A Little Curious Explained

Genre:Anthology
Comedy
Educational
Creator:Steve Oakes
Director:Steve Oakes
Voices:Cameron Bowen
Amanda Kaplan
Gary Yudman
Marilyn Pasekoff
Sandy Correia
Bob Kaliban
Gerrianne Raphael
Rafael Ferrer
Composer:Pat Irwin
Theme Music Composer:The Manhattan Transfer
Opentheme:"I'm a Little Curious" performed by The Manhattan Transfer
Endtheme:"I'm a Little Curious" (instrumental) (season 1)
"I'm a Little Curious" (instrumental remix) (season 2)
Country:United States
Language:English
Num Seasons:2
Num Episodes:43
Executive Producer:Carole Rosen
Sheila Nevins
Susan Holden
Steve Oakes
Richard Winkler
David Starr
Producer:John Hoffman
Runtime:24 minutes
Company:Curious Pictures
Channel:HBO

A Little Curious is an American children's animated television series that ran on HBO Family for two seasons. The series premiered on February 1, 1999 until its final episode aired on May 1, 2000. The series, 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]

Plot

The 24-minute episodes are essentially anthologies of shorts centered on a common, easily digested topic word such as "slippery" or "sticky". 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, collage animation, 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:

Main Characters

Gender: Male

Voiced by: Cameron Bowen

Gender: Male

Voiced by: Bob Kaliban

Gender: Male

Voiced by: Gary Yudman

Gender: Male

Voiced by: Bob Kaliban

Gender: Female

Voiced by: Amanda Kaplan

Gender: Female

Voiced by: Marilyn Pasekoff

Gender: Female (Pad), Male (Pencil)

Voiced by: Gerrianne Raphael (Pad), Rafael Ferrer (Pencil)

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)

Episodes

[5] [6]

Season 1 (1999)

  1. Loud, Soft, Shake (February 1, 1999)
  2. Light, Dark, Bubble (February 8, 1999)
  3. Near, Far, Swing (February 15, 1999)
  4. Slippery, Sticky, Mirror (February 22, 1999)
  5. Above, Below, Cover (March 1, 1999)
  6. Front, Back, Side (March 8, 1999)
  7. Swing, Cover, Shake (March 15, 1999)
  8. Rough, Smooth, Picture (March 22, 1999)
  9. Open, Close, Ring (March 29, 1999)
  10. Bubble, Picture, Mirror (April 5, 1999)
  11. Thick, Thin, Twist (April 12, 1999)
  12. First, Last, Step (April 19, 1999)
  13. Step, Twist, Ring (April 26, 1999)
  14. Empty, Full, Pop (May 3, 1999)
  15. Same, Different, Beat (May 10, 1999)
  16. Fast, Slow, Spin (May 17, 1999)
  17. Long, Short, Roll (May 24, 1999)
  18. Character Show – Bob the Ball (May 31, 1999)
  19. Roll, Spin, Pop (June 7, 1999)
  20. Warm, Cool, Heart (June 14, 1999)
  21. Character Show – Plush (June 21, 1999)
  22. Still, Move, Train (June 28, 1999)
  23. Spring, Fall, Turn (July 5, 1999)
  24. High, Low, Stretch (July 12, 1999)
  25. Side, Stretch, Turn (July 19, 1999)

Season 2 (2000)

  1. Top, Bottom, Jump (January 3, 2000)
  2. Over, Under, Balance (January 10, 2000)
  3. Drop, Lift, Flat (January 17, 2000)
  4. Tight, Loose, Squeeze (January 24, 2000)
  5. Hit, Miss, Bump (January 31, 2000)
  6. Work, Play, Skip (February 7, 2000)
  7. Hard, Easy, Change (February 14, 2000)
  8. New, Old, Dance (February 21, 2000)
  9. Lead, Follow, Act (February 28, 2000)
  10. Win, Lose, Tie (March 6, 2000)
  11. Push, Pull, Rock (March 13, 2000)
  12. A Little Curious About Life (March 20, 2000)
  13. Jump, Flat, Squeeze (March 27, 2000)
  14. Hard, Work, Bump (April 3, 2000)
  15. Character Show - Mop (April 10, 2000)
  16. Balance, Skip, Rock (April 17, 2000)
  17. Push, Over, Top (April 24, 2000)
  18. Drop, Loose, Change(May 1, 2000)

External links

Notes and References

  1. Richard Katz, "HBO in Family way with heavy push of new fare", Variety, September 9, 1998.
  2. Lynne Heffley, "HBO Launches Spinoff With Pair of Excellent Kids' Shows", Los Angeles Times, February 1, 1999.
  3. Scott Moore, "Multiplex Channel Has A Singular Focus: Kids", The Washington Post, June 13, 1999.
  4. Book: Erickson . Hal . Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 . 2005 . 2nd . McFarland & Co . 978-1476665993 . 506.
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20210518002820/https://www.homeboxoffice.com/sched/2003_02_hbo4.pdf This PDF of an official archived HBO Family schedule that month shows the correct lineup of the episodes (on page 10).
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20210518002820/https://www.homeboxoffice.com/sched/2003_02_hbo4.pdf https://www.homeboxoffice.com/sched/2003_03_hbo4.pdf