A Little Curious
A Little Curious is an American children's television show that aired on HBO Family. The show, produced by Curious Pictures and HBO, was aimed at preschoolers. It was one of the cornerstone programs for the relaunch of the HBO Family channel in February 1999.[1][2]
| A Little Curious | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Comedy Educational |
| Created by | Steve Oakes |
| Written by | Carin Greenberg Nicholas Hollander Alana Sanko Frederick J. Stroppel |
| Directed by | Steve Oakes |
| Voices of | Cameron Bowen Amanda Kaplan Gary Yudman Marilyn Pasekoff Sandy Correia Bob Kaliban Gerrianne Raphael Rafael Ferrer |
| Composer(s) | Pat Irwin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 43 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Sheila Nevins |
| Producer(s) | John Hoffman |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Curious Pictures |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | HBO |
| Original release | January 26, 1999 – August 15, 2000 |
The 24-minute episodes are essentially anthologies of shorts centered on a common, easily digested topic such as "Up and Down" or "Slippery". While each short draws from the same pool of characters, they are produced in a variety of animation techniques.[3] Animation styles include stop-motion, clay animation, traditional 3-D and 2-D cel animation, and 3-D CGI, along with live-action segments mostly narrated by Bob the Ball.[4] Some of the shorts are designed to fit more than one topic, and are re-used in different episodes.
Characters
The "pool" of characters, generally based on everyday objects, include:
- Bob the Ball – a boisterous, exuberant bouncing red rubber ball.
- Gender: Male
- Voiced by: Cameron Bowden
- Little Cup – a sweet, woefully innocent glass cup of fruit punch who spends a lot of time learning about the world around him. He is Bob's best friend.
- Gender: Male
- Voiced by: Bob Kaliban
- Mr. String – a nervous, intelligent, fussy bit of blue string who can twist and tie himself into a multitude of shapes. He also bears a striking resemblance to Earthworm Jim. He frequently says, "definitely".
- Gender: Male
- Voiced by: Gary Yudman
- Plush – a cute, multi-colored, air-headed stuffed dog who is Bob's best friend.
- Gender: Male
- Voiced by: Bob Kaliban
- Mop – a rock music-loving yellow teenage mop with turquoise hair who usually changes her "hairstyle". She is Mr. String's best friend.
- Gender: Female
- Voiced by: Amanda Kaplan
- Doris the Door – a pink and orange Brooklyn-accented door, who, while playful, is easily tired. Doris usually talks about her distant childhood.
- Gender: Female
- Voiced by: Marilyn Pasekoff
- Pad and Pencil – a presumably married drawing pad and pencil couple who constantly fawn over each other through French accents à la Lumiére and Fifi/Babette in Beauty and the Beast and its 2017 live-action remake.
- Gender: Female (Pad), Male (Pencil)
- Voiced by: Gerrianne Raphael (Pad), Rafael Ferrer (Pencil)
- The Shoe Family – a family of pairs of shoes with footwear-themed names such as "Mary Jane". The parents are Mr. Shoe (brown dress shoes) and Mrs. Shoe (red high heels) and the children are Lacey (sneakers) and Mary Jane (a pair of Mary Janes). In "A Little Curious About Life", they had a baby brother named Booties. Bob is Lacey's best friend and Little Cup is Mary Jane's best friend.
- Gender: Male (Mr. Shoe), Female (Mrs. Shoe, Lacey and Mary Jane)
- Voiced by: Gary Yudman (Mr. Shoe), Sandy Correia (Mrs. Shoe and Lacey), Amanda Kaplan (Mary Jane)
The characters appear to be designed to evoke a sense of familiarity in preschoolers. For instance, young children can see aspects of their own personalities in Bob and Little Cup, observe the family dynamic among the Shoe Family, and perhaps most obviously, see a bit of their grandparents in Doris the door.
Episodes
Season 1 (1999)
- Loud, Soft, Shake (February 1, 1999)
- Light, Dark, Bubble (February 8, 1999)
- Near, Far, Swing (February 15, 1999)
- Slippery, Sticky, Mirror (February 22, 1999)
- Above, Below, Cover (March 1, 1999)
- Front, Back, Side (March 8, 1999)
- Swing, Cover, Shake (March 15, 1999)
- Rough, Smooth, Picture (March 22, 1999)
- Open, Close, Ring (March 29, 1999)
- Bubble, Picture, Mirror (April 5, 1999)
- Thick, Thin, Twist (April 12, 1999)
- First, Last, Step (April 19, 1999)
- Step, Twist, Ring (April 26, 1999)
- Empty, Full, Pop (May 3, 1999)
- Same, Different, Beat (May 10, 1999)
- Fast, Slow, Spin (May 17, 1999)
- Long, Short, Roll (May 24, 1999)
- Character Show – Bob the Ball (May 31, 1999)
- Roll, Spin, Pop (June 7, 1999)
- Warm, Cool, Heart (June 14, 1999)
- Character Show – Plush (June 21, 1999)
- Still, Move, Train (June 28, 1999)
- Spring, Fall, Turn (July 5, 1999)
- High, Low, Stretch (July 12, 1999)
- Side, Stretch, Turn (July 19, 1999)
Season 2 (2000)
- Top, Bottom, Jump (January 3, 2000)
- Over, Under, Balance (January 10, 2000)
- Drop, Lift, Flat (January 17, 2000)
- Tight, Loose, Squeeze (January 24, 2000)
- Hit, Miss, Bump (January 31, 2000)
- Work, Play, Skip (February 7, 2000)
- Hard, Easy, Change (February 14, 2000)
- New, Old, Dance (February 21, 2000)
- Lead, Follow, Act (February 28, 2000)
- Win, Lose, Tie (March 6, 2000)
- Push, Pull, Rock (March 13, 2000)
- Character Show - Mop (March 20, 2000)
- Jump, Flat, Squeeze (March 27, 2000)
- Hard, Work, Bump (April 3, 2000)
- Balance, Skip, Rock (April 10, 2000)
- Push, Over, Top (April 17, 2000)
- Drop, Loose, Change (April 24, 2000)
Special (2000)
A Little Curious About Life (August 15, 2000)
References
- Richard Katz, "HBO in Family way with heavy push of new fare", Variety, September 9, 1998.
- Lynne Heffley, "HBO Launches Spinoff With Pair of Excellent Kids' Shows", Los Angeles Times, February 1, 1999.
- Scott Moore, "Multiplex Channel Has A Singular Focus: Kids" Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, The Washington Post, June 13, 1999.
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 506. ISBN 978-1476665993.