Popples (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Popples was a Saturday morning cartoon
, based on the Popples
toys, that aired in the United States
from 1986 to 1987. The pilot
was a live-action Shelley Duvall
special called It's Popple Time, in which they were puppet
s and marionette
s; after this was well-received, it was decided to make a cartoon series
with the same characters. The cartoon was produced by DiC Entertainment
and LBS Communications in association with The Maltese Companies.
Like the toys they're based on, the Popples resemble colorful teddy bear
s or rabbit
s with long, pompom-tipped tails, and they have pouches
on their backs that can be everted so they resemble fuzzy balls. The name "Popple" is a reference to the popping sound they make when unfolding themselves from such a ball, or pulling objects from their pouches. In the cartoon Popples commonly pull large items from their pouches that couldn't possibly fit inside, which come from hammerspace; in "Popples Alley", one of the Popples' human friends looks inside one of their pouches and sees numerous objects floating in a void.
Nine of the Popples live with a human brother and sister, Billy and Bonnie Wagner. Billy and Bonnie think they are the only kids who have Popples until a neighbor family moves in and they have their own Popples — the Rock Stars, Pufflings, and Babies. The Popples tend to come around and mess up whatever the kids are trying to do; e.g., if the kids are trying to brush their teeth, the Popples end up spilling water, toothpaste and soap all over the bathroom. If the kids are trying to clean their rooms, the Popples come along, mess up the room even worse and then help them get everything back to normal just in the nick of time. The plot revolved around the children's efforts to hide the existence of the Popples from the adults around them.
The Popples also had a comic book
series from Star Comics
(an imprint of Marvel Comics
).
s-themed Popples who appeared in only two episodes: "Decatha-Pop-A-Lon Popples" (in which all six appeared) and "Popple Cheer" (in which all but Cuester appeared). The only previously established character they ever make contact with is Bonnie, in the latter cartoon, where they explain they're "new in the neighbourhood".
The Sports Popples each specialize in one sport, wears an outfit based on that sport, and folds into an appropriate type of ball
. Even their tails are shaped like sports balls:
* The airdate of this episode is unknown.
Saturday morning cartoon
A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
, based on the Popples
Popples
Popples is a series of fantasy characters created by Those Characters From Cleveland , a subsidiary company of American Greetings. Popples resemble brightly colored teddy bears or marsupials , and have pouches on their backs that they can go into and resemble brightly colored balls.-History:Susan...
toys, that aired in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from 1986 to 1987. The pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
was a live-action Shelley Duvall
Shelley Duvall
Shelley Alexis Duvall is an American film and television actress best known for her roles in The Shining, Popeye, Thieves Like Us and 3 Women....
special called It's Popple Time, in which they were puppet
Puppet
A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....
s and marionette
Marionette
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
s; after this was well-received, it was decided to make a cartoon series
Cartoon series
A cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same characters and a basic theme...
with the same characters. The cartoon was produced by DiC Entertainment
DiC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated television shows such as Ulysses 31 , Inspector Gadget , The Littles , The Real Ghostbusters , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , and the first two seasons of the English adaptation of...
and LBS Communications in association with The Maltese Companies.
Like the toys they're based on, the Popples resemble colorful teddy bear
Teddy bear
The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. They are usually stuffed with soft, white cotton and have smooth and soft fur. It is an enduring form of a stuffed animal in many countries, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items...
s or rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
s with long, pompom-tipped tails, and they have pouches
Marsupial
Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America, but with thirteen in Central...
on their backs that can be everted so they resemble fuzzy balls. The name "Popple" is a reference to the popping sound they make when unfolding themselves from such a ball, or pulling objects from their pouches. In the cartoon Popples commonly pull large items from their pouches that couldn't possibly fit inside, which come from hammerspace; in "Popples Alley", one of the Popples' human friends looks inside one of their pouches and sees numerous objects floating in a void.
