The little ones - The 1983 animated series

November 22, 2020

The little ones (The Littles) (French: Les Minipouss) is an animated television series originally produced between 1983 and 1985. It is based on the characters of The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John Peterson, the first of which was released in 1967. The series was produced for the American television network ABC by the French / American studio DIC Audiovisuel. It was post-produced by a Canadian animation studio, Animation City Editorial Services. In Italy the animated series was broadcast in 1988 on Canale 5.

Together with Inspector Gadget and Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats, The little ones (The Littles) was one of the first cartoons produced by DIC Entertainment for American television and was the only one of the three to be broadcast on the net rather than in syndication.

The first two seasons of the shows feature The little ones (The Littles) around the Bigg family, but to increase the popularity of the show the last season features The little ones (The Littles) who travel around the world.

During the production of the show, The little ones (The Littles) were also popular enough to warrant two cinematic tie-ins:

The 25 May 1985, The little ones (The Littles) starred in their first animated film, Here Come the Littles, which serves as a prequel to the television series. It was directed by Bernard Deyriès and written by Woody Kling. This is available on DVD.
The following year (1986), a TV movie was created starring The Littles: Liberty and the Littles. This film was also directed by Bernard Deyriès and written by Heywood Kling. This film aired in three parts during the tenth season of ABC Weekend Specials. It was later edited into a three-part episode and included in the third season of the series. The episode is available on DVD.
In 2003, the series began airing on the Syndicated DIC Kids Network block to meet the E / I criteria. However, not all episodes of the series were syndicated during this run.

The series also aired in the UK on TVAM and in Australia on Network 10. Many other countries also picked up the series

Themes and structure of the episodes
During the first two seasons, many of the episodes contained moral lessons or dealt with specific issues, such as running away from home ("The Little Tale"), drug abuse ("Prescription for Disaster") and jealousy ("Lights, camera, Piccoli ”and“ Gemini ”). For the third season, each episode featured Henry and The little ones (The Littles) travel to a different place around the world.

The first two seasons also featured simple arts and crafts at the end of each episode (“Little Ideas for Great People”), with the second season using suggestions submitted by viewers. During the third season, a segment called "A Little Known Fact" highlighted historical or geographical curiosities related to the episode.

Characters

The Little family

Tom Little - The older of the two Little children.
Lucy Little - The younger of the two Little children.
Grandpa Little - The oldest member of the family.

dinky little - A family cousin (as in the books, where he is always presented as "cousin Dinky").
Frank Little - the father of a family.
Helen Little - the mother in the family and the daughter of Grandpa Little.
Ashley Little - A second younger cousin of the family.

In the television series, the family tree is mostly clear. Frank and Helen are the parents of Tom and Lucy, the grandfather is the father of Helen and Dinky is a cousin (on Helen's side, as told by the grandfather in the episode "Ben Dinky") of Tom and Lucy. In the books, the family tree is never explicitly identified. The little ones that often appear are Tom, Lucy, Dinky and Grandpa.

Other characters

Henry Bigg - A 13-year-old boy and one of the few humans aware of the existence ofThe little ones (The Littles). They live in his house and are his best friends
Slick - A small turtle and Henry's pet.
Bad
Dr. Eric Hunter - He has never seen a Little with his own eyes, but he is very sure they really exist. His job is to find some evidence and build machines that can detect these little humans to prove to others and to himself that the Little Ones really exist.
James Peterson - Dr. Hunter's other villain and assistant.
Other characters
Mr. and Mrs. Bigg - Henry's parents. Both archaeologists, they often travel.
Marie - Henry's classmate and close friend.
Differences from books

