The Fruitties
| The Fruitties | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Antoni D'ocon |
| Written by | Josep Viciana |
| Composer(s) | Josep Roig Boada |
| Country of origin | Spain |
| Original language(s) | Spanish |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 56 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | D'Ocon Films Production |
| Release | |
| Original release | November 1, 1987 – present |
The Fruitties is an animated television series produced in Spain by D'Ocon Film Productions in 1987, created by Antoni D'Ocon and written by Josep Viciana. It originally aired on the Spanish television channel TVE. Originally, 91 episodes were created - each 10 minutes long - but the series was often repackaged as 56 25-minute episodes. The series was dubbed into many languages and, in 1991, an English-language version of the show made its debut on British television.
Story
The show features the adventures of anthropomorphic talking fruit, vegetables and various other plants who live in and around a forest island near a volcano. One day, the supposedly extinct volcano the Fruitties live around shows signs of erupting, thus forcing the Fruitties to send three explorers, the show's main characters Roly, Pak, and Thorny, to find them a new home.
International broadcast
- In Ireland, the show was broadcast on RTÉ2 in 1990.
- In the UK, the show aired on Cartoon Network from 1994 to 2002 and was known as The Fruitties. It first aired on The Children's Channel in the early 1990s.
- In Spain, the show aired on TVE. It was known as Fruittis on TVE and Los Fruittis on other channels.
- China officially imported the show in 1993 and distributed broadcast rights to various local TV channels. While the voices were dubbed in Chinese, the songs within the episodes were kept in Spanish.
- In Greece, the show was broadcast on Channel 9.
- In Bulgaria, the show was broadcast on Channel 1 and EKids. The series was released on 9 DVD volumes by A-Design.
- In Malaysia, the show was broadcast on TV1.
- In Singapore, the show was broadcast on Mediacorp Channel 8.
- In South Africa, the show was broadcast on SABC 1.
- In Serbia, the show was broadcast on TV Kanala D.
Cast
- Roly (Sean Barrett) is a pineapple with a southern Spanish accent. He tends to brag and get the entire team in trouble. However, he is shown to be resourceful when he needs to be.
- Pak (Daniel Flynn) is a knowledgeable banana and carries a backpack which contains an array of handy survival equipment for the team. He tends to bicker with Roly, due to Roly's laziness and bragging nature, yet he admires his sense of humor and his resourcefulness. He also has a rivalry with Monkus, the mad scientist monkey, who, unlike Pak, uses his scientific skills for evil.
- Thorny (Peter Whitman) is a dim-witted cactus, speaking with a southern US accent. His prickly body saves the group from dangerous creatures on many occasions, although it is a pain in the neck to Roly.
- Kumba (Stacey Gregg) is the only female and human in the group. She joins Roly, Pak and Thorny to guide them around the world. She sports a bikini made of leaves.
- Monkus is the main villain of the series and the Fruitties' arch-nemesis. He is a mad scientist monkey who seeks to conquer the world and impose his own rules. Unfortunately, his plans are always thwarted by the Fruitties.
- Boss (Sean Barrett) is an antagonistic wild boar who speaks with a Bronx-style accent and is determined to capture and eat the Fruitties.
Song
The show is fondly remembered for its songs featured during both its opening and closing credits sequences.
In late 2014, a downloadable CD was released on iTunes. Though it does not include all the major instrumental tracks used in the show, such as Monkus's theme, it does contain all the major vocal tracks from the series and they are issued in two languages, both Spanish and English. The following URL hosts the CD:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/docon-singers/id906798318
Track List Spanish Album ITunes Release (Fruittis):
1) Intro de Los Fruittis
2) El Bosque de los Fruittis
3) Gazpacho el Campeón
4) Safari Fotográfico
5) El Pirata Alcachofo
6) Viva el Sol
7) Vaya Trio
8) Canción del Agua
9) Canción del Ahorro
10) Viva la Nieve
11) Viajando en Globo
12) Kumba
Track List UK Album ITunes Release (Fruitties):
1) The Fruitties Theme Song (Original Version)
2) The Fruitties' Forest (Original Version)
3) Roly, The Champion (Original Version)
4) Picture Taking (Original Version)
5) Artichoke, the Pirate (Original Version)
6) Tuttie Fruttie (Original Version)
7) Trio (Original Version)
8) Water (Original Version)
9) Saving (Original Version)
10) Live (Original Version)
11) Ballooning (Original Version)
12) Kumba (Original Version)
DVD
A DVD of the Spanish version was issued in 2006. A DVD of the English version has yet to be released; however, the Spanish DVDs of the show have optional English audio tracks. In Bulgaria the entire series was released by A-Design over 9 discs. The DVDs feature Bulgarian audio track only that is newly-produced and is different from the dub from the show's original airing in the 90s.