Oswald (TV series)

Oswald
Created by	Dan Yaccarino
Developed by	Lisa Eve Hubman Dan Yaccarino
Directed by	Fredrick Stroppell Debra Bronzon Henry Lenardin-Madden
Starring	Fred Savage Debi Derryberry David Lander Crystal Scales Laraine Newman Daran Norris Grant Albrecht Mel Winkler Dan Yaccarino
Country of origin	United States United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26 (52 Segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Dan Yaccarino
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production companies	HIT Entertainment Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Original release
Network	Nick Jr. (US) Channel 5 (UK) Treehouse TV (Canada)
Release	August 20, 2001 (2001-08-20) – September 19, 2003 (2003-09-19)

Oswald is an American-British children's animated television series originally airing on Nickelodeon as part of the Nick Jr. block. It first aired on August 20, 2001 in the United States. The show was created by Dan Yaccarino and co-produced by HIT Entertainment. It was also broadcast on Noggin and CBS (during the Nick Jr. on CBS programming block) in reruns.

Plot

The series is set in Big City, a colorful world populated by a cast of anthropomorphic animals, mythological creatures, and humanoid beings. Each episode follows the daily experiences of an anthropomorphic blue octopus named Oswald (voiced by Fred Savage), accompanied by his beloved pet hot dog Weenie, and their life in the cheerful and whimsically-designed community of Big City. Commonly, the program concentrates on Oswald's experiences with friends, acquaintances, and neighbors—including Henry, a talking penguin and Daisy, an anthropomorphic flower, among others—and his patient methods of coping with or tolerating different situations and dilemmas, along with his thoroughly optimistic outlook on life.

Characters

Main

Title character Oswald

• Oswald (voiced by Fred Savage) – Oswald is a large, round, blue octopus (with four arms and four legs) who lives in an apartment complex with Henry the Penguin and a lot of other animals. A very gentle, smart, friendly, polite and big-hearted octopus, Oswald is always willing to go out of his way to help his friends. His favorite hobby is playing the piano and singing (usually to comfort himself or to encourage a friend). He has a habit of saying "Oh my gosh!" when something goes wrong and/or something astonishing happens. Oswald always wears a life preserver when he is around water and loves Swizzleberry Swirl Ice Cream.
• Weenie (voiced by Debi Derryberry) – Weenie (sometimes referred to by Oswald as "Weenie-girl" or just "girl") is Oswald's dog; a "wiener-dog", very similar to a Dachshund. Weenie bears a strong resemblance to a hot dog and only communicates in "bark-speak" (similar to Blue in Blue's Clues and Mel in Jack's Big Music Show). Weenie accompanies Oswald everywhere he goes, and her favorite food is vanilla dog biscuits.
• Henry (voiced by David Lander) – Oswald's best friend, a cynical penguin who is a creature of habit in every way and usually shuns the idea of trying different things, though he can sometimes be persuaded otherwise. He does his best to maintain a tight schedule, which includes taking care of his extensive spoon collection, ending his days watching "Penguin Patrol", his favorite TV program, and doing the Penguin Polka before bedtime. Most of Henry's favorite foods are fish-flavored and he is a proven expert on snow. He has an identical cousin from the North named Louie (voiced by Michael McKean), and on occasion speaks of his Aunt Arctica. His motto is "slow and steady". He always takes two marshmallows in his favorite beverage, hot cocoa, saying "No more, no less". He also doesn't like it whenever his feathers get wet.
• Daisy (voiced by Crystal Scales) – A tall flower with green leaves and stem. Free-spirited and energetic, Daisy participates in sports and other activities. She is a close friend of both Oswald and Henry; the three of them often go on sojourns together. Daisy loves sunflower sundaes, riding her unicycle, has a large leaf collection and loves peppermint tea. Daisy is very excitable, often needing to be hushed by Oswald whenever she speaks too loudly. She also has an aunt whose name and flower is Marigold and her catchphrase is "Golly Tamale!". She is the only character in Big City who wakes up with the sun.

