Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
Hasbro, who had taken over Kenner in
1991, folded the company into its main operations in 2000. In 2005, they
decided to revive the LPS line with new designs that made the animals look more
cartoony, but kept a realistic color style. The pets came with symbols in their
eyes that meant different things. They also gained a new caretaker: Blythe.
The various Blythe dolls available in 1972.
The Blythe doll was created in
1972 by designer Allison
Katzman for Marvin Glass
and Associates based on Betty Boop and
the “Big Eyes” paintings of Margaret
Keane. Kenner had purchased the rights and produced the doll in the United
States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan. The big head and large eyes
were deemed too scary for children, and the doll was pulled from shelves within
the year.
Gina Garan and some of her Blythe dolls.
In 1997, video producer and doll collector Gina Garan
was made aware of a doll that resembled her and was given her first Blythe doll
from a friend. Becoming obsessed with the doll, she began to take hundreds of
photos of her in various places. In 2000, after acquiring permission from
Hasbro, she published her photos in the book This is Blytheand
reintroduced the doll to the world. She also introduced it to her Japan-based
agent Junko Wong, who
decided to use it in an ad campaign they were working on for department store
chain Parco. When demand for the doll
rose in Japan, Hasbro granted the license to CWC Group and their Transformerspartner, Takara,
to produce new versions of it. As it was successful in Japan, Hasbro granted Ashton-Drake
Galleries the license in 2004 to resurrect the doll in the US.
In 2010, Hasbro brought Blythe back in house by combining her with the
LPS line and renaming it Blythe Loves
Littlest Pet Shop. Another animated series was commissioned in 2010 to
incorporate this change called Littlest Pet Shop Presents.
It was comprised of seven Flash animated shorts by Cosmic Toast Studios that
Hasbro released exclusively online.In
the show, Blythe would be involved with something fashion or pet-related while
the variety of animals in her care, resembling the current toys, would have
conversations she couldn’t understand and adventures in their imagination. Although
“pet shop” was in the name, the show took place anywhere but.
A new look and a new logo. Promo image for Littlest Pet Shop.
Margaret Loesch,
then-CEO of The
Hub, the television network jointly owned by Hasbro and Discovery Communications,
commissioned the development of a new LPS series. Julie McNally-Cahill and Tim Cahill were put in charge of
developing the show, which used the Cosmic Toast short as a springboard. Blythe
was renamed Blythe Baxter, and instead of just having an interest in fashion
she was made an aspiring fashion designer. She was also given the ability to
communicate with animals, much like Dr. Dolittle. Blythe retained the scooter she had in
the web series as her primary mode of transportation.
Blythe with the pets: (from top) Sunil, Minka, Pepper, Vinnie, Zoe, Penny Ling and Russell.
The setting of the show was a pastiche of New York called Downtown City, where
Blythe (Ashleigh Ball) moved with her father, Roger (Michael Kopsa), after he
was promoted in his work as an airline pilot. They ended up living in the
building above Littlest
Pet Shop, where an old dumbwaiter connected Blythe’s room to the daycare in
the store. She befriended the shop’s regular campers: Russell Ferguson (Samuel
Vincent), a hedgehog who took it upon himself to try and keep things orderly
and organized; Minka Mark (Kira Tozer), a hyperactive spider monkey who loved
to paint; Pepper Clark (Tabitha St. Germain), a skunk with ambitions of being a
comedian; Sunil Nevla (Peter New), a mongoose with a passion for magic; Vinnie
Terrio (Kyle Rideout), a gecko that loved to dance and Sunil’s best friend;
Penny Ling (Jocelyne Loewen), a sensitive panda interested in rhythmic
gymnastics; and Zoe Trent (Nicole Oliver), a diva show dog that could sing.
Mrs. Twombly always generates strange looks in those that know her.
The owner of LPS was Anna Twombly (Kathleen Barr), a kind and off-beat
woman with a passion for doorknobs and who invented the martial art/sewing
style of Kung-Fu Quilting. Blythe’s arrival was fortuitous as LPS found itself
in dire straits due to the competition from Largest Ever Pet
Shop, owned by ruthless businessman Fisher Biskit (Vincent). Blythe helped
to save the store by marketing her pet fashions, known as Blythe Style (taken
from the
title of one of Garan’s books), in the store. Blythe also stayed on as a
part-time employee in the store.
LPS welcomes literally animals of all kinds. Even those that shouldn't really be pets...or in the city...
Initially, Hasbro was reluctant to have the series set an actual pet
store; feeling that audiences would find it disconcerting that the animal
characters would change over frequently as they were sold. The Cahills
reassured them that modern pet stores didn’t just sell pets, but also catered
to them with grooming and day care services (in fact, Twombly’s phone greeting
was “We don’t sell pets, we cater to them.”). That allowed for a wide variety
of animals to cross paths with the main crew, including Buttercream Sundae (Cathy Weseluck), a hyperactive rabbit
from the Sweet Delights
candy store next door; Sugar
Sprinkles (Kelly Metzger), a
cat with sprinkles all over her that played the ukulele; Goldy (Brian Drummond), an adventurous
goldfish forced to live a dull life in a bowl; Madame Pom (Barr impersonating Eva Gabor), a snobby Pomeranian
show dog that was Zoe’s frenemy; Mr. Otto Von Fuzzlebutt (New), an energetic
raccoon that was prone to intense, deep power naps, and countless others.
Blythe with Youngmee, Sue and Jasper.