In addition to the family tree clarified, Henry who knew The little ones (The Littles) was unique to the television series and film, Here Come the Littles. The first season never revealed how Henry met The little ones (The Littles); during the opening credits Henry simply tells the audience that he has "a very special secret" - which he is the only one he knows The little ones (The Littles). During the second season, the opening credits say Henry first met The little ones (The Littles) when Tom and Lucy fell into his suitcase as he moved, and jumped out when he opened the suitcase. In the film, however, Tom and Lucy get trapped in Henry's suitcase, but Henry doesn't find out The little ones (The Littles) until much later; He first sees Grandpa and Dinky in his uncle's backyard, while Tom and Lucy later befriend him when they need his help. Henry took great care to keep the de's existence a secretThe little ones (The Littles), even to his own parents. Although he betrayed them in one episode ("Dinky's Doomsday Pizza"),

Some characters are unique to the television series. Most notable are the two villains, Dr. Hunter and his assistant, Peterson. Hunter is a scientist who tried to catch a little to prove his theories, but was unsuccessful, although he came close at times.

Episodes

1 "Beware of the hunter! "
Henry's friendship with Tom and Lucy causes problems with the CouncilThe little ones (The Littles) when Dr. Hunter searches Henry's home for evidence of the existence ofThe little ones (The Littles).
2 "The lost city of the little ones"
Henry's parents discover a statue with a tail (depicting an ancient little ruler), which also piques the interest of Dr. Hunter. When Henry discovers that the statue will hypnotize all the little ones and call them, he decides to steal the statue to save his friends.
3 "The great fright"
Henry spends the night in a haunted house as part of an initiation to join a bike club. The other members, however, have evil plans for Henry and The little ones (The Littles) must help him turn the tables.
4 "Lights, camera, little ones "
When The little ones (The Littles) filming "The Little Wizard of Oz", Tom becomes jealous of Lucy and decides to get rid of the film. In the process, however, it ends up in Dr. Hunter's hands.
5 "The spirits of the night "
The little ones (The Littles) visit a blind elderly woman and help her. They come across her late husband's diary, which says he hid $ 50.000 in cash to help his wife. Unfortunately, the old lady's landlord takes possession of the diary and tries to reclaim the money for himself. The little ones (The Littles) must work to thwart the landlord and get the blind woman her rightful inheritance.
6 "The little winner"
Dinky wins a competition for a gasoline model airplane and is required to go to the model company office in a large city to collect the competition prize. Since Dinky is a Piccolo and in danger of exposing himself, Henry offers to help reclaim the prize, since he is in town visiting relatives at the moment.
7 "A great cure for a small disease"
After Helen is poisoned by one of Dr. Hunter's chemicals, Henry fakes a disease to get the antidote.
8 "The mice are coming! The mice are coming!"
During a severe thunderstorm, swarms of rats invade Henry's neighborhood and cause trouble for bothThe little ones (The Littles) than to the people of the area.
9 "The little fairy tale"
Marie, Henry's friend, runs away when she doesn't get all the A's on her report card. It's up to Tom, Lucy and the others Little ones (The Littles) persuade Marie to return.
10 "Disaster Prescription"
The little ones (The Littles) visit some relatives. They discover a secret, that a human woman living in the same apartment is abusing prescribed drugs. To make matters worse, one of the pills accidentally comes off and ends up in the food Dinky is eating.
11 "The little scouts"
Grandpa, Dinky, Tom, Lucy and the little scouts are camping in the forest. Their journey becomes urgent when an Air Force pilot has been forced to expel himself and is found unconscious in the woods. The grandfather warns The little ones (The Littles) that man could die if left untreated for too long, e The little ones (The Littles) must find a way to alert the men to the downed pilot's situation without revealing himself.
12 "A little gold, a lot of trouble"
Henry and Marie get stuck in a mine shaft and it's up toThe little ones (The Littles) save them.
13 "Dinky's Doomsday Pizza"
When Dinky crashes his glider delivering pizzas, he faints and dreams of Henry cheating The little ones (The Littles) to Dr. Hunter.

