Sitting Ducks (TV series)

Sitting Ducks
Promotional Poster
Genre	Children, Animation, Comedy
Created by	Michael Bedard (lithography)
Developed by	Sitting Ducks Productions
Directed by	Walt Kubiak
Creative director(s)	Gary Selvaggio
Voices of	Ian James Corlett Dave "Squatch" Ward
Composer(s)	Charlie Brissette
Country of origin	United Kingdom United States Canada
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	26 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Michael Bedard Elizabeth Daro Loredana Cunti
Editor(s)	Billy Jones Craig Russo
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	The Krislin Company Creative Capers Entertainment Sitting Ducks Productions Universal Television
Distributor	Universal Studios
Broadcast
Original channel	Cartoon Network(Formerly}, Qubo YTV ABC Nickelodeon, CITY, Disney XD Cartoon Network Italia 1
Original run	September 13, 2001 (2001-09-13) – July 5, 2003 (2003-07-05)

Sitting Ducks is a children's animated television series based on an iconic lithograph and the 1998 children's book, Sitting Ducks, created by Michael Bedard. Voice direction was done by Andrea Romano, "arguably the best known casting/dialogue director on the animation scene today".

Sitting Ducks first appeared in 2001 in Europe, later debuting in North America on the Cartoon Network, Australia on ABC, in Canada on YTV, in United Kingdom Nickelodeon and CITV, Disney XD and in the Japanese version of Cartoon Network. The show lasted for two seasons each comprising 13 episodes, with the last episode shown on July 5, 2003. It is currently airing on Qubo as part of its Qubo Night Owl block. Episodes are also currently available for viewing on Hulu.

Background

The show takes place in a town called Ducktown and focuses on a Duck named Bill and his best friend Aldo, an Alligator from the neighboring town of Swampwood. As ducks are a favorite snack of the alligators, Bill and Aldo's friendship is rather unusual. The pair usually end up in varied situations and adventures, getting around on Bill's scooter.

Episodes

Main article: List of Sitting Ducks episodes

Characters

• Bill (Ian James Corlett) - A diminutive duck who waddles to a different beat. A very kind-hearted, good-natured fellow who is always there when needed. One of his dreams is to fly. With the help of his friend Dr. Cecil, he tries again and again to fly, and eventually is told that the reason he can't is because ducks became too terrestrial. Bill's main appearance difference, apart from his smallness, is his bow tie which he changes every year at the Ducktown Picnic. Bill lives in an apartment with his pet parrot, Jerry. He's been called a "gator lover" for his rare efforts to turn alligators into allies of Ducktown.
• Aldo (Dave Ward) - A lumbering alligator from the town of Swampwood. He's Bill's best friend, though he often receives grief from his fellow gators on being a "duck lover". Has a blind Uncle Artie and a baby cousin Andy. Once was the cook at the bowling ball factory, he transferred to the assembly line after he befriended Bill, as he didn't want to cook any more ducks.
• Bev (Kathleen Barr) - Owner of the Decoy Cafe, where many ducks go to eat. She's a sweet duck who also has an alias, Madam Bevousky, as whom she offers fortune telling services to the residents of Ducktown. She is also the focus of Bill's romantic interests.
• Ed, Oly and Waddle (Louis Chirillo, Phil Hayes and Jay Brazeau) - Three brothers who live next door to Bill. These three goofy freeloaders tend to scheme their way into things and are usually the ones behind some prank or plot, from which they always try to distance themselves when things go awry. Ed wears a tropical shirt and speaks with a New York accent. Oly wears a green beret and speaks with a "beatnik" accent. Waddle is the shortest and fattest and has a more child-like voice.
• Cecil (Ian James Corlett) - Ducktown's only dentist, Cecil speaks with a British accent and is always there to offer advice to Bill or the others. Naturally, Aldo is typically his only customer, being the only person in town who actually has teeth. He also provides beak adjustments for the ducks.
• Fred (Phil Hayes) - a melancholy, but sometimes nervously hyper Penguin, who migrated from Antarctica to Ducktown, in which he has a citizenship. He's somewhat of a loner most of the time, always seen surrounding himself with bags of ice or air-conditioning to remain comfortable in the intolerable (to him) heat. Has a duck girlfriend, Dot Cable, and a cousin, Gelata.
• Raoul (Michael Benyaer) - A Hispanic crow who tends to be the freeloading troublemaker in Ducktown, and likes trading insults with Bill. He especially enjoys mocking Bill's attempts to fly.
• Drill Sargeant Duck (Cathy Weseluck) - A tough duck who makes it hard for Aldo to come into Ducktown, as she also is the leader of the Duck Defense League, an anti-gator organization.
• Other characters that have appeared in the show have been voiced by Dale Wilson, Brian Dobson, Sylvia Zaradic, Chantal Strand, Chiara Zanni, Pauline Newstone, Paul Dobson, Lee Tockar, Gary Chalk.

Merchandise

Sitting Ducks proved to be a big hit with the European children's show market, and as a result toys, clothing and other merchandise were created. The entire series is also available on Hulu.com, a free video streaming service

VHS releases

Title	Release Date	Additional Information
Sitting Ducks 1: Duck Cravings	February 10, 2004	Also later released on DVD format. Episodes: Running Ducks, Peeking Duck, Great White Hype, Hic Hic Hooray, Midnight Snack, All in a days Work, Ducks on Ice
Sitting Ducks 2: Ducktown Adventures	February 10, 2004	Also available on DVD format. Episodes: Mind Over Mallard, Duck Naked, Denture Adventure, Got Milk, Hey, Bill's On The News, Waddles Bud Squad, Bill Hatches An Egg Includes a bonus episode "The Fly Who Loved Me"
Sitting Ducks 3: Bill & Friends	February 10, 2004	-

DVD releases

Title	Release Date	Additional Information
Sitting Ducks - Season 1 Quack Pack	February 10, 2004	Consists of the pilot episode and complete second season. Features two interactive games and character profiles.

Print

The cartoon itself also spawned a couple of books. Quacking Up is a joke book written by Rick Walton featuring the characters from the TV show and Plucked Duck a children's picture book by Danielle Mentzer and Annmarie Harris. Both books were released in 2004, roughly a year after the show had ended.

Video games

In 2003 LSP Games and Asobo Studios picked up the rights from Universal Studios to create games for Sitting Ducks. Then in 2004 Sitting Ducks was released for Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance and PlayStation 2. An Xbox version was also planned, but was quietly cancelled.

See also

• Sitting Ducks, an iconic lithograph created by Michael Bedard in the late 1970s.

External links

• Sitting Ducks at the Internet Movie Database
• Sitting Ducks at TV.com