Recurring

• Johnny the Snowman (voiced by Mel Winkler) – A laid-back snowman who operates an ice cream shop and also has an ice cream truck. Johnny wears a black hat, sports a carrot nose, and has a deep baritone voice. Johnny Snowman has a brother in the Frozen North named Phil.
• The Egg Twins - Two identical twin eggs, named Egbert (voiced by Daran Norris) and Leo (voiced by J. Grant Albrecht). Leo always responds in conversations with an enthusiastic "Yes, yes!" while Egbert refers to everyone as "old boy".
• Madame Butterfly (voiced by Laraine Newman) – The mother of Catrina and the owner and proprieter of the local diner, a favorite lunch stop for Oswald and his friends.
• Catrina (voiced by Debi Derryberry) – A baby caterpillar that is just learning how to speak. She is the only child of Madame Butterfly. Like other babies, Catrina is highly curious about everything around her, but is always surrounded by her mom or others to keep her curiosity in check.
• Steve Tree (voiced by Fred Stoller) – A walking and talking tree. Occasionally, his pet Woodrow the woodpecker pecks on him.
• Pongo (voiced by Richard Kind) - A large yellow and red dragon with a long, thin, green mustache and is quite similar to the dragons in Chinese culture and folklore. He lives in a Chinese-style home in Big City. In sharp contrast to his otherwise intimidating size, Pongo is very shy and soft-spoken, and known for his occasional clumsiness. He frequently sighs when sad and says "Oh drat!"
• Andy Pumpkin (voiced by Eddie Deezen) – Steve Tree's loopy best friend. He is a happy-go-lucky pumpkin person and works at a candy shop. He tends to speak in hyper tones when working in the candy shop.
• Louie (voiced by Michael McKean) - Henry's cousin from the Arctic. He looks just like his cousin, except for the fact that he wears a bright red bow tie.

Minor

• Cactus Polly (voiced by Laraine Newman) – Polly is a helpful cactus lady who carries a lasso and talks like a cowgirl from the wild West.
• Sammy Starfish (voiced by Tony Orlando) – Oswald's musical idol, Sammy is a jazz singer. Oswald's dream is to play piano for Sammy Starfish, which becomes a reality when Sammy's show comes to Big City and the tickets are all sold out.
• Bingette Bunny (voiced by Kathy Najimy) – A ditsy rabbit who runs the gardening store where Oswald buys his tomato plants or flowers. She is usually very unhelpful but usually says "Just doing my job!" when Oswald leaves the store.
• Laverne (voiced by Debi Derryberry) – A white elephant with a pink bow and loves peanuts and also being nice. Pongo wants to be with her but, he is too shy.
• Roderick Robot - A silent mechanical man with a mechanical cat named Tinsel. Oswald cat-sits for Roderick, and it turns out Tinsel is a very naughty cat.
• Bingo (voiced by Mac Davis) – Big City's barber, a quiet rabbit who also runs a news paper store from which Henry buys his news paper. He only talks in the episodes "The Naughty Cat" and "Henry Needs a Haircut".
• Flippy - A goldfish who Oswald bought at the pet store but had to give to the Big City Aquarium as the fish grew too large.
• Paper People – Silent humans made of paper who appear in several episodes as cameo characters.
• Woodrow – Steve Tree's pet woodpecker. He often is a pest to Steve by pecking on his wood.
• Tinsel (vocal effects by Debi Derryberry) – Roderick's mechanical, naughty pet cat.
• Fish – Fish who appear in the episode "Goin' Fishing".
• Maestro Bingo (voiced by Michael McKean) – He runs a store of various musical instruments and appears in the episodes "Daisy Plays an Instrument" and "Fixing the Piano".
• Freddy the Teddy Bear (voiced by creator, producer and developer Dan Yaccarino) - He appeared in "The Pet Show", "The Snow Festival" and "Sammy Starfish Live!"

Additional guest voices

• Singer Mac Davis
• Actor Eddie Deezen
• Actor Michael McKean as Henry's cousin Louie from the Arctic. Both Michael McKean and David Lander (Henry) played the characters, "Lenny" and Squiggy " on the ABC sitcom, "Laverne and Shirley."
• Creator Dan Yaccarino as Freddy the Teddy Bear

Broadcast history

Oswald first aired on the Nick Jr. block on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 20, 2001 and was removed from the lineup on July 30, 2004, along with Franklin and Rubbadubbers. On April 7, 2003, Oswald started airing on Noggin and continued to air after September 28, 2009 when it was renamed as Nick Jr..

In the UK, the show was aired on the Tiny Living strand on Living TV (now Sky Living) and on Five (now Channel 5), with UK voices instead of the US voices. Sammy Starfish has his regular US voice instead of dubbing him with a UK voice actor.