Blythe and the main animals were determined by Hasbro for inclusion in
the show, but the Cahills wanted to also expand the human roster including
Twombly and the various pet parents. They gave Blythe a life away from the pet
shop, showing her in school, fashion camp and other places. Blythe’s best
friend was Youngmee Song (Shannon Chan-Kent), an intelligent (though spacey)
girl whose Aunt Christie (Tozer) owned the Sweet Delights shop. Blythe’s other
friends were Sue Patterson (Tozer), an athlete who was often envious about
Blythe’s sense of fashion and creativity, and Jasper Jones (Barr), a humoristic
and outgoing boy that was the first to greet Blythe at school. Then there was
Josh Sharp (Vincent), Blythe’s crush that often left her tongue-tied in his presence.
Blythe’s main enemies were the Biskit twins, Whittany and Brittany (both
Chan-Kent). The daughters of Fisher Biskit, they were spoiled rotten and
weren’t afraid to show it; constantly scheming on how to ruin Blythe’s efforts
in anything she did and make themselves look good (which wasn’t helped by the
fact that they weren’t all that intelligent). The characters were designed by Kora Kosicka and Amy He.
The Biskits and their chinchillas.
Littlest Pet Shop debuted on
The Hub on November 10, 2012 with two episodes. Daniel Ingram and Steffan Andrews were the series composers, and
Ingram also composed the series’ theme with Dan Kuby similar to the web series’
one with different lyrics performed by Ball. In keeping with the fashion theme,
Blythe was depicted in at least two different outfits and hairstyles per
episode; a rarity in cartoons, and a complication that added some time to the
episode rendering. Each episode took about a year to complete, with four episodes
being worked on simultaneously in Flash. The Cahills,
who had a penchant for quirky comedy, were allowed by Hasbro to incorporate a
lot of slapstick into the episodes. Much like The Hub’s earlier, successful My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, they
sought to take what was largely considered a girls’ property and make it
accessible to boys and adults as well. The show was also notable for sharing
several cast members from Friendship is
Magic and the 1990s LPS series.
Blythe with her crush, Josh.
The show ran for four seasons, along with two mini-seasons of animated
shorts that aired online prior to the third and fourth season debuts. The
shorts were written by the Cahills, as was the main seasons along with Roger Eschbacher, Mitch Larson, Evan Gore, Heather Lombard, Corey Powell, Cindy Morrow, Merriwether Williams, Adam Beechen, Tom Minton, Guy Toubes, F.M. DeMarco, David Shayne, Nick Confalone, and Eric Rogers. Dallas Parker served as the
supervising director through season three, where he was succeeded by Joel Dickie after stepping down.
Steven Garcia served as a
director for the last two seasons, while Mike Myhre came on for the
final. It was nominated for a Daytime
Arts Emmy Award for the song “If You’re a Guy” in 2013. Oliver and New were
both nominated for ACTRA and the Union of British Columbia Performers awards for
their characters’ portrayals, which Oliver won. Ingram and Andrews were both
nominated for Leo Awards for their work
on “Lights, Camera, Mongoose!” Hasbro ultimately decided to end production on
the show as it failed to achieve its primary objective: sell the toys. The LPS
line was increasingly struggling through the show’s run, although the show
itself did remarkably well.
Eliza Biskit returns!
The third season went on a four-month hiatus while the network was in the
process of changing its ownership and name to Discovery Family. The Biskits’
antagonistic roles gradually began to be reduced, and Blythe and the pets spent
more time having separate adventures. The fourth season had two ongoing
subplots: Blythe was learning about her mother through a journal found in the
possession of her mother’s childhood pet, an old tortoise named Speedy Shellberg
(Vincent), and Twombly seeking to expand her business across the whole
neighborhood as Littlest Pet Street. Throughout the course of the show, Blythe
kept her abilities largely a secret due to her fear of how she would be treated
once word got out. She was eventually forced to reveal her abilities to
Youngmee, which helped Youngmee to understand a lot of the strange happenings
the pair had been through, and to her father in the series finale, who had
suspected as much as her mother also had that ability. The fourth season also
saw the introduction of the Biskits’ mother, Eliza (Chan-Kent), who was the
opposite of the others: cheerful, bubbly and constantly breaking into song. Her
absence was explained by her having a bad headache and staying in another wing
of their mansion the whole time.
The entire series has yet to be released to home media. Between 2013 and
2015, Shout! Factory released 45
episodes from the first three seasons across 9
DVD collections in North America. Primal
Screen released 11 episodes across 2
DVD collections in the United Kingdom and the Middle East. Beyond Home Entertainment released 30
episodes across 6
DVDs in Australia. The complete series has been made available on streaming
services, such as Amazon
Video.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“Blythe’s Big Adventure Part 1” (11/10/12) – Blythe and her father
move to Downtown City where she discovers she can communicate with animals.
“Blythe’s Big Adventure Part 2” (11/10/12) – The pets in the shop
below Blythe convince her to help save the shop from going out of business.
“Bad Hair Day” (11/17/12) – As Blythe gives Zoe a bad haircut, Minka
is pressured into becoming a famous artist.
“Gailbreak!” (11/24/12) – Zoe and her friends go to bust her sister
Gail out of Largest Ever Pet Shop.
“Penny For Your Laughs” (12/1/12) – Pepper takes to insult comedy
while the Biskits become Blythe’s friends after she defends them from a bully.
“Mean Isn’t Your Color” (12/8/12) – Blythe has a hard time with her
father having a date while Penny Ling struggles with the desire to tell Blythe
she doesn’t like her new outfit.
“Russell Up Some Fun” (12/15/12) – Being pestered to loosen up has
Russell create the alter ego “Fun Russell” while Sue begins dressing and acting
like Blythe.
“Blythe’s Crush” (12/22/12) – Sunil uses his “psychic abilities” to
try and locate Josh Sharp so that Blythe can return the keys he dropped.
“Dumb Dumbwaiter” (12/29/12) – Penny Ling leads the rescue when
Blythe, Zoe, Pepper and Minka end up stuck in the dumbwaiter.
