Stanley (2001 TV series)

Stanley
Title card
Genre	Animated series Fantasy
Created by	Jim Jinkins David Campbell
Voices of	Charles Shaughnessy Jessica D. Stone David Landsberg Ari Meyers Rene Mujica Shawn Pyfrom Hynden Walch Philece Sampler Khylan Jones Candi Milo Wallace Shawn
Theme music composer	Peter Lurye
Opening theme	"My Man Stanley" by Baha Men
Ending theme	"My Man Stanley" (Instrumental) by Baha Men
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	65
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Cartoon Pizza
Distributor	Buena Vista Television
Release
Original network	Playhouse Disney
Original release	September 15, 2001 (2001-09-15) – January 1, 2007 (2007-01-01)

Stanley is an American animated television series that aired on Playhouse Disney based on the series of children's books written by "Griff" (as indicated on the cover of the original book), also known as Andrew Griffin. It was produced by Cartoon Pizza and was developed for television by Jim Jinkins (the creator of Doug, PB&J Otter, Allegra's Window, JoJo's Circus, and Pinky Dinky Doo) and David Campbell.

Stanley teaches a wide variety of issues preschool children face, including change, growth, rules, and dealing with others. Each episode centers on an animal that deals with or helps explain the issue Stanley is grappling with.

Junkanoo and reggae fusion group Baha Men, known for their hit song "Who Let the Dogs Out?", sang the theme song for the series, "My Man Stanley".

Synopsis

Each episode shows Stanley (voiced by Jessica D. Stone) in a situation he does not fully understand. He discusses it with his pet goldfish Dennis (Charles Shaughnessy) before consulting the Great Big Book of Everything, a remarkably complete zoology book aimed at young children or his computer. By observing how an animal copes with the same situation Stanley faces, or how it can overcome a similar difficulty, Stanley learns to deal with the situation himself.

Throughout the show Stanley and all his preschool aged friends are able to talk to his pet cat, Elsie (Hynden Walch) and dog Harry (Rene Mujica) as well as Dennis. Other animals also seem to occasionally respond, but never talk or give a definite indication they truly understood what was said. Stanley and his friends actively try to keep the adults (that is, except Stanley's grandmother), and by extension Stanley's older brother Lionel, from realizing this.

The Great Big Book of Everything appears to be magical in nature, able to either let the animals out of the pages or allow the children to enter, sometimes changing them into animals in the process. This does not appear to be imaginary since occasionally adults do notice the noise, and Stanley works hard to hide the animals. There is also an episode where Stanley's brother sees a T-Rex in the yard but dismisses the memory when it disappears back into the book.

The Halloween special features Stanley's grandmother who, it is implied, is a witch. She reveals that she too can work the book, and in fact was the one who gave it to Stanley. She was also the one who taught its theme song to Harry and Elsie.

When someone says the "Great Big Book of Everything", hints it out, or even has the book, Elsie and Harry will wake up or find their way into the scene and start singing. This usually annoys Dennis, who after the introductory verse, says something like "Oh not again!"

The episodes, "Growing Pains," "Time for Toolfish," and "Pearls of Wisdom," show Harry, Stanley's pet dog, in a swimsuit.