Nine of the Popples live with a human brother and sister, Billy and Bonnie Wagner. Billy and Bonnie think they are the only kids who have Popples until a neighbor family moves in and they have their own Popples — the Rock Stars, Pufflings, and Babies. The Popples tend to come around and mess up whatever the kids are trying to do; e.g., if the kids are trying to brush their teeth, the Popples end up spilling water, toothpaste and soap all over the bathroom. If the kids are trying to clean their rooms, the Popples come along, mess up the room even worse and then help them get everything back to normal just in the nick of time. The plot revolved around the children's efforts to hide the existence of the Popples from the adults around them.
The Popples also had a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series from Star Comics
Star Comics
Star Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics that began in 1984 and continued to publish comic books until early 1988. Titles published by the imprint were aimed at child readers and were often adaptations of children's television series, animated series or toys...
(an imprint of Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
).
The humans
- Bonnie and Billy Wagner: These two kids often find themselves pulled into various misadventures by the Popples. Bonnie, the older sibling, tries to keep things from getting completely out of hand, while Billy tends to just enjoy the ride. In the pilot, their parents eventually find out about the Popples, but in the cartoon they never do.
- Mike and Penny: These two African-American kids moved next door to the Wagners one day (in the second season), and brought their own Popples with them. At first the two pairs of kids resented the fact that someone else had Popples, but they soon got over it and became friends.
Bonnie & Billy's Popples
- Party: Large pink Popple who is literally a party animal. She'll find a reason to party any time day or night and is always pulling party hats and confetti from her pouch. Party serves as the primary Popple, as she appears in 41 of the show's 46 episodes and on the Popples logo.
- PC (Pretty Cool): Large blue Popple, who serves as the co-leader of the bunch along with Party. Although he loves to have fun, he never lets things get too out of hand and is probably the most sensible member of the group. He also has a magic finger snap that can trigger all sorts of neat surprises. PC appeared in 40 episodes.
- Pancake: Large dark magenta (maroon) Popple who is very sweet and affectionate. She likes to tickle Billy and Bonnie with her tail and always knows just what to do to cheer someone up. Pancake had the fewest appearances of the original nine Popples, appearing in only 10 episodes.
- Prize: Magenta Popple who is very vain and takes great pride in her appearance. She has a small crush on PC, speaks in a Marilyn MonroeMarilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
-esque voice and dreams of being a film star. Prize appeared in 15 episodes. - Puffball: White Popple who loves to throw her voice aroundVentriloquismVentriloquism, or ventriloquy, is an act of stagecraft in which a person manipulates his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered "dummy"...
. She is very skilled at imitating voices to trick people and Popples alike. She also hates getting her white fur dirty and tries hard to stay clean. Puffball appeared in 15 episodes. - Puzzle: Orange Popple who is more or less the bookworm of the bunch. He enjoys reading and is quite intelligent, but he still has a great sense of humor. Puzzle is also shown to be a good swimmer. Puzzle appeared in 15 episodes.
- Pretty Bit: Small purple Popple who almost always speaks in rhyme. She is more shy than most of the Popples, but is still very loyal to her friends. She enjoys poetry and is also an expert on manners and etiquette. Pretty Bit appeared in 11 episodes.
- Putter: Small green Popple who is somewhat hyperactive but very playful. Putter has a knack for fixing and inventing things, but they do not always work quite like he expects. Putter had the most appearances outside of the two lead Popples, appearing in 25 episodes.
- Potato Chip: Small yellow Popple who loves to eat snacks. Sweet, sour or salty, Potato Chip loves them all and has quite an appetite for such a small Popple. She also has a talent for imitating sounds and sound effects. Potato Chip appeared in 18 episodes.
Mike & Penny's Popples
- Punkster and Punkity: Punk-rockstar duo of Popples, who love singing. Punkster is blue and carries a guitar, and has a lightning bolt on his tummy. He is regarded as Papa Popple for the baby Popples. Punkity is magenta and carries a microphone, and has a star on her tummy. She is regarded as Mama Popple for the baby Popples. Punskter and Punkity always appeared together and were featured in 15 episodes.
- Bibsy and Cribsy: Baby Popples. Bibsy is white and wears a bib and a bonnet with stars. Cribsy is pink, and wears a striped white and blue hat with a matching bib and even her eyelids are blue. The babies cannot speak full sentences yet, but they can say their names and seem to communicate well with each other using body language and babbling. Bibsy and Cribsy appeared in 14 episodes.
