The Kingdom Chums: Little David's Adventure
Encyclopedia
The Kingdom Chums: Little David's Adventure (onscreen title: Kingdom Chums) is a 1986 television special inspired by the Biblical tale of David and Goliath, and originally broadcast on the ABC
network in the United States. In the special, three schoolchildren from the real world are transported into the world of the Bible, with the help of three magical stuffed animals. One of them, a raccoon named David, becomes his Biblical namesake and faces off against a warthog giant named Goliath.
Little David's Adventure was created (and originally written) by Squire Rushnell, head of the children's programming department at ABC. The special, featuring live-action and animated segments, was produced by the network and DIC Entertainment
. It premiered on ABC on November 28, 1986 to low ratings and subsequent mixed reviews. Out of several attempts to continue the franchise, a video sequel called Original Top Ten debuted in 1990, and aired as an ABC Weekend Special
two years later.
A strange, bright constellation suddenly appears in the sky outside their window. Peter consults his computer for the formation, but finds out it does not exist. After Mary Ann takes a look for herself, she uses a pen to reveal the word "LOVE" on the screen. Eventually, the lights swarm inside and bring her stuffed toys to life—Little David, the Raccoon of Courage; Christopher, the Lion of Love; and Magical Mose, the Tiger of Joy. No sooner do the creatures appear inside the computer than the children are zapped into it.
Peter, Mary Ann and Sauli end up being animated characters, and the animals introduce themselves as the Kingdom Chums. Following a magical beam called the "Love Light", the children travel to ancient Israel with David, one of the Chums. The raccoon enacts his Biblical namesake
, gets into battle with his fellow Israelites, and is granted a challenge from King Saul (who is portrayed as a lion) to fight against the giant warthog, Goliath.
David prepares his slingshot with some stones, and faces the tall Philistine foe. He throws one of the stones upon Goliath's forehead, and the giant crushes down to the ground. Peter, Sauli and Mary Ann are about to cheer for David's victory, but then his brothers suddenly chase after them. A rainbow carries the group back to Christopher and Mose, who return them back to where they started.
The children realize that only one minute has passed in the real world since their adventure began. Thanks to her faith (and her toys), Mary Ann is delighted to see her bird alive. As Sauli heads to his apartment for dinner, he manages to face his bullies with his own faith and overcome them.
Kingdom Chums: Little David's Adventure was conceived by Squire Rushnell, who was the vice-president of the ABC network
's children's programming department. In the early 1980s, Rushnell wrote a book version of the special, which took him at least six years to develop; he even took on the duty by himself after three writers failed to produce a satisfactory draft. Rushnell managed to devote a week of his time towards this task, while he and his wife were awaiting a son. While writing the book, he removed several religious allusions in case they could offend potential audiences; this led him to comment, "[ABC's] Standards and Practices people white-knuckle over this sort of thing. The first thing they say is, 'It's not dogma
tic, is it?'" Despite having no literary ambitions, Rushnell reasoned, "My feeling on this property at the beginning was [that] we should legitimize it as a book before it became a television property." The publishing division of Word Inc.
, a Christian media firm then owned by ABC, released the book in June 1986. Another three titles, focusing on Esther
, Miriam and the resurrection of Jesus
, were in the works.
During development, Rushnell was influenced by Disney animated movies
such as 1973's Robin Hood
, and modeled the All Nations School after New York City's United Nations International School
. He based two of the animal characters on Bible characters—Christopher after Jesus
, and Magical Mose on Moses
. He also toned down the climax of the original David and Goliath story, in which David decapitates his enemy. Along with bookending live-action segments, the special also featured animation work from DIC Entertainment
. The animation unit's director, Bernard Deyriès, was previously among the major crew of 1985's Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer
. The songs, composed by Sesame Street
' s Joe Raposo
, included "Greatest Stories of All", "Child of God" and "Your Love Makes Me Strong".
and Mr. Belvedere
. In the Nielsen ratings
, it was among the lowest-ranked programs during the week of November 24–30 (out of 70 tracked), along with another family special, Disney's Fluppy Dogs
. Little David's Adventure came in at 66th place with an 8.6 rating.