Characters

• Stanley Griff (Jessica D. Stone) is an imaginative young boy. He has three pets: a goldfish named Dennis, a dog named Harry, and a cat named Elsie. He has an older brother named Lionel, who enjoys playing his electric guitar, a father who stays at home and draws cartoons, and a mother who is a dentist (the latter two were revealed in the episode "Double-Duty Dad").
• Dennis the Goldfish (Charles Shaughnessy) is the goldfish of Stanley Griff. In fact, he is Stanley's best friend who gives him education about animals to help him with his everyday problems, which interest him. He also has to point out the flaws in Stanley's ridiculous solutions. He even breaks the fourth wall by either encouraging the audience to do something fun or by asking them questions at the end of almost every episode.
• Lionel Griff (Shawn Pyfrom) is the older brother of Stanley. He likes rock and roll music a lot and always wears headphones on his ears, but still loves his younger brother very much by giving him advice, helping out with his homework, and looking out for him. He's a teenager.
• Mark Griff (David Landsberg) is the father of Stanley and Lionel. He is a stay-at-home father but works anyway as a cartoonist. He wears glasses, a dark purple short sleeved shirt, dark pants, has short dark strands of hair and has a beard.
• Joyce Griff (Ari Meyers) is the sweet and caring mother of Stanley and Lionel. She works as a dentist and loves her family very much. However, she does have ophidiophobia, which is the fear of snakes. She has red hair, wears jeans, a green collared short sleeved shirt, red lipstick and white shoes.
• Lester Goldberg (Philece Sampler) is one of Stanley's friends. He has a father who is referred to as Mr. Goldberg (Wallace Shawn) and a mother who is referred to as Mrs. Goldberg (Didi Conn). In "Little Dog Lost", it is revealed that he is Jewish because not only is his last name Goldberg, he does not celebrate Christmas and he celebrates Hanukkah. But he gets a present for every one of the 8 nights of the holiday. In the episode Gorilla Sleepover it revealed that his mom's first name is Nancy. He also has a little sister named Samantha who went to Mrs. Griff for a dental checkup and in the episode "Tasmanian Tantrum" she throws tantrums when she wants something.
• Marcie & Mimi (Khaylan Jones) are African-American identical twin sisters who are very good friends with Stanley. They both have black hair, but Mimi's hair is long with a purple hairbow on the top of her head and Marcie's hair is tied in a ponytail. In "Little Dog Lost", it's revealed that they celebrate Kwanzaa.
• Jane is a Chinese-American girl that is in Stanley's class. She has pigtails and appears in several episodes. She invites Stanley to her house in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner".
• Ben (Aria Noelle) is a boy that wears a hat. He appears in "Me and My Pal Fish!" where he takes Stanley's ball. Stanley stands up to him saying that he and Lester make a great time. He makes cameos in other episodes.
• Teresa Kirby is a girl that appears in the episode "Shell Game". She is the same age as Stanley. She gets shy and Stanley doesn't know why Teresa's shy. Later on, Stanley apologizes and him and Teresa be great friends. She has a pet turtle (Because Stanley and Dennis learned about turtles in this episode).
• Unnamed Female Student is an unnamed orange-haired girl that is in Stanley's class. She makes cameos in the episodes where Stanley is in class. She has speaking appearances in In a While Crocodile, Save the Bluebird, and Dances with Flamingos. She has orange pigtails, glasses, blue dress, and purple high heels.
• Fox is an animal that appears in the episode "Watch Out for Lionels". It barks out loud at armadillo.

Cast

• Charles Shaughnessy - Dennis the Goldfish
• Jessica D. Stone - Stanley Griff
• David Landsberg - Mark Griff
• Ari Meyers - Joyce Griff
• Rene Mujica - Harry the Dog
• Shawn Pyfrom - Lionel Griff
• Hynden Walch - Elsie the Cat
• Philece Sampler - Lester Goldberg
• Khylan Jones - Mimi & Marci
• Candi Milo - Ms. Diaz
• Wallace Shawn - Mr. Goldberg
• Didi Conn - Mrs. Goldberg
• Megan Taylor Harvey - Samantha

Episodes

Broadcast history

In the U.S., the series aired on Disney Channel's daytime preschool block Playhouse Disney since its debut, September 15, 2001. When Playhouse Disney rebranded its on-air presentation in 2007, Stanley was put on a new timeslot at 6:00 AM ET on the weekends. As of May 2008, Stanley no longer airs on Playhouse Disney, but DVDs and books are still available. In February 2011, the show was completely removed when Playhouse Disney rebranded as Disney Junior. The show was briefly seen online on DisneyJunior.com as part of "fan favorites" week on the week of June 20, 2011, and it cannot be seen on the internet anymore. From March 23, 2012 to September 3, 2013, the series returned on the U.S. airwaves on Disney Junior.

In Canada, it ran on The Family Channel from 2002 to 2007 and then was moved to Disney Junior, which has been running since 2007. It also aired on the Canadian-French version of Disney Junior since 2010.

Awards and nominations

Emmy Award

• 2002 – Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – Charles Shaughnessy for playing "Dennis" (won)

Film

On January 3, 2006, Walt Disney Home Entertainment and Cartoon Pizza released a full-length direct-to-video movie based on Stanley. Entitled Stanley's Dinosaur Round-Up, the film centers on the titular character as he, along with Elsie, Dennis, Harry, Mimi, Lester, and Marci, team up to save his Great Uncle Stew (John Ritter, who completed his work for the film before he died)'s dude ranch from the greedy Rockin' Rory (an uncredited Randy Quaid) who intends to buy the ranch and turn it into an amusement park.

External links

Channels

• Stanley on Disney Junior Canada
• Stanley on Disney Junior Quebec
• Stanley DVDs Disney US site
• Playhouse Disney Official Site

Others

• Stanley at TV.com
• Stanley at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Stanley on IMDb