14 "A little rock and roll"
When Henry's (and the Littles') favorite band Copacetics hold a concert in Grand Valley, Tom, Lucy and cousin Ashley decide to join despite the fact that Mr., Mrs. and Grandpa Little forbid children to go.
15 "The little babysitters"
Henry promises to babysit for his parents, but when he gets an invitation to play soccer from his friends, he gets replaced byThe little ones (The Littles). However, a fire breaks out, although Henry manages to put it out with the help ofThe little ones (The Littles). Eventually, Henry confronts the music for his poor judgment, as Mr. Bigg justifies him and asks him to pay for the damages caused by the fire through debt payment.
16 "The little ones of the forest"
The Little ones discover a breed of Little in the forest and help them escape a ferret that Dr. Hunter unleashed behind them.
17 “For the birds"
When the Little Council decides to start a zoo, Tom and Lucy find a wounded bird but keep it a secret from Ashley and the others for fear of it becoming an exhibit.
18 "Gemelli"
Dinky becomes jealous when the Littles twins are born, diverting all attention from him and his latest invention: a petrol car. He puts on an acrobatic show during which he is nearly killed, but when the twins still get all the attention, Dinky steals a brass bed that Henry has taken for them.
19 "Looking for the little grandmother"
Grandpa leaves the house feeling neglected when Tom and Lucy try to find him a mate to keep him from feeling alone.
20 "Every little vote counts"
As a result of Dr. Hunter doubling down on his efforts, the mayor deThe little ones (The Littles) forbids the Little ones from going to the surface. This doesn't get along with Little Society, and the mayor's approval rating takes a hit. Meanwhile, a little one named Smilin 'Al visits the community, traveling the world with his dog. Smiling Al takes advantage of the mayor's unpopularity to oust him in the upcoming elections, promising no restrictions on Little's travel.

21 "Halloween of the little ones"
On Halloween, Henry explores an old house rumored to be inhabited by an evil wizard who turns babies into cats and babies into mice.

22 "The little queen of the Amazons"
The Biggs visit the Amazon jungle to find a missing girl and a rare diamond while The little ones (The Littles) find an ancient breed of Littles in the jungle.
23 "All the Second"
While visiting Egypt, Henry e The little ones (The Littles) are kidnapped and taken to a pyramid, where Henry is thought to be the reincarnation of King Tut. Henry enjoys the attention until he finds out that he will spend the rest of his life inside the pyramid.
24 "When Irish eyes smile"
When the Biggs visit Ireland, Dinky is captured by Mr Finnegan, who thinks he is a leprechaun.
25 "The wrong things"
The Littles are accidentally sent into orbit on the space shuttle and Dinky is forced to return a computer chip that he took as a souvenir to prevent the shuttle from burning on reentry.
26 "Deadly jewelry"
During a visit to India, Henry confuses his camera case with that of a princess, who discovers the Little but promises to keep their secret. The Little, in turn, learn of a plot to steal the crown jewels.
27 "A little drunk"
Henry discovers that his favorite Hollywood star is an alcoholic who doesn't even do his own stunts. Meanwhile, Dinky, who thinks drinking is cool, gets drunk and risks causing an accident.
28 "Ben Dinky"
While visiting Rome, The little ones (The Littles) find that The little ones (The Littles) Italians are under the oppression of a still existing Roman empire. Dinky is mistaken for a great gladiator and uses him to challenge a Little Emperor.
29 "The little girl who could"
The Little ones visit their cousins in the countryside, who have a girlfriend in a wheelchair. When she mentions the buried treasure, Tom and Ashley go after her and eventually regret it when they get into trouble.

Technical data and credits

Original title The Littles
Country United States, France, Canada, Japan
Author Woody Kling, John Peterson (original books)
Regia Bernard Deyries
Producer Jean Chalopin, Andy Hayward, Tetsuo Katayama
Music Haim Saban, Shuky Levy
Studio ABC Entertainment, DiC Entertainment, Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Network ABC
1st TV September 10, 1983 - November 2, 1985
Episodes 29 (complete) (3 seasons)
Relationship 4:3
Episode duration 22 min
Italian network Channel 5
1st Italian TV 1988
Italian dubbing studio Golden
Double Dir. it. Lucia Luconi