The Wuzzles

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Disney's Wuzzles
Format Animated series
Created by Michael Eisner
Starring Alan Oppenheimer
Jo Anne Worley
Henry Gibson
Kathy Helpie
Bill Scott
Brian Cummings
Narrated by Stan Freberg
Country of origin  United States
No. of episodes 13
Production
Running time approx 22-26 mins
Broadcast
Original channel CBS (1985-1986)
ABC (1986-1987)
Original run September 14, 1985 – September 5, 1987

Disney's Wuzzles is an American animated television series created for Saturday morning television, and was first broadcast on September 14, 1985 on CBS. An idea of Michael Eisner (Othello Bach actually came up with the idea with her Firffel line) for his new Disney television animation studio, the Wuzzles are animal creatures composed of half of one animal and half of another. Only 13 episodes of Wuzzles were produced, making it the shortest running animated series produced by Disney. A second season was planned to be made, but the future episodes were never made due to the death of Bill Scott (the voice of Moosel). Scott's death, however, did not stop a second season of Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears, which premiered the same day as Wuzzles (and also starred Bill Scott). One season later, Wuzzles moved to ABC (which was eventually sold to Disney) for reruns, and disappeared from network television after that.

Contents

[edit] Premise

Wuzzles features a variety of short, rounded animal characters (each called a Wuzzle). Each is a roughly even, and colorful, mix of two different animal species (as the theme song mentions, "...livin' with a split personality"), and all the characters sport wings on their backs. All of the Wuzzles live on the Isle of Wuz. Double species are not limited to the Wuzzles themselves. From the appleberries they eat to the telephonograph in the home, or a luxury home called a castlescraper, nearly everything on Wuz is mixed together in the same way the Wuzzles are. The characters in the show were marketed extensively. The characters were featured in children's books, as poseable figures and plush toys (similar to Care Bears), and in a board game. Disney premiered two animated series on the same day, Wuzzles and Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears, but on different networks. The Wuzzles was on CBS, and Gummi Bears was on NBC. Although Gummi Bears was a successful series, Wuzzles was not, at least in the US. However, it does have a fan base today. It was a much bigger success in the United Kingdom where the pilot episode aired as a theatrical featurette. In the United Kingdom, Wuzzles and Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears were originally screened on the same channel (ITV) in 1985/1986, therefore both series enjoyed high popularity, and Wuzzles was also repeated on the BBC in 1987. Reruns of the show were aired on both Disney Channel and Toon Disney. Lead vocal on the theme song for Wuzzles is performed by songwriter Stephen Geyer.

[edit] Characters

  • Bumblelion (voiced by Brian Cummings): Half bumblebee and half lion, Bumblelion is a short, squat orange furred creature with a pink mane, fuzzy antennae, a lion's tail, small insect wings, and horizontal brown stripes up his tummy. He lives in a beehive, likes sports, is courageous, and has a crush on Butterbear.
  • Butterbear (voiced by Kathleen Helppie-Shipley): Half bear and half butterfly, Butterbear is mostly bear in appearance. She has yellow fur with a white tummy, small wings, and short antennae with flowers on their ends. She is a keen gardener who is gentle & patient despite the crazy adventures of her friends.
  • Eleroo (voiced by Henry Gibson): Half elephant and half kangaroo. One of the larger Wuzzles, Eleroo is purple, with the body shape and tail of a kangaroo and an elephant's trunk and ears. He has a horizontally striped pouch (despite the fact that pouches are found only on female kangaroos).
  • Moosel (voiced by Bill Scott): Half moose, half harp seal. Moosel is a small Wuzzle with the antlers and snout of a moose and he has flippers at the most bottom of his body. Moosel has a vivid imagination, which makes him believe in monsters.
  • Hoppopotamus (voiced by Jo Anne Worley): Half rabbit, half hippopotamus. Hoppo, as she is called by her friends, is a Wuzzle who is a hippopotamus complete with a rabbit's ears, buck teeth, and cotton tail. She loves to sing and act. Hoppo is a pushy demanding diva, her often pushing the others around or aside, but she can be sweet. Hoppo has a crush on Bumblelion, but Bumblelion has his heart set on Butterbear, which makes Hoppo furious and dissatisfied. Despite the fact that she is part hippo, she is as dainty as a gazelle. Like Moosel, she is often annoyed by Rhinokey and she always tries to get away from him.
  • Rhinokey (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer): Half rhinoceros and half monkey. Rhinokey is a Wuzzle who has a rhino-like snout with a horizontal-stripped horn, pink fur, and rhino-like legs. He is in a posture that is very much like a monkey's. Rhinokey is a fun-loving happy-go-lucky prankster. He loves to play practical jokes. He can be obnoxious, but is still loyal to his friends. Rhinokey is best friends with Bumblelion and (in Rhinokey's opinion) Moosel.
  • Tycoon (also voiced by Bill Scott): Half Tiger and half Raccoon. Tycoon is the rich kid of Wuz. He owns a money tree. He shows the other Wuzzles that he got his wealth from smart investing and saving his money, and teaches the Wuzzles about fiscal responsibility.
  • Croc (also voiced by Alan Oppenheimer): Half crocodile, half dinosaur; The main villain of the show. He can be referred to as either "king Croc", "Crocasaurous", or just simply Croc. Croc is a no-good ignoramus and does anything to get what he wants. He always wants the best of what the Wuzzles have, but does not want to apply the effort to acquire it himself.
  • Brat (also voiced by Bill Scott): Half boar, half rat, Croc's sidekick. Brat sputters and babbles and grunts in his speech, but Croc understands what he is saying.
  • Flizard (also voiced by Brian Cummings): Half frog, half lizard, Croc's other sidekick. Flizard is lacking in intelligence, but loyal to Croc.
  • Narrator (Stan Freberg): The narrator of the series, who would often be heard at intervals and broke the fourth wall, telling the audience points where he considered trouble ahead for the Wuzzles or explaining a certain facet of the island of Wuz.

Characters that appeared in books and as plush toys, but not on TV

[edit] Episode List

  1. Bulls of a Feather (first broadcast September 14, 1985)
  2. Hooray for Hollywuz (first broadcast September 21, 1985)
  3. In the Money (first broadcast September 28, 1985)
  4. Crock Around the Clock (first broadcast October 5, 1985)
  5. Moosel's Monster (first broadcast October 12, 1985)
  6. Klutz on the Clutch (first broadcast October 19, 1985)
  7. Bumblelion and the Terrified Forest (first broadcast October 26, 1985)
  8. Eleroo's Wishday (first broadcast November 2, 1985)
  9. Ghostrustlers (first broadcast November 9, 1985)
  10. A Pest of a Pet (first broadcast November 16, 1985)
  11. The Main Course (first broadcast November 23, 1985)
  12. Class Dismissed (first broadcast November 30, 1985)
  13. What's Up, Stox? (first broadcast December 7, 1985)

[edit] DVD release

Many DVDs have been available for sale online, but are not official releases. Whether or not Disney plans to release the series on DVD is unknown.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wuzzles"
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