“Eve of Destruction” (1/5/13) – Mrs. Twombly searches for her favorite
cleaning supply while Blythe referees Zoe and her rival, Madame Pom.
“Books and Covers” (1/12/13) – Blythe puts the Biskits on her Mathlete
team in order to compete while the pets think a new visitor is a spy from
Largest Ever Pet Shop.
“So You Skink You Can Dance” (1/19/13) – When Blythe and Vinnie go to
Hollywood, camera-shy Blythe is mistaken for a dancer on the program Shake-A-Leg.
“Lights, Camera, Mongoose!” (1/26/13) – Sunil and famous mongoose
Shahrukh trade lives.
“Topped with Buttercream” (2/9/13) – The pets end up stuck in Sweet
Delights with Buttercream and enjoy too many treats.
“Trading Places” (2/2/13) – Zoe asks Penny Ling to tell a new dog
camper that she likes him while Russell goes to Blythe’s school and gets lost.
“Sweet (Truck) Ride” (2/16/13) – When the pets accidentally send the
Sweet Truck careening down the street, Blythe gets the blame.
“Helicopter Dad” (2/23/13) – Roger surprises Blythe at school so theyc
an hang out and Minka makes a new friend.
“What’s in the Batter?” (3/2/13) – While helping Youngmee, Blythe
loses her necklace in cupcake batter.
“What Did You Say?” (3/9/13) – Blythe loses her ability to understand
the pets just as Vinnie accidentally ends up in the city dump.
“Bakers and Fakers” (3/16/13) – The pets learn the Biskits plan to
cheat to win the baking competition.
“Terriers and Tiaras” (3/23/13) – Blythe undergoes a bad
transformation when she agrees to be on a reality pet pageant show.
“Lotsa Luck” (3/30/13) – Blythe discovers Mrs. Twombly invented a
unique martial art while Pepper tries to make her hero, Old Bananas, laugh.
“Door-Jammed” (4/6/13) – Sunil and Vinnie suspect their friends became
werewolves while Mrs. Twombly seeks to reclaim a valuable doorknob from Fisher
Biskit.
“Frenemies” (4/13/13) – Zoe and Pepper become competitive in planning
a party for Penny Ling, and Vinnie learns he can dance better without his tail.
“Blythe’s Pet Project” (4/20/13) – Items go missing around the day
camp, including Mrs. Twombly’s glasses.
“Summertime Blues” (4/27/13) – Blythe gets anxiety over leaving after
she’s accepted into a junior program at a fashion school.
Season 2:
“Missing Blythe” (11/2/13) – The pets plan to visit Blythe at her
summer camp.
“The Nest Hats Craze!” (11/2/13) – A baby chick ends up in Blythe’s
nest hat.
“Eight Arms to Hold You” (11/9/13) – Russell’s slumber party is about
to be crashed by several uninvited guests.
“Heart of Parkness” (11/16/13) – Sunil rescues the racoons in City
Park and has to decide between being their king or returning to the pet shop.
“Pawlm Reading” (11/23/13) – A phony psychic tricks Mrs. Twombly into
a specific brand of pet food while the pets try to conform themselves to her
readings.
“The Treasure of Henrietta Twombly” (11/30/13) – A reality TV show
reveals a treasure is buried under the shop.
“The Big, Feathered Parade” (12/14/13) – Blythe’s designs for the Big
Feathered Parade end up stolen and used by another designer named Ramon.
“A Day at the Museum” (12/21/13) – The pets get lost in a museum and
Blythe must find them before security does.
“Alligators and Handbags” (12/28/13) – The pets deal with a bully
while Blythe battles with self-confidence after a fashion icon gives her
designs a harsh critique.
“Blythe’s Big Idea” (1/4/14) – Blythe trades in her scooter for a
sales kiosk and Roger’s airline begins a Pet Jet service.
“Commercial Success” (1/11/14) – When business gets slow Mrs. Twombly
agrees to let Blythe shoot a commercial.
“So Interesting” (1/18/14) – The pets share interesting stories with
each other, which Penny Ling uses an opportunity to craft a wonderful fantasy.
“To Paris with Zoe” (1/25/14) – Blythe takes Zoe to Paris for a dog
show where Blythe falls for the city and Zoe falls for a miming street dog
named Phillippe.
“Super Sunil” (2/1/14) – Penny Ling convinces Sunil he has powers to
give him confidence, while Blythe helps out with the Sweet Delights truck.
“Sweet Pepper” (2/8/14) – Blythe babysits Buttercream while trying to
finish a new book, and Pepper isn’t sure how to profess her feelings for a new
camper.
“Shanghai Hi-Jinks” (2/15/14) – Blythe and the pets travel to Shanghai
where Mrs. Twombly receives and honor for inventing Kung Fu Quilting and Penny
Ling meets her family.
“Grounded” (2/22/14) – When Roger is laid off, he takes a job as the
Biskits’ personal assistant and chauffeur.
“Inside Job” (3/1/14) – Blythe runs for class president against the
Biskits while the pets try to locate the source of an annoying noise.
“Plane it on Rio!” (3/8/14) – Ramon reappears and tries to spoil
Blythe’s chances of competing in the Carnival parade.
“Littlest Bigfoot” (3/15/14) – Roger takes Blythe and the pets camping
to find Bigfoot where Penny Ling finds a friend and Blythe finds the Biskits
destroying the woods.
“Sunil’s Sick Day” (3/22/14) – Russell tries to help patch up Vinnie
and Sunil’s friendship.
“The Hedgehog in the Plastic Bubble” (3/29/14) – Russell and Blythe
find themselves alone.
“Standup Stinker” (4/5/14) – Blythe advises Pepper on her stand-up
while the pets try to convince Minka she’s the first monkey on Mars.