Reporting on the special in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Noel Holston gave a negative response:
Alan Bunce of The Christian Science Monitor
gave a mixed review. "Creatively, the program easily qualifies as high-quality children's entertainment," he wrote. "But reaction to the message will also depend on a viewer's individual tolerance of the show's free-wheeling treatment of religious themes, and its use of fantasy, magic, and symbolism in delivering Judeo-Christian messages. These flow through the dialogue and the show's bouncy musical numbers." Robert Bianco of the Pittsburgh Press
was concerned over the depiction of Bible characters as animals, and their merchandising potential thereof. On the character of David, he wrote, "... I suppose [he] has suffered greater indignities than being turned into a religious Care Bear
." The Hollywood magazine Variety
(in its December 10, 1986 issue) thought it was ill-suited as a network show for children, and remarked that the "Plodding story has too little action or humor or plot to keep many kids entertained". In 1989, Texe Marrs referred to Little David's Adventure as "sacilegious and New Age to the hilt." The special received a positive review from Dale and Karen Mason, the authors of 1996's How to Get the Best Out of TV Before It Gets the Best Out of You.
' initial broadcast, ABC planned several follow-up specials along with a regular series. One of the planned specials involved a bear named Princess Essie, in an adaptation of the story of Esther; another was to be based on the New Testament
. By late 1987, the network looked into partnering with The Walt Disney Company
on a series of hour-long episodes. Instead, Little David's Adventure was followed by a 1990 video sequel, Original Top Ten. A new animation team, headed by Rick Reinert, worked on the production; this time, there were no live-action segments. It also aired in April 1992, and again in April 1993, as part of the ABC Weekend Special
s anthology.
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
network in the United States. In the special, three schoolchildren from the real world are transported into the world of the Bible, with the help of three magical stuffed animals. One of them, a raccoon named David, becomes his Biblical namesake and faces off against a warthog giant named Goliath.
Little David's Adventure was created (and originally written) by Squire Rushnell, head of the children's programming department at ABC. The special, featuring live-action and animated segments, was produced by the network and 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...
. It premiered on ABC on November 28, 1986 to low ratings and subsequent mixed reviews. Out of several attempts to continue the franchise, a video sequel called Original Top Ten debuted in 1990, and aired as an ABC Weekend Special
ABC Weekend Special
The ABC Weekend Special is a weekly 30-minute anthology TV series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997. It featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated....
two years later.
Plot
A boy named Peter, his sister Mary Ann, and his Jewish classmate Sauli are students of the All Nations School. One day at the school, bullies pick on Sauli and throw his yarmulke away. While trying to get it, Sauli accidentally knocks over a box that Mary Ann is keeping her pet bird in. Thinking he has killed it, he feels worried when the children reach home.A strange, bright constellation suddenly appears in the sky outside their window. Peter consults his computer for the formation, but finds out it does not exist. After Mary Ann takes a look for herself, she uses a pen to reveal the word "LOVE" on the screen. Eventually, the lights swarm inside and bring her stuffed toys to life—Little David, the Raccoon of Courage; Christopher, the Lion of Love; and Magical Mose, the Tiger of Joy. No sooner do the creatures appear inside the computer than the children are zapped into it.
Peter, Mary Ann and Sauli end up being animated characters, and the animals introduce themselves as the Kingdom Chums. Following a magical beam called the "Love Light", the children travel to ancient Israel with David, one of the Chums. The raccoon enacts his Biblical namesake
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
, gets into battle with his fellow Israelites, and is granted a challenge from King Saul (who is portrayed as a lion) to fight against the giant warthog, Goliath.
David prepares his slingshot with some stones, and faces the tall Philistine foe. He throws one of the stones upon Goliath's forehead, and the giant crushes down to the ground. Peter, Sauli and Mary Ann are about to cheer for David's victory, but then his brothers suddenly chase after them. A rainbow carries the group back to Christopher and Mose, who return them back to where they started.