- Pufflings: A sub-species of smaller Popples. Pufflings are unable to speak, but communicate with others with a high-pitched warbling sound. The Pufflings like to hop and bounce around and sometimes give out joke tags that one of the Popples will read out loud. The six Pufflings come in white, dark blue, sky blue, red, purple and yellow.
Sports Popples
This was a group of six sportSport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s-themed Popples who appeared in only two episodes: "Decatha-Pop-A-Lon Popples" (in which all six appeared) and "Popple Cheer" (in which all but Cuester appeared). The only previously established character they ever make contact with is Bonnie, in the latter cartoon, where they explain they're "new in the neighbourhood".
The Sports Popples each specialize in one sport, wears an outfit based on that sport, and folds into an appropriate type of ball
Ball
A ball is a round, usually spherical but sometimes ovoid, object with various uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch, marbles and juggling...
. Even their tails are shaped like sports balls:
- Big Kick is a soccerFootball (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player who turns into a soccerball. Big Kick talks with an English accent. - Cuester is a poolPocket billiardsPool, also more formally known as pocket billiards or pool billiards , is the family of cue sports and games played on a pool table having six receptacles called pockets along the , into which balls are deposited as the main goal of play. Popular versions include eight-ball and nine-ball...
player who turns into an 8-ball. Cuester talks with a Brooklyn accent. - Dunker is a long-limbed basketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player who turns into a basketball. Dunker talks with stereotypical African-American accent. - Net Set is a tennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player who turns into a tennis ball. - Pitcher is a baseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player who turns into a baseball. Pitcher talks with a Southern accent. - T.D. (Touchdown) is a player of American footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
who turns into a football.
Season 1 (1986)
- Party/Prize/Puffball - Louise VallanceLouise VallanceStevie Vallance, born Stephanie Louise Vallance on September 8, 1958 and also known as Louise Vallance, is a Canadian television actor, voice actor, stage performer, voice director and singer...
- PC - Hadley KayHadley KayHadley Kay is a Canadian-born voice actor who appeared in the first two Care Bears movies: as the voice of magician Nicholas in The Care Bears Movie and as the villain Dark Heart in Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation. He also voiced P.C...
- Pancake - Pauline RenniePauline RenniePauline Rennie is a Canadian actress whose career included voice roles on The Care Bears. Rennie also provided the voice of Fizgerald Fieldmouse on Maggie Muggins, as well as voices on Mary Grannan's follow-up 1960 series for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Just Mary.-Roles:* Maggie Muggins...
- Puzzle - Dan HennesseyDan HennesseyDan Hennessey is a Canadian voice actor who, early on in his career, performed with a children's comedy troupe,...
- Putter - Len CarlsonLen CarlsonLen Carlson was a Canadian voice actor on many animated television series from the 1960s onward, an occasional live-action TV actor, and a Kraft Canada TV pitchman during the 1970s and 1980s...
- Pretty Bit - Linda SorensonLinda SorensonLinda Sorenson is a Canadian actress best known for playing Mrs. Stegman in Class of 1984, Warden Howe in Murphy Brown, Virginia Reeves in Material World and Isabelle Carrington in Road to Avonlea....
- Potato Chip - Jazmin Lausanne
- Billy - Noam ZylbermanNoam ZylbermanNoam Zylberman is a voice actor best known for the voice of Split Kit from Garbage Pail Kids and also the voice of Bentley Raccoon in the popular animated series The Raccoons from 1988 to 1990....
- Bonnie - Barbara Redpath
- Mom - Diane Fabian
Season 2 (1987)
- Bonnie/Billy/Mike - Valri BromfieldValri BromfieldValri Bromfield is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, and television producer who started her career as one half of a comedy team with Dan Aykroyd. Together, they joined the first Toronto company of The Second City where she was one of the original players.-Television appearances:Bromfield was a...
