The series was also broadcast in the United Kingdom on TVAM and in Australia on Network 10. Many other countries also picked up the series.
Characters
The Little family
Tom Little is the older of the two Little children.
Lucy Little is the younger of the two Little children.
Grandpa Little is the oldest member of the family.
Dinky Little is a cousin of the family (as in the books, where he is always presented as 'cousin Dinky').
Frank Little is the father in the family.
Helen Little is the mother in the family and the daughter of Grandpa Little.
Ashley Little is 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 is 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 is a little turtle and Henry's pet.
Villains
Dr. Erick Hunter is 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 is Dr. Hunter's assistant. He is named for series creator John Peterson.
Other characters
Mr. and Mrs. Bigg are Henry's parents. Both archeologists, they often go on journeys.
Marie is Henry's classmate and close friend.
Voices
Jimmy 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 as Slick (seasons 2–3)
Robert David Hall as Mr. Bigg and Dinky Little
Laurel Page as Mrs. Bigg
Ken Sansom 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
Episodes
A dagger (†) denotes an episode that was not rerun in syndication.
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.