The children realize that only one minute has passed in the real world since their adventure began. Thanks to her faith (and her toys), Mary Ann is delighted to see her bird alive. As Sauli heads to his apartment for dinner, he manages to face his bullies with his own faith and overcome them.
Cast
| Name | Character | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Live action scenes | ||
| Jenna von Oÿ Jenna von Oÿ Jenna von Oÿ is an American actress and country music singer best known for her roles as Six LeMeure on the NBC series Blossom, and Stevie van Lowe on the UPN sitcom The Parkers.-Early life and career:... |
Mary Ann | |
| Christopher Fitzgerald Christopher Fitzgerald Christopher Fitzgerald is an American transmedia artist working primarily in painting, digital video and web-based systems. Born in 1977, he graduated from Western Washington University in 1999. After his college education, Fitzgerald spent the summer in Italy and France studying art and returned... |
Peter | |
| Andrew Cassese Andrew Cassese Andrew Martin Cassese is an American stage and film actor and musician. Born in New York, Cassesse is perhaps best known for starring in the 1984 comedy film Revenge of the Nerds as Harold Wormser... |
Sauli | |
| Animated scenes | ||
| Scott Menville Scott Menville Scott David Menville is primarily an American voice actor, actor, musician, and comedian.-Early life and career:The son of Chuck Menville, he was bassist for the Southern California rock band Boy Hits Car, which released three albums until he left the band in 2006. He was with the group since... |
Little David | |
| Sandi Patti | Little David (singing voice) | |
| John Franklin John Franklin (actor) John Franklin is an American actor.-Personal life:John Franklin was born in Blue Island, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago on June 16, 1959. He has three older brothers, an older sister and a younger brother and grew up in a close knit, loving family. In 1977, John graduated from Dwight D... |
Magical Mose | |
| Billy Bowles | Christopher / Cat Soldier | |
| Jim Cummings Jim Cummings James Jonah "Jim" Cummings is an American voice actor who has appeared in almost 100 roles. He has appeared in classic animated movies such as Aladdin and The Lion King, as well as taking on roles in more current films, such as Bee Movie, Princess and the Frog, and Winnie the Pooh.-Personal... |
Goliath / Fox Soldier #3 | |
| Townsend Coleman Townsend Coleman Townsend Coleman is an American voice actor who performed in many animated series and TV commercials beginning in the early 1980s... |
Elias / Fox Soldier #2 | |
| Paul Winchell Paul Winchell Paul Winchell was an American ventriloquist, voice actor and comedian, whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s... |
King Saul | |
| Phil Proctor | Rat Soldier / Frog Servant / Frog Soldier | |
Production
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's children's programming department. In the early 1980s, Rushnell wrote a book version of the special, which took him at least six years to develop; he even took on the duty by himself after three writers failed to produce a satisfactory draft. Rushnell managed to devote a week of his time towards this task, while he and his wife were awaiting a son. While writing the book, he removed several religious allusions in case they could offend potential audiences; this led him to comment, "[ABC's] Standards and Practices people white-knuckle over this sort of thing. The first thing they say is, 'It's not dogma
Dogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
tic, is it?'" Despite having no literary ambitions, Rushnell reasoned, "My feeling on this property at the beginning was [that] we should legitimize it as a book before it became a television property." The publishing division of Word Inc.
Word Records
Word Records is a Christian record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a division of Word Entertainment , which, itself is co-owned by Warner Music Group and Curb Records...
, a Christian media firm then owned by ABC, released the book in June 1986. Another three titles, focusing on Esther
Esther
Esther , born Hadassah, is the eponymous heroine of the Biblical Book of Esther.According to the Bible, she was a Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus...
, Miriam and the resurrection of Jesus
Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
, were in the works.
During development, Rushnell was influenced by Disney animated movies
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
such as 1973's Robin Hood
Robin Hood (1973 film)
Robin Hood is an 1973 American animated film produced by the Walt Disney Productions, first released in the United States on November 8, 1973...