“The Expo Factor, Part 1” (4/12/14) – The stress over the
International Pet Fashion Expo increases when Blythe is asked to do a
photoshoot for the top fashion magazine.
“The Expo Factor, Part 2” (4/12/14) – The Biskits sabotage Blythe,
making all her fears about things going wrong seemingly come true.
Shorts Season 1:
“Tail-Rave-lum” (5/30/14) – L-Zard and his crew visit Vinnie for some
dancing.
“The Ladies of LPS” (6/13/14) – Blythe and the girl pets share some
quality time.
“Littlest Pet Peeves” (6/27/14) – Russell, Zoe and Sunil can’t seem to
stop annoying each other.
“Eau de Pepper” (7/11/14) – Pepper and Penny Ling try to capture her
happiest scent.
“Where’d the Escargot?” (8/1/14) – Vinnie and Penny Ling try to keep
snails from becoming food.
“Life of Cake” (8/8/14) – Sunil fights Steve for a piece of cake.
“The Fire Hydrant Song” (8/22/14) – Zoe sings to make herself feel
fabulous.
“Naptime’s a Ball” (9/19/14) – Russell wants a nap, but ends up on an
adventure instead.
“Just Not Into It” (10/3/14) – Russell, Vinnie and Sunil try on
clothes.
“Monkey Chase” (10/17/14) – Minka’s imagination runs wild as she
paints.
Season 3:
“Sleeper” (5/31/14) – Russell challenges Vinnie and Sunil to entertain
the new boarder, which they seemingly fail when he falls into a deep sleep.
“War of the Weirds” (6/7/14) – Blythe investigates a UFO the pets saw
while Twombly tries to figure out how to get more business.
“Some Assistance Required” (6/14/14) – Blythe becomes Mona Autum’s
assistant while Zoe and Russell deal with a pet model trying to sabotage
Russell’s photoshoot.
“Secret Cupet” (6/21/14) – Russell becomes the latest target of a
mysterious pet cupid.
“Hamster Hoods” (6/28/14) – Pepper and Vinnie investigate the
appearance of Largest Ever Pet Shop merchandise in the dumbwaiter.
“Tongue Tied” (7/5/14) – City pets flock from all over for help when
they learn of Blythe’s abilities, but she can’t seem to communicate with one
ferret.
“What’s So Scary About the Jungle? Everything!” (7/12/14) – Penny Ling
is disappointed when the host of her favorite nature show has developed a
phobia of pandas.
“Two Pets for Two Pests” (7/19/14) – Blythe tries to pair the Biskits
up with twin chinchillas while Vinnie proves he can paint to Minka.
“Feud for Thought” (7/26/14) – Whittany becomes jealous after Brittany
scores higher than her on a test, and arguing koalas cause chaos at the shop.
“Fish Out of Water” (8/2/14) – Blythe, Zoe and Minka try to rescue
Josh from working for the Biskits while the others work with an alligator to
save a goldfish in the sewer.
“If the Shoe Fits” (8/9/14) – The pets follow Blythe and Youngmee to
the Biskits’ party disguised as a tall man.
“The Very Littlest Pet Shop” (8/16/14) – A jungle curse shrinks the
pet shop and pets, and a little girl believes they are toys.
“The Secret Recipe” (8/23/14) – Blythe has to reveal her secret to
Youngmee to save their friendship.
“Winter Wonder Wha…?” (12/13/14) – Blythe and Zoe go to the Biskits’
winter chateau and the others work on cheering up a penguin.
“Snow Stormin’” (12/20/14) – A massive snowstorm traps Blythe and the
pets in the shop.
“Back Window” (12/27/14) – An injured Russell swears he sees Josh
stealing Blythe’s designs from the garbage.
“Room Enough” (1/3/15) – A visiting kitten wants to know why Blythe
can understand them as Blythe considers redecorating her room.
“Why Can’t We Be Friends?” (1/10/15) – Blythe makes a new friend at
the thrift shop and Vinnie has to hide his new spider friend from Sunil.
“Pet Sounds” (1/17/15) – Minka’s cousin believes his scientist owner
invented a helmet that lets him talk to pets.
“The Sister Story” (1/24/15) – Blythe’s competitive aunt comes for a
visit and she and Roger compete non-stop, while Vinnie and Sunil compete to see
who can predict the future best.
“A Night at the Pawza” (1/31/15) – Blythe and Twombly help a friend’s
hotel become a success to keep it out of Fisher’s hands.
“Proud as a…Peacock?” (2/7/15) – The pets try to help a shy peacock
gain confidence.
“Sue Syndrome” (2/21/15) – Sue is nervous about receiving an award in
front of the whole school while Pepper is jealous over a sweet-smelling
visiting skunk.
“In the Loop” (2/28/15) – Russell seems to be living the same day over
and over when a groundhog visits.
“It’s the Pet Fest! Part 1” (3/7/15) – Blythe scrambles to make her
Pet Fest happen.
“It’s the Pet Fest! Part 2” (3/7/15) – When the venue falls through,
Blythe must find a new one for the Pet Fest.
Shorts Season 2:
“The Biggity-Big Dog Show” (10/4/15) – Zoe gets a rash on the day of a
big dog show.
“Sour Puss” (10/4/15) – Blythe and the girl pets sing about having
girl time.
“So Like Bored” (10/4/15) – The Biskits think of ways to entertain
themselves.
“OmmmMG” (10/4/15) – Sunil tries to get Vinnie and Minka to sit still.
“What’s Next?” (11/5/15) – Blythe ponders what to do next in her life.
Season 4:
“The Tortoise and the Heir” (11/7/15) – Blythe meets a tortoise who
ends up being her mother’s former pet, and keeper of her journal.