In Australia, the show has aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

In Canada, the show has been aired on Treehouse TV.

In Southeast Asia and New Zealand it is aired on Nick Jr..

In Japan, a Japanese dubbed version of the show has aired on WOWOW.

In India the show was aired on Cartoon Network's Tiny-TV block before airing on Pogo.

In Pakistan, the show aired in morning block of Cartoon Network.

In Paraguay, the upcoming show has been aired on SNT 9.

In the Arab World, Oswald currently airs on JimJam from 1 December to 30 April each year.

Episodes

No.	Title	Original air date
01	"Chasing the Ice Cream Truck / The Camping Trip"	August 20, 2001 (2001-08-20)
Oswald and Weenie chase after an ice cream truck. / Oswald, Weenie, Henry and Daisy go camping in the park but it begins to rain so they rush back to Oswald's apartment and camp there instead.
02	"The Polka Dot Umbrella / One More Marshmallow"	August 21, 2001 (2001-08-21)
Oswald finds a polka dot umbrella and though he tries many times to get rid of it, it keeps finding him. But in the end it really comes in handy. / Oswald hosts a tea party for Henry and Daisy but when Weenie eats one of the marshmallows for Henry's hot cocoa Oswald goes to the candy store and encounters many adventures in trying to make his way back to the tea party.
03	"Daisy Plays an Instrument / The Ball of Yarn"	August 22, 2001 (2001-08-22)
After listening to Oswald play his piano Daisy wishes she could play an instrument so Oswald takes her to the music store where she tries out different instruments. / A ball of red yarn is Weenie's favorite toy. When it begins to bounce, Oswald accidentally grabs a string of the yarn, making it unravel out of his apartment all the way out through the city. Oswald and Weenie chase after it as it entangles several of their friends along the way.
04	"Down in the Dump / The Birdhouse"	August 23, 2001 (2001-08-23)
Oswald cleans his apartment, but it didn't turn out good. So Oswald decided to put the things he no longer needs in a wagon to take to the dump, but several Big City denizens find uses for them. / Oswald builds a birdhouse, added some color, and some flowers. But a rain advisory washed away the color, making the birdhouse look plain, in which the birds like.
05	"Henry Needs a Haircut / Flippy the Fish"	August 24, 2001 (2001-08-24)
Henry has a feather sticking out on top of his head but is scared to go to the barber since he's never had a haircut before. / Oswald buys a pet fish that he names Flippy because of the flip that she does, jumping out of her bowl and splashing back in it. Unfortunately, Flippy keeps overeating and growing bigger and bigger. So Oswald and Weenie take her to the Big City public aquarium, where she becomes a big star at the dolphin show.
06	"Rollerskating / I Guess You Never Know"	August 27, 2001 (2001-08-27)
Oswald learns to roller-skate. / It's Henry's birthday, and Oswald tries to teach Henry to try new things on this special day.
07	"Sleepover / Big Banana"	August 28, 2001 (2001-08-28)
Oswald and Weenie have a sleep over at Henry's apartment. / Oswald plants a banana seed and the next morning finds that it has grown into a colossal banana overnight. It is so big that he decides to have a "Big Banana Day" and share it with everyone, resulting in a new holiday with a festival in the park.
08	"Leaky Faucet / Catrina's Birthday Cake"	August 29, 2001 (2001-08-29)
Oswald's kitchen sink has sprung a leak causing Big City to flood and he and Weenie to get separated. / Oswald bakes a huge birthday cake for Catrina's birthday party.
09	"Cloud Collecting / Pongo the Friendly Dragon"	September 10, 2001 (2001-09-10)
Daisy collects leaves and Henry collects spoons so Oswald wants to collect something too so he tries to collect clouds. / Oswald meets a friendly dragon named Pongo, who wants to help, but only makes things worse.
10	"A Nice Quiet Picnic / The Big Parade"	September 17, 2001 (2001-09-17)
Oswald, Henry, and Weenie set out to have a picnic and are soon joined by many of their friends. / Oswald hears parade music and thinks that a big parade is headed his way so he convinces Henry and Daisy to go with him to watch the parade.
11	"The Go-Kart Race / Autumn Leaves"	September 24, 2001 (2001-09-24)