, and modeled the All Nations School after New York City's United Nations International School
United Nations International School
The United Nations International School is a private international school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 by families who worked for or were associated with the United Nations. The school was founded to provide an international education, while preserving its students' diverse cultural...
. He based two of the animal characters on Bible characters—Christopher after Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, and Magical Mose on Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
. He also toned down the climax of the original David and Goliath story, in which David decapitates his enemy. Along with bookending live-action segments, the special also featured animation work from 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...
. The animation unit's director, Bernard Deyriès, was previously among the major crew of 1985's Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer
Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer
Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer is an animated film released on November 15, 1985 by Warner Bros., and produced by DiC Entertainment and Hallmark Cards...
. The songs, composed by Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
Joe Raposo
Joseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH was a Portuguese-American composer, songwriter, pianist, television writer and lyricist, best known for his work on the children's television series Sesame Street, for which he wrote the theme song, as well as classic songs such as "Bein' Green" and "C is for Cookie"...
, included "Greatest Stories of All", "Child of God" and "Your Love Makes Me Strong".
Release and reception
The Kingdom Chums special premiered on ABC on November 28, 1986, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, pre-empting WebsterWebster (TV series)
Webster is an American situation comedy that premiered on ABC on September 16, 1983, and ran on that network until September 11, 1987, but continued in first-run syndication until 1989...
and Mr. Belvedere
Mr. Belvedere
Mr. Belvedere is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from March 15, 1985, until July 8, 1990. The series was based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel Belvedere, which was later adapted into the 1948 film Sitting Pretty...
. In the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, it was among the lowest-ranked programs during the week of November 24–30 (out of 70 tracked), along with another family special, Disney's Fluppy Dogs
Disney's Fluppy Dogs
Disney's Fluppy Dogs is a one-hour animated television special which aired on November 27, 1986 on ABC, and was intended to be a pilot for the third Walt Disney Television animated series...
. Little David's Adventure came in at 66th place with an 8.6 rating.
Reporting on the special in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Noel Holston gave a negative response:
Alan Bunce of The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
gave a mixed review. "Creatively, the program easily qualifies as high-quality children's entertainment," he wrote. "But reaction to the message will also depend on a viewer's individual tolerance of the show's free-wheeling treatment of religious themes, and its use of fantasy, magic, and symbolism in delivering Judeo-Christian messages. These flow through the dialogue and the show's bouncy musical numbers." Robert Bianco of the Pittsburgh Press
Pittsburgh Press
The Pittsburgh Press is an online newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, currently owned and operated by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Historically, it was a major afternoon paper...
was concerned over the depiction of Bible characters as animals, and their merchandising potential thereof. On the character of David, he wrote, "... I suppose [he] has suffered greater indignities than being turned into a religious Care Bear
Care Bears
The Care Bears are characters created by American Greetings in 1981 for use on greeting cards. The original artwork for the cards was painted by artist Elena Kucharik. In 1983, Kenner turned the Care Bears into plush teddy bears...
." The Hollywood magazine Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
(in its December 10, 1986 issue) thought it was ill-suited as a network show for children, and remarked that the "Plodding story has too little action or humor or plot to keep many kids entertained". In 1989, Texe Marrs referred to Little David's Adventure as "sacilegious and New Age to the hilt." The special received a positive review from Dale and Karen Mason, the authors of 1996's How to Get the Best Out of TV Before It Gets the Best Out of You.
Sequel
From the time of Kingdom ChumsNew Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. By late 1987, the network looked into partnering with The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
on a series of hour-long episodes. Instead, Little David's Adventure was followed by a 1990 video sequel, Original Top Ten. A new animation team, headed by Rick Reinert, worked on the production; this time, there were no live-action segments. It also aired in April 1992, and again in April 1993, as part of the ABC Weekend Special
ABC Weekend Special
The ABC Weekend Special is a weekly 30-minute anthology TV series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997. It featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated....
s anthology.