“Pitch Purrfect” (11/7/15) – Zoe forms her own singing group after
being rejected from an all-cat one, and Twombly sells her doorknobs so that she
can buy the street.
“Ivan the Terrific” (11/14/15) – The pets deal with a lost circus bear
while Blythe helps Youngmee find her perfect pet.
“Senior Day” (11/21/15) – Russell’s father comes to stay with him when
his owner’s senior center says he can no longer stay.
“Littlest Pet Shop of Horrors” (11/28/15) – It’s Halloween, and the
pets and Blythe tell spooky stories.
“Game of Groans” (12/5/15) – Blythe, Russell, Vinnie and Sunil head to
the Renaissance Fair.
“The Tiniest Animal Store” (12/12/15) – The shop becomes the basis for
a new sitcom, but Blythe worries it could reveal her secret.
“Spendthrifty” (12/19/15) – Blythe becomes a sales clerk but is unable
to resist the bargains, while the pets distrust Blythe’s new doll Roger brought
her from Japan.
“Un-vetted” (12/26/15) – Blythe and Russell go camping while Zoe
develops a crush on her vet’s new dog.
“Pump Up the Panda” (1/2/16) – Blythe and the pets go to the beach
where Penny Ling gets a lobster personal trainer and Vinnie and Sunil have a
sandcastle building contest.
“Snipmates” (1/9/16) – Sugar Sprinkles is uncharacteristically grouchy
while Blythe competes against her former camp roommate in a fashion show.
“Guilt Tripping” (1/16/16) – Blythe accidentally gets the Biskits
suspended from school while Pepper waits for Vinnie’s punishment after breaking
his lucky rock.
“Petnapped!” (1/23/16) – A departed millionaire’s dog must determine
her new owner, while the pets try to reenact an episode of Russell’s favorite
show.
“Steamed” (3/26/16) – Blythe helps Twombly set up her new coffee shop
and Sugar Sprinkle’s song causes Pepper to unleash a coffee smell that attracts
customers.
“Two Peas in a Podcast” (3/26/16) – The Biskits try to create their
own vlog to compete with Blythe’s and the pets are devastated to learn Penny
Ling is moving away.
“Go Figure!” (4/2/16) – Minka wants to learn Zen from a grasshopper
more interest in Russell, and Vinnie accidentally gets sold as a toy when lost
at a sci-fi convention.
“A Doggie Biskit” (4/9/16) – Eliza’s dog Poppy Pawsley doesn’t want to
participate in a dog show.
“It’s a Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy World” (4/16/16) – Josh tries to
help Blythe find her mother’s journal while a quokka encourages Sunil to find
happiness in the city.
“Race Team: Buttercream” (4/23/16) – The starting bell in underground
bunny races turns Buttercream into a competitive brute, betting on whom costs
Sunil and Vinnie Blythe’s phone.
“On the Same Page” (4/30/16) – An entry in the journal has Blythe
worried she’ll lose her ability while the boys and girls have a falling out in
the daycare over the girls’ amount of stuff.
“Paint a Picture, it Lasts Longer” (5/7/16) – Blythe takes the credit
for a painting Minka’s embarrassed to have done.
“Bake it ‘til You Make It” (5/14/16) – Sunil pretends to be a doctor
for his visiting parents and Blythe has her famous cousin help around Sweet
Delights.
“LPS: The Moosical” (5/21/16) – A visiting moose nervously sings,
which bothers everyone except the part-Canadian Blythe.
“Seeing Red” (5/28/16) – Penny Ling becomes curious about a visiting
panda while Blythe writes a story about her parents as teenagers.
“Littlest Pet Street Part 1” (6/4/16) – Picking up a viral video star
for the street’s grand opening leads the Pet Jet to crash on an abandoned
island.
“Littlest Pet Street Part 2” (6/4/16) – Blythe, Roger and the pets try
to figure a way off the island while Twombly desperately tries to get
everything ready for the grand opening.
Welcome to the golden portion of our 3rd anniversary celebration!
As we celebrate, we figured we'd also take the opportunity to celebrate the various other programs enjoying anniversaries this year (at least at an interval of 5). Some we've covered, some we'll get to covering sooner or later, but all of them represent Saturday morning. For this installment, we recognize those shows turning 55. That's right, the grandparent of Saturday morning television. If our tribute looks a little sparse, that's because in the earliest days of Saturday television networks tended to fill their line-ups with reruns of weekday shows. It wouldn't be until the latter part of the 1960s original programming would become king.
Take a walk down memory lane with us, and feel free to share your memories in the comments, or over on our Facebook group or Facebook page, or on Twitter @SatMForever. We'd love to hear from you!
Now, without further ado, join us in celebrating...
Welcome to the golden portion of our 3rd anniversary celebration!
As we celebrate, we figured we'd also take the opportunity to celebrate the various other programs enjoying anniversaries this year (at least at an interval of 5). Some we've covered, some we'll get to covering sooner or later, but all of them represent Saturday morning.
For this installment, we recognize those shows turning the big 50 in what was the Golden Age of Saturday morning television.
Take a walk down memory lane with us, and feel free to share your memories in the comments, or over on our Facebook group or Facebook page, or on Twitter @SatMForever. We'd love to hear from you!
Now, without further ado, join us in celebrating...
In 1984, Hasbro
imported the toyline that would become Transformersinto North America hoping to duplicate the success of their recently-revived
G.I.
Joeline. Transformers followed
the consistent battle between the Autobots
and Decepticons; humanoid
shape-shifting robot aliens that took on the forms of various vehicles, objects
and animals. Duplicating that formula, the concept behind the toys was fleshed
out and published in comic form by Marvel
Comics, and Marvel
Productions and Sunbow
Productions produced an animated series.
