Popples is 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 puppets and marionettes; 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 bears or rabbits 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 one episode, 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).
[edit] Characters
[edit] 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 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.
[edit] 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 Monroe-esque voice and dreams of being a film star. Prize appeared in 15 episodes.
- Puffball: White Popple who loves to throw her voice around. 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Sports Popples
This was a group of six sports-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:
- Big Kick is a soccer player who turns into a soccerball. Big Kick talks with an English accent.
- Cuester is a pool player who turns into an 8-ball. Cuester talks with a Brooklyn accent.
- Dunker is a long-limbed basketball player who turns into a basketball. Dunker talks with stereotypical African-American accent.
- Net Set is a tennis player who turns into a tennis ball.
- Pitcher is a baseball player who turns into a baseball. Pitcher talks with a Southern accent.
- T.D. (Touchdown) is a player of American football who turns into a football.
[edit] Season 1 (1986)
[edit] Season 2 (1987)
[edit] Popples episodes
Popples has 46 episodes (not counting the pilot), with two episodes contained in each half-hour show. In two different seasons, the intros and endings (same as the intros) are different. The episodes from the first season were completed in 1986, the episodes from the second season were completed in 1987.
- Popples: The Movie (two-reel in live-action)
- Popples Panic at the Library
- Cookin' Up a Storm
- Molars and Bicuspids, and Popples
- The Treasure of Popple Beach
- Popping at the Car Wash
- Springtime's a Poppin
- Popples Play Pee Wee Golf
- Popples Flood the Fluff n' Fold
- Clean Sweep of Things
- Poppin' Wheelies
- Bonnie's Popple Party
- Aisles of Trouble
- Popples Paint Party
- Pop-Paring For Bed
- Poppolympics
- Sports Shop Pop
- Takin' Out the Trash
- A Hair-Raising Experience
- Pop Goes the Radio
- Poppin' Pillow Talk
- Where the Pop Flies
- Hooray For Hollywood Popples
- Backyard Bigtop
- Backyard Adventure
- Poppin' At the Drive-In
- Popplin' Around the Block
- Moving Day
- Tree House Capers
- No Bizness Like Popple Bizness
- Museum Peace
- Lemonade Stand-Off
- Popple Post Office
- Funhouse Folly
- Fixer-Upper Popples
- Rock Around the Popples
- The College of Popple Knowledge
- Popple Cheer
- Barn Hoopla
- The Jellybean Jamboree
- Private Eye Popples
- The Repair Shop
- Decatha-Pop-A-Lon Popples
- Cuckoo Choo Choo
- The Popple Fashion Parade
- Popples Alley
- Poppin' at the Zoo
[edit] Trivia
- In 1994, Popples was released on VHS videocassette in the U.S., each cassette containing two or six cartoons.
- Popples was released on DVD on May 31, 2004 for sale in the UK only in Region 2 PAL format by Maximum Entertainment, though only a few episodes were released.
- Valri Bromfield was the voice of the older versions of Billy and Bonnie, and the newer character Mike in Season 2, although at that time of voice acting, Valri Bromfield was 37 to 38 years old.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
