Iris, The Happy Professor
| Iris, The Happy Professor | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Professor Iris |
| Genre | Children's show |
| Created by | Henri Desclez |
| Developed by | Henri Desclez, Norma Denys |
| Written by | Henri Desclez |
| Directed by | Chuck Rubin, François Jobin, Pierre R. Thériault |
| Creative director(s) | Henri Desclez |
| Voices of | Pier Paquette, Tim Gosley, Frank Meschkuleit, Rob Mills, Michel Lapointe, Jani Lauzon |
| Theme music composer | Stéphane Deschamps |
| Composer(s) | Stéphane Deschamps, Benoit Roberge (1993), Joël Champagne (1993) |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language(s) | English, French |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 156 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Henri Desclez |
| Producer(s) | Henri Desclez, Norma Denys |
| Production location(s) | Montreal |
| Cinematography | Sébastien Tremblay |
| Camera setup | Multi-Camera |
| Running time | 14:00 |
| Production company(s) | Desclez Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | The Learning Channel, Radio-Canada |
| Picture format | 480i (4:3 SDTV) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 1992 – 1994 |
Iris, The Happy Professor (also known as Professor Iris and in French as Iris, le gentil professeur or Professeur Iris) was a Canadian-produced television show that ran for 156 episodes from 1992 to 1994, created by former Belgian-born comic book artist Henri Desclez and revolving around Professor Iris, a purple ibis who taught his class, which included his three students - Piano, Skeleton, and Plant (Kiwi would be added on the final year). The Professor would teach a variety of subjects to his students and would always wear bowties based on whatever the lesson was. Two computer games were developed based on the program: Professor Iris' Fun Field Trip: Seaside Adventure and Professor Iris' Fun Field Trip: Animal Safari. A French-language version was made by Montreal's Cinélume Film et Vidéo (first under the supervision of Vincent Davy for the first two seasons (uncredited on the first, credited on the second) then Christine Boivineau for the remaining episodes, with Joey Galimi for song adaptation) and was seen first in Québec on Radio-Canada until the late 90's, then it reran successively on Télé-Québec during most of the 2000s and finally on Unis TV since 2015. It also ran in Europe on Canal J for a while.
Characters
- Professor Iris (Pier Paquette, Edgar Fruitier (Episodes 1 to 26, uncredited)/Pierre Auger (French)) - A purple ibis and teacher of the unnamed school that serves as the show's setting. He is knowledgeable, optimistic, and the show's protagonist.
- Skeleton (Frank Meschkuleit/Rob Mills (Episodes 105 to 130), Jean Galtier (French)) - A character similar in appearance to Professor Iris, but with mere bones laid over a red cardigan.
- Piano (Tim Gosley, Élise Bertrand (French)) - A purple piano.
- Plant (Tim Gosley, Gilbert Lachance (French)) - A whimsical-looking flower in a flowerpot.
- Ms. Principal (Frank Meschkuleit/Rob Mills (Episodes 105 to 130), François Sasseville (Episodes 1 to 26, uncredited)/Daniel Picard (French)) - A white duck and headmistress of the school. She often walks into the class when it gets noisy to complain about the racket.
- Mr. Plumeau (Michel Lapointe, Edgar Fruitier (French) - A brown dog and janitor of the school. He appears on selected episodes of the final year, walking into the class to clean up some of the mess the students make.
- Kiwi (Jani Lauzon, Lisette Dufour (French) - A green frog and niece of Ms. Principal. She appears as a student on selected episodes of the final year.
Episode list
NOTE: The title is the episode's topic. On the first season, a narrator says the concerned topic. For the remaining episodes, Plant would say it, laughing after all.
Season 1 (1992)
- 1. Hands and Feet
- 2. The Apple
- 3. The Seasons
- 4. Colors
- 5. Little and Big
- 6. Shapes
- 7. Why Should We Be Clean?
- 8. Fruits and Vegetables
- 9. The 5 Senses
- 10. Pets and Farm Animals
- 11. Hot and Cold
- 12. Cow and Milk
- 13. Sports
- 14. Animal's Homes
- 15. The House
- 16. Nature
- 17. Why Do We Eat?
- 18. The Sea
- 19. Drawing and Painting
- 20. Music, Songs and Dance
- 21. Little Animals
- 22. Birds
- 23. Why Do We Sleep?
- 24. Trees
- 25. Time
- 26. Earth and Sky
Season 2 (1993)
- 27. Butterflies
- 28. Shells
- 29. Laugh
- 30. Bees
- 31. Trains
- 32. Flying Machines
- 33. Hair
- 34. Elephants
- 35. Phone
- 36. Vacation
- 37. Horses
- 38. Why Do I Cry?
- 39. Car
- 40. Photography
- 41. Minerals
- 42. Jungle Animals
- 43. The Farm
- 44. Flowers
- 45. Volcanoes
- 46. Kites
- 47. Insects
- 48. Conifers
- 49. Eggs
- 50. Dogs
- 51. I Dress Up
- 52. The Voice
- 53. Space
- 54. Musical Instruments
- 55. Snow
- 56. Fish
- 57. Dancing
- 58. Cats
- 59. Wind
- 60. Percussions
- 61. I Am Sick
- 62. The Olympic Games
- 63. Castles
- 64. Water
- 65. Careers
- 66. Cold Lands
- 67. Rivers
- 68. Shoes
- 69. Friendship
- 70. Dinosaurs
- 71. I am Afraid!
- 72. Games
- 73. Dreams
- 74. I Calculate
- 75. Hot Lands
- 76. Turtles
- 77. Trash
- 78. Boats
- 79. Stamps
- 80. Learn
- 81. Rats
- 82. My Eyes
- 83. Hats
- 84. Bats
- 85. The Moon
- 86. I Love My Teeth
- 87. Books
- 88. Snakes
- 89. Taste
- 90. Puppets
- 91. Balloons
- 92. Strings
- 93. I Love My Planet
- 94. Cities and Towns
- 95. Circus
- 96. Monkeys
- 97. Tools
- 98. Candy
- 99. Felines
- 100. Light
- 101. The Newspaper
- 102. Vehicles
- 103. Temperature
- 104. Sea Mammals
Season 3 (1994)
- 105. The Carrot
- 106. Ladybirds
- 107. Proy Birds
- 108. The Ostrich
- 109. Flour
- 110. The Orange
- 111. Potery
- 112. Roses
- 113. Bouquets
- 114. Sweetness
- 115. I Love to Eat
- 116. Picnics
- 117. Monsters and Clocks
- 118. Being Patient
- 119. Being Lazy
- 120. I Love to Clean Up My Room
- 121. Chocolate
- 122. Nuts
- 123. Windmills
- 124. Bluebirds
- 125. Parrots
- 126. I imitate
- 127. Ducks
- 128. Subs
- 129. Bears
- 130. Grottos
- 131. Leaves
- 132. Shadows
- 133. Grapes
- 134. Gardening
- 135. Sculpture
- 136. Sugar
- 137. Odors
- 138. Furniture
- 139. Fashion
- 140. I Love to Give
- 141. Being Modest
- 142. Vines
- 143. My Bedroom
- 144. Being Alone
- 145. Keys
- 146. Cabbage
- 147. Carnival
- 148. The Banana
- 149. Film
- 150. Oil
- 151. Decoration
- 152. Jewels
- 153. Toys
- 154. The Fox
- 155. The Newcomer
- 156. Imagination (Final Episode)