View of the cut-out head and one of the arms.
Also returning was Ralston with the
license to produce a cereal based on the toys, much as they had with G.I.
Joes Action Starscereal. The cereal would have been chocolate
flavored, with the box touting that it would “transform ordinary milk into
chocolate flavored milk.” Additionally, the panels of the box would feature
robotic limbs and a head that could be cut out and folded in such a way to turn
the box into a generic Transformer. The box, which resembled the toy packaging,
featured Autobot leader Optimus
Prime on the front with a spoon at the ready, and a mail-away offer a Jazz figure.
Legs, arm and Jazz offer.
At least, that was the plan. The cereal was set for
release in 1986, but because the Transformers
franchise was steadily losing steam in the American market, Ralston decided
to cut their losses and cancelled the cereal’s release. The cereal never made
it past the test box phase, and those boxes have turned up on eBay from time to time fetching high prices.
For the history of Transformers, check out the post here.
Although popular in the 1980s, Transformerswas struggling as the 90s approached. The line was rebranded Generation
2 with new toys,
a new cartoon and new comics,
but its popularity continued to wane. Hasbro
handed off production of the line to their newly-acquired Kenner division to
try their hand at revitalizing the toys.
The next generation of Transformers: the original Beast Wars line.
The first thing Kenner did was ditch the whole vehicle and machine angle
of the transformations as well as various group subdivisions that had been
introduced. Instead, they had the Transformers change into realistic-looking
animals with a size-class system. Unlike the previous toys, these were highly
articulated and all components could be concealed within a transformation
instead of leaving loose parts around. Dubbed Beast Wars, the original storyline had the newly-christened Maximals and Predacons fighting on modern
day Earth like the prior series, but that soon changed.
When the first
line of toys proved a success, Hasbro commissioned Mainframe Entertainment to bring the line
to life in a new animated series. Beast
Wars: Transformers was developed by Larry DiTillio and Bob Forward as the first completely CGI Transformers
series. The Generation 2 cartoon and commercials did make use
of some CGI, but as it recycled episodes from the original Transformerscartoon
it was mostly traditional animation.
The series followed as the Maximals and Predacons crash-landed on a
primitive planet rife with pure raw Energon—the
substance that powers Cybertonians. However, it was too much of a good
thing and could cause them to short-circuit after prolonged exposure. To combat
it, both sides scanned the planet’s surface for lifeforms and adopted them as
their alternate forms to shield them from the Energon. As the series
progressed, it was revealed that the Maximals and Predacons were from 300 years
in the future of the Transformers mythos and had somehow teleported back
in time to prehistoric Earth where the Autobots
and Decepticons still slept
after their own crash-landing, awaiting reactivation in the modern day of 1984.
The Maximals.
Because of the expense of creating a new character model, the roster was
decidedly smaller than other Transformers
media; allowing for a greater focus on character development. The Maximals
were led by Optimus Primal (Garry Chalk), who had taken the form of a
silverback gorilla. Under his command initially were the intelligent Rhinox
(Richard Newman), a rhinoceros; recon expert Rattrap (Scott McNeil), an African
rat; and youthful and inexperienced Cheetor (Ian James Corlett), a cheetah.
The Predacons.
The Predacons were led by Megatron (not to be confused with the
Decepticon version of Megatron,
voiced by David Kaye), a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Begrudgingly under him were Scorponok (Don Brown), a scorpion; Terrorsaur (Doug Parker), a Pteranodon; Tarantulas (Alec Willows), a tarantula;
Waspinator (McNeil), a wasp; and Dinobot
(McNeil), a velociraptor. To allow for additional characters to be introduced
as they were created for the toy line, a subplot was added that showed the
Maximal ship ejecting unformatted protoforms
into orbit (these were blank slates at the beginning of a Cybertronian’s life
cycle awaiting programming into the kind of bot they will be). A competition
arose between the factions to retrieve a protoform when it fell to Earth and
program it to their respective side.
Cheetor on the run.
Running in syndication from 1996-99 over 52 episodes, the show was initially
dismissed by long-time Transformers fans
over the abandonment of the vehicle modes, but the mature writing, darker
themes, strong characters and increasing callbacks to previous incarnations
gradually won them over. The show also fully defined the protoforms and
introduced the concept of the spark,
which was essentially the soul of the Transformers. The show and toys found
additional success when it was exported to Japan, leading to the creation of
two Japan-only spin-off shows: Beast Wars Secondand
Beast Wars Neo, which
were accompanied by toys produced by Takara (the producers of the original toys
the Transformers line was spawned
from, now known as Takara Tomy).
Beast Wars was a tremendous
success for Hasbro; consistently at the top of sales charts for the duration of
its life. However, Hasbro wanted to keep the line from going stale like the
original line had done and opted to revamp the franchise once again. They
decided to integrate vehicular Transformers with the organic ones to produce
the line Beast Machines. As such, a
new cartoon was put into development to help promote the shift.
The new Maximals: Optimus Primal, Black Arachnia, Cheetor and Rattrap.
Mainframe was retained as the production company for the show, but very
few of the personnel involved in making it a success was. Beast Hunters, as the series was originally to be titled, went into
development for FOX’s Fox Kids programming block;
making it the first Transformers series
to be made for a network rather than syndication. Because of their good
relationship with FOX in the production of Godzilla: The Series, Bob Skir and Marty Isenberg were brought on
as the showrunners and head writers, which caused them to pass up their “dream
project” of working on an Avengers cartoon
(which may have been a good thing as that cartoon became the widely-panned Avengers: United They Stand).
Megatron in charge.
