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A Little Curious

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A Little Curious
GenreAnthology series
Musical
Comedy
Educational
Created bySteve Oakes
Written byCarin Greenberg Baker
Nicholas Hollander
Laurie Israel
Becky Mode
Alana Sanko
Frederick J. Stroppel
Directed bySteve Oakes
Voices ofCameron Bowen
Amanda Kaplan
Gary Yudman
Marilyn Pasekoff
Teresa Gallagher
Bob Kaliban
Gerrianne Raphael
Stephen Fry
Shelley Longworth
Theme music composerThe Manhattan Transfer
Opening theme"I'm a Little Curious" performed by The Manhattan Transfer
Ending theme"I'm a Little Curious" (instrumental) (season 1)
"I'm a Little Curious" (instrumental remix) (season 2)
ComposerPat Irwin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes43
Production
Executive producersCarole Rosen
Sheila Nevins
Susan Holden
Steve Oakes
Richard Winkler
Tom Box
ProducerJohn Hoffman
Running time24 minutes
Production companyCurious Pictures
Original release
NetworkHBO
ReleaseFebruary 1, 1999 (1999-02-01) –
May 1, 2000 (2000-05-01)

A Little Curious is an American children's animated television series that ran on HBO and 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 cel and Computer animation Los Angeles Animation Studio Curious Pictures, 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

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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 hand-drawn 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

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The pool of characters, generally based on everyday objects, include:

Main Characters

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  • Bob the Ball – a cute, friendly, boisterous, exuberant bouncing red rubber ball.
Gender: Male
Voiced by: Cameron Bowen
  • Little Cup – a sweetened, 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: Shelley Longworth
  • Mr. String – a nervous, intelligent, fussy bit of blue string who can twist and tie himself into a multitude of shapes. He frequently says "definitely" and "terrible".
Gender: Male
Voiced by: Gary Yudman
  • Plush – a multicolored, air-headed stuffed plush dog who is another one of Bob's best friends. Unlike the others, he mostly speaks in a strange giggly language.
Gender: Male
Voiced by: Bob Kaliban
  • Mop – a rock music-loving yellow mop with turquoise hair who frequently changes her hairstyle. She is Mr. String's best friend.
Gender: Female
Voiced by: Teresa Gallagher
Gender: Female
Voiced by: Teresa Gallagher
  • Pad and Pencil – a presumably romantic drawing notebook and pencil couple who constantly flatter each other through French accents.
Gender: Female (Pad), Male (Pencil)
Voiced by: Gerrianne Raphael (Pad), Stephen Fry (Pencil)
  • The Shoe Family – a family of pairs of shoes with footwear-themed names. The parents are Mr. (Chuck) 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. Mary Jane and Lacey are two of Bob's best friends.
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

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[5][6]

Season 1 (1999)

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  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)

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  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)

References

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  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" Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, The Washington Post, June 13, 1999.
  4. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 506. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  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://www.homeboxoffice.com/sched/2003_03_hbo4.pdf Source of "Side, Turn, Twist" (on page 10).
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