Oswald and his friends compete in a go-kart race. / Henry tries to rake the leaves but Oswald and Weenie keeps jumping on them which made him frustrated.
12	"A Day at the Beach / The Sand Sculpture Contest"	February 15, 2002 (2002-02-15)
Oswald and the gang go to the beach, but Henry doesn't like swimming, but when Daisy gets stranded on an island, it's Henry to the rescue! / Oswald is the judge of the Annual Big City Beach Sand Sculpture Contest.
13	"Fixing the Piano / Henry Wants to Fly"	March 8, 2002 (2002-03-08)
Oswald's piano is broken, and he takes it to Bingo to get it fixed. / Henry believes that he can fly.
14	"Daisy and the Duckling / The Double Date"	March 15, 2002 (2002-03-15)
Oswald and Daisy find a duckling who has lost her mother. / Oswald schedules two events at the same time.
15	"The Sniffles / The Broken Vase"	March 21, 2002 (2002-03-21)
Oswald goes out into Big City to get some cocoa and a newspaper for Henry, who has a bad case of the Arctic Sniffles. But a rain cloud chases Oswald and Weenie until a rainstorm makes Oswald catch a cold. / Daisy accidentally breaks Henry's special vase. Oswald, Weenie and Daisy try to fix it before Henry gets back from his fly catching trip.
16	"The Big Balloon Rescue / Snow to Go"	July 22, 2002 (2002-07-22)
Catrina flies away on a balloon and Oswald must save the day. / During a heat wave, Oswald, Weenie, Henry and Daisy go on a trip to find the sweetest snow.
17	"Odd One Out / Goodbye Best Friend"	September 16, 2002 (2002-09-16)
Oswald is excited to meet Henry's cousin, Louie. But the two penguins have a great time all by themselves. Oswald feels left out, but once Henry and Louie catch up on old times, they seek Oswald out. / After Henry decides to move back to the north with his cousin, the others prepare a going away party for him. In the end, Henry decides to stay in Big City after saving them from being blown away.
18	"The Tomato Garden / Bird Watching"	September 17, 2002 (2002-09-17)
Oswald eats his last tomato for breakfast, he decides to get more by planting tomatoes in the garden, Oswald was surprised when he saw one of the tomatoes have been bitten, he discovered the tomatoes were eaten by an entire group of snails. / Oswald finds a giant bird.
19	"Friends Indeed / Sammy Starfish Live!"	September 23, 2002 (2002-09-23)
Henry and Daisy are angry with each other, and it's up to Oswald to make them friends again. / Tickets are sold out for Sammy Starfish's concert and Oswald must find a way to see the show.
20	"The Pet Show / Going Fishing"	September 24, 2002 (2002-09-24)
It's the grand pet show, but Weenie is behaving peculiarly. / Oswald, Weenie, Henry and Daisy go fishing.
21	"The Naughty Cat / The Giant Egg"	September 25, 2002 (2002-09-25)
Oswald pet-sits for Roderick Robot's pet cat, Tinsel. / Oswald tries to find an egg's owner.
22	"A Sticky Situation / Tutti-Frutti Pie"	September 26, 2002 (2002-09-26)
Oswald and Daisy make honey buns, but Daisy adds a lot of sticky honey, and they get stuck to each other, along with other friends. / Oswald takes Catrina to pluck some tutti frutti berries.
23	"Job For A Day / The Perfect Match"	September 27, 2002 (2002-09-27)
Johnny is ill, so Oswald and Weenie go to make a special ice cream delivery. / Pongo wants to become friends with Laverne the elephant.
24	"Catrina's First Snow / The Snow Festival"	September 17, 2003 (2003-09-17)
Oswald babysits Catrina on a snowy day. / Oswald hopes for snow to fall on the day of Big City's snow festival.
25	"The Biggest Wish / The Stopped Clock"	September 18, 2003 (2003-09-18)
Oswald finds a firefly. / The clock in the Big City's bells somehow wasn't working and the entire city was still asleep, it was up to Oswald, Weenie, Henry and Daisy to figure out what was causing this stroking catastrophe.
26	"Weenie Needs a Bath / Hide and Seek"	September 19, 2003 (2003-09-19)
Weenie gets dirty before having her picture taken. / Weenie disappears during a game of "hide and seek."

Reception

The show generally received positive reviews, with a 7.0 rating from TV.com, a 7.7 rating from IMDb, and a four out of five stars on Common Sense Media.

External links

• Oswald at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show