The series’ premise came from an outline by Marv Wolfman, despite
fellow comic book veteran Steve
Gerber turning in a “wildly original take on Transformers” (as described by then-Mainframe head Dan Didio). The show would
center on the Maximals returning to Cybertron to find it under
the control of Megatron. Hasbro wanted to add a spiritual dimension to the show
to try something new with the franchise, and Skir came up with the idea that
there should be a quest to find a balance between nature and technology, rather
than the cliched dominance of one over the other. That led to the overreaching story arc of
restoring vegetation to Cybertron’s surface, which had previously been an idea
in the original Marvel Comics treatment. It
would become the first Transformers series
to take place entirely on Cybertron. It also further expanded on the concept of
the sparks, their transformative abilities, and the overall lifecycle of
Transformers. The series ended up marking the definitive end of the Generation One
continuity (another thing fans weren’t happy about).
Both Didio and Hasbro discouraged Skir and Isenberg from watching old
episodes to achieve the freshest take possible, and Didio felt Beast Wars was too continuity-heavy.
Skir and Isenberg also passed that edict down to their writing staff, of whom
only Wolfman and other fellow comic scribe Len Wein had previously
worked on Beast Wars. Wolfman, in
particular, was brought on because Skir felt he was owed some work since they
ended up using his initial outline. However, this edict was soon ignored as
Hasbro began requesting elements of prior continuity for inclusion in the show,
and some of the writers looked at what came before to drop references. Along
with Skir and Isenberg, the writers included Michael Reaves, Steven Melching, Rodney Gibbs, Brynne Chandler Reaves, Meg McLaughlin, Brooks Wachtel and Nick Dubois.
The Maximals in robot form.
Returning from Beast Wars was Optimus
Primal, Rattrap, Cheetor and Predacon-turned-Maximal Blackarachnia (Venus Terzo);
all of whom suffered from memory loss and were reverted to their debut beast
modes (they had gotten some technological
upgrades as Wars progressed). The
Predacons were replaced by Vehicons:
a legion of heavily-armed military Transformers led by Megatron. At the head of
Megatron’s army was Jetstorm (Brian Drummond), the immensely cocky head of the
Aero Drones; Tankor (Paul Dobson), the slow-witted and immensely powerful
leader of the Tank Drones; and Thrust (Jim Byrnes), the dark and brooding
leader of the Cycle Drones and loyal to Megatron above all others. It was
eventually discovered that Jetstorm, Tankor and Thrust all contained the sparks
of Silverbolt (McNeil), a fused wolf and eagle hybrid with an overdeveloped
sense of morality and justice, Rhinox and Waspinator, respectively; removed by
Megatron and placed in Vehicon bodies.
Botanica joins the team.
Other characters included Nightscream (Alessandro Juliani), a vampire bat
traumatized by the Vehicon occupation; Savage/Noble (Kaye), a purely organic
Transformer created when Megatron tried to rid himself entirely of his bestial
side; The Oracle (Carol Savenkoff), an ancient
computer that allowed Optimus to communicate with the AllSpark (the source of life for all
Transformers); and Botanica (Kathleen Barr), who could transform into a mobile
plant. Megatron’s forces would soon be bolstered by Obsidian (Dobson), who
fought for whoever was in control of Cybertron, and his consort Strika (Patricia
Drake), one of the greatest generals in Cybertron’s history. None of the good
guys used guns--another first for Transformers--asSkir preferred to write heroes who didn’t rely on them.
Vehicon generals Tankor, Jetstorm and Thrust.
Beast Machines: Transformers debuted
on September 18, 1999 on FOX, with music composed by Robert Buckley and a theme song, called “Phat Planet”,by Leftfield.
Much like Beast Wars, Beast Machines was
largely hated by their target audience—so much so, that Skir and Isenberg
received death threats from Transformers fans.
Unlike Wars, it would be years before
some of that hatred would lift. Fans were generally put off by the much darker
and humorless direction Machines took,
and the inconsistent personalities of the characters between the shows. For
instance, Optimus became an anti-technology guru and a fanatic at times;
Rattrap was made a virtual coward; Silverbolt was no longer goofy and noble but
grim and vengeance-driven; and Megatron was much grimmer with no sign of his
previous agendas. Others felt the message behind the show, technology vs.
nature, was ham-fisted and overly forced. Also, because of the serial nature of
the show, it made it hard for new viewers to jump on at any point to become
hooked.
Tankor/Rhinox stands with the Maximals.
And it wasn’t only the fans that didn’t like the show; it was largely
reported that most of the returning actors weren’t too happy with it either. McNeil,
who enjoyed the series, had mentioned that Chalk was known to throw angry fits
between recording sessions because of the directions the show took. Simon Furman, the writer of
Marvel’s UK
and USTransformers comics notable for his epic
and dark storytelling, felt that the show was too dark and serious for a
kid’s show. Despite all the negative attention, one thing that was usually
agreed on is that Mainframe stepped up their game with continuing improvements
to the visuals and character movements in comparison to Beast Wars.
The series ran for two seasons of 13 episodes; the second subtitled
“Battle for the Spark.” Hasbro loved the series and wanted it to continue for a
third season, but Skir and Isenberg had always approached it as an “epic novel”
and felt the story was sufficiently told in 26 episodes. That, mixed with the
more extreme fan reactions, led to them declining Hasbro’s offer.
Hasbro had planned for the new season to tie into the next evolution of the Beast line called “Transtech.” This series would have
further combined the beast/vehicle aspects by having the characters’ vehicle
forms feature aesthetics related to their beast forms. Without a show, the poor
performance of the toyline,
financial instability within the company, and the hiring of a new CEO Brian Goldner (who
wanted a “back to basics” approach), Hasbro decided to scrap the line. Instead,
they chose to work closely with Takara for the first time in creating a new
line that returned to the basic robots and vehicles concept that would
eventually become Transformers: Armada. In the
interim, Hasbro imported the anime Transformers:
Car Robots (the first series to be known as Robots in Disguisein North America) and its related toyline.