- Party/Prize/Puffball/Punkity - Louise VallanceLouise VallanceStevie Vallance, born Stephanie Louise Vallance on September 8, 1958 and also known as Louise Vallance, is a Canadian television actor, voice actor, stage performer, voice director and singer...
- Pancake - Sharon Noble
- Penny - Jeannie EliasJeannie EliasJeannie Elias is a Canadian American film and voice actress.-Anime Roles:* Blood+ - Young Haji, Nahabi, Additional Voices* Ergo Proxy - Kitty* Naruto - Kaori-Non-anime Roles:...
- Potato Chip - Donna Christie
- PC/Putter/Punkster - Danny MannDanny MannDaniel "Danny" Mann is an American voice actor, writer, singer, musician, and production manager. He is best known for his voice of Hector from Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats, Freeway, Cloudraker and Lightspeed in Transformers, Backwoods Beagle in DuckTales, Kaltag in Balto, Ferdinand from Babe,...
- Puzzle - Maurice LaMarcheMaurice LaMarcheMaurice LaMarche is an Emmy Award winning Canadian-American voice actor and former stand up comedian. He is best known for his voicework in Futurama as Kif Kroker, as Egon Spengler in The Real Ghostbusters, Verminous Skumm and Duke Nukem in Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Big Bob Pataki in Hey...
Popples episodes
Popples has 47 episodes, including the pilot, with two episodes contained in each half-hour show. Both of the season's intros and endings are different.- "Popples: The Movie" (two-reel, live-action) / *
- "Popples Panic at the Library" / 1986·Sep·13
- "Cookin' Up a Storm" / 1986·Sep·20
- "Molars and Bicuspids, and Popples" / 1986·Sep·27
- "The Treasure of Popple Beach" / 1986·Oct·04
- "Popping at the Car Wash" / 1986·Oct·11
- "Springtime's a Poppin" / 1986·Oct·18
- "Popples Play Pee Wee Golf" / 1986·Oct·25
- "Popples Flood the Fluff n' Fold" / 1986·Nov·01
- "Clean Sweep of Things" / 1986·Nov·08
- "Poppin' Wheelies" / 1986·Nov·15
- "Bonnie's Popple Party" / 1986·Nov·22
- "Aisles of Trouble" / 1986·Nov·29
- "Popples Paint Party" / 1986·Dec·06
- "Pop-Paring For Bed" / 1986·Dec·13
- "Poppolympics" / 1986·Dec·20
- "Sports Shop Pop" / 1986·Dec·27
- "Takin' Out the Trash" / 1987·Jan·03
- "A Hair-Raising Experience" / 1987·Jan·10
- "Pop Goes the Radio" / 1987·Jan·17
- "Poppin' Pillow Talk" / 1987·Jan·24
- "Where the Pop Flies" / 1987·Jan·31
- "Hooray For Hollywood Popples" / 1987·Feb·07
- "Backyard Bigtop" / 1987·Feb·14
- "Backyard Adventure" / 1987·Feb·21
- "Poppin' at the Drive-In" / 1987·Feb·28
- "Popplin' Around the Block" / 1987·Mar·07
- "Moving Day" / 1987·Mar·14
- "Tree House Capers" / 1987·Mar·21
- "No Bizness Like Popple Bizness" / 1987·Mar·28
- "Museum Peace" / 1987·Apr·04
- "Lemonade Stand-Off" / 1987·Apr·11
- "Popple Post Office" / 1987·Apr·18
- "Funhouse Folly" / 1987·Apr·25
- "Fixer-Upper Popples" / 1987·May·02
- "Rock Around the Popples" / 1987·May·09
- "The College of Popple Knowledge" / 1987·May·16
- "Popple Cheer" / 1987·May·23
- "Barn Hoopla" / 1987·May·30
- "The Jellybean Jamboree" / 1987·Jun·06
- "Private Eye Popples" / 1987·Jun·13
- "The Repair Shop" / 1987·Jun·20
- "Decatha-Pop-A-Lon Popples" / 1987·Jun·27
- "Cuckoo Choo Choo" / *
- "The Popple Fashion Parade" / *
- "Popples Alley" / *
- "Poppin' at the Zoo" / *