The series was translated and broadcast in several countries around the
world, but it was the Japanese version that’s of special note. It wouldn’t be
until 2004 that Beast Machines would
be localized for broadcast in Japan as Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns. The
translation was headed up by Yoshikazu
Iwanami, who had also handled the Beast
Wars dubbing, and took the series in a dramatically different way than the
North American version. The overall dub was done in a humorous and satirical
manner, completely changing the personalities of the characters (Nightscream
became a flaming homosexual stereotype), adding chants to the Vehicon drones
every time they were on screen, and ignoring key plot points for the sake of
goofy adlibbing (such as failing to conceal the real identities of Thrust and
Jetstorm by having the same actors and personality traits for Waspinator and
Silverbolt used). Characters would also have comedic conversations over the
main titles and credits. The Japanese version of the show kept the same music,
but added the song “Megatron
Ondo” by Yukio Hibariya and Taku Unami, with
Megatron actor Shigeru Chiba
reprising his role for speaking portions. The song was included on the Japanese
album Transformers Song Universereleased by Columbia Music Entertainment.
The North American DVD release.
The series has been released to home
media in various countries by various companies. In the United States, Rhino Entertainment released the complete
series in 2006. It was later re-released by Shout!
Factory in 2014. Sony Home
Entertainment released two season sets in the United Kingdom, France,
Germany and Spain between 2007 and 2009. The UK release also saw the first
season broken up into two volumes, as did Australian and New Zealand with both
seasons. Geneon Universal Entertainment
released the show in Japan across seven volumes, as well as a box set.
Art for IDW's The Ascending.
Beast Machines made the leap to
comics with 3H Productions’
Transformers Universe, scripted by Furman with stories by Glen Hallit and Dan Khanna. The book was made in part with the Official
Transformers Collector’s Club and available at each annual BotCon. Unfortunately, 3H lost the Transformers license after the third
issue was published, leaving the story unfinished. Fun Publications would publish the four
completed pages from #4 in one of
their magazines in August of 2007, and then an illustrated text story
that November that completed the story once and for all. The complete script
for #4 was leaked into a Transformers message
board around the same time. Transformers: Beast Wars: The Ascendingfrom IDW Publishing in 2007, also by Furman,
provided some lead-in to Megatron’s eventual conquest of Cybertron.
The Beast franchise was revisited in 2023 with the 7th
installment of Hasbro and Paramount
Pictures’ live-action Transformers movie
series. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, written by Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber, and directed by Steven Caple Jr., serves as a
sequel to 2018’s Bumblebee,
which itself served as a prequel/soft reboot of the original movie series directed
by Michael Bay. Set in 1994,
the Maximals’ home planet came under attack by the planet-eating Unicron (Colman Domingo) and his
heralds, the Terrorcons
and Predacons, leading to a small faction of them escaping to Earth using a Transwarp Key.
When museum intern Elena Wallace (Dominique
Fishback) discovered half of the key, she drew the attention of the
Terrorcons and the Autobots. The film featured Optimus Primal, Rhinox, Cheetor and
Airazor, voiced by Ron Perlman, David Sobolov (the only actor from the cartoon),
Tongayi Chirisa and Michelle Yeoh, respectively. Scorponok
also appeared, but as an army of drones that became scorpions.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“The Reformatting” (9/18/99) – The Maximals find themselves somehow
back on Cybertron unable to transform out of Beast Mode.
“Master of the House” (9/25/99) – The Maximals get their
transformation abilities back as they learn that Megatron has taken over the
planet and intends to wipe out organic life.
“Fires of the Past” (10/2/99) – Searching for their memories puts
Blackarachnia and Rattrap against Jetstorm, Thrust and Tankor.
“Mercenary Pursuits” (10/9/99) – Rattrap discovers a virus that will
help him transform—the only problem is, once he starts he can’t stop.
“Forbidden Fruit” (10/16/99) – The Maximals discover a strange new
Maximal and a fruit tree, both impossible on Cybertron.
“The Weak Component” (10/23/99) – Lacking weapons when he finally
transforms, Rattrap makes a deal with Megatron.
“Revelations, Part I: Discovery” (10/30/99) – The Maximals discover
the shells of the missing Transformers while Blackarachnia is convinced
Thrust’s spark was Silverbolt’s.
“Revelations, Part II: Descent” (11/6/99) – Cheetor tries to restore
Rhinox’s spark in Tankor while Blackarachnia loses hers to Jetstorm.
“Revelations, Part III: Apoclaypse” (11/13/99) – Nightscream tries to
retrieve Blackarachnia’s spark and Optimus makes contact with Rhonox’s.
“Survivor” (11/27/99) – Megatron has Nightscream kidnapped to learn
his secrets.
“Techno-Organic War Part I: The Key” (12/4/99) – Tankor discovers a
weapon that can turn organics into cybernetic metal and uses it on Nightscream.
“Techno-Organic War Part II: The Catalyst” (12/11/99) – Rattrap
discovers a program that can speed up the growth of plants on Cybertron.
“Techno-Organic War Part III: End of the Line” (12/18/99) – Megatron
sets a doomsday weapon that will wipe out all organic life on Megatron.
Season 2:
“Fallout” (8/5/00) – Destroying Cybertron leads Optimus to learn their
whole purpose was to bring organic life back from Earth to balance the planet.
“Savage Noble” (8/19/00) – The Maximals are being stalked as they try
to recruit the Vehicons.
“Prometheus Unbound” (8/26/00) – A supposed ally sabotages the
Maximals’ attempt at infiltrating Megatron’s base.
