Oswald (TV series)

Oswald
Created by	Dan Yaccarino
Developed by	Lisa Eve Hubman Dan Yaccarino
Directed by	Fredrick Stroppell Debra "Debbie" Bronzon Henry Lenardin-Madden
Starring	Fred Savage Debi Derryberry David Lander Crystal Scales Gianna Bruzesse
Country of origin	United States United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	29 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Dan Yaccarino
Producer	HiT Entertainment
Running time	22-24 minutes
Original release
Network	Nick Jr. (US) Tiny Living (UK) Treehouse TV (Canada)
Release	August 8, 2001 (2001-08-08) – 2003 (2003)

Oswald is an American children's cartoon series on Nick Jr. about a blue octopus and his friends, that first aired August 20, 2001 and officially ended in early 2004. The show was created by Dan Yaccarino and was co-produced by HiT Entertainment. It was also shown on Noggin in reruns. The show aired on Nick Jr. on CBS on September 22, 2001, to September 7, 2002. Nick Jr. aired the original episodes until the network lineup changes on March 1, 2012 took effect. It also airs on the British channel "JimJam" which is shown in numerous countries including Israel. In addition, the Indian channel Zee TV currently airs a Hindi dubbed version. It is also telecast on Indian channel Pogo as a Hindi dubbed version.

Show summary

The series is set in a colorful world populated by a cast of anthropomorphic animals, mythological creatures, or humanoid beings resembling plants or vegetables and follows the daily experiences of an anthropomorphic blue octopus named Oswald, accompanied by his beloved pet dachshund (designed as a hot dog) appropriately named 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, a humanoid, anthropomorphic daisy, among others—and his patient methods of coping with or tolerating different average situations or dilemmas, along with his thoroughly positive, optimistic outlook on life.

Characters

Main characters

• Oswald (voiced by Fred Savage) - Oswald is a large, round, retarded octopus (four balls, four dicks making a total of eight genitals) who lives in an apartment complex with Henry the Penguin who smokes pot constantly and several other animals including a turtle named Buster rhymes

. A very gentle, 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 sometimes says "Oh, my gosh!". Oswald always wears a life preserver when he is around water and loves Swizzleberry Swirl ice cream. 

• Weenie (voiced by Daniel Howell) - Weenie (sometimes referred to by Oswald as "Weenie-girl" or just "girl") is Oswald's pet; 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). Weenie accompanies Oswald everywhere he goes, and her favorite food is vanilla dog biscuits.

• Henry the Penguin (voiced by Christian Novelli) - Oswald's downstairs neighbor and best friend. A persnickety penguin, Henry 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 rigid schedule, which includes taking care of his extensive spoon collection, ending every evening watching "Penguin Patrol", his favorite TV show, 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 an Aunt Arctica. His motto is "slow and steady". He always takes two (used to be three) marshmallows in his hot cocoa, saying "No more, no less". He also hates getting wet.

• Daisy (voiced by Crystal Scales) - Daisy is a tall orange/yellow/green daisy. 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 when she speaks too loudly. She also has an Aunt Marigold and her pet expression is "Golly Tamale!".

Recurring characters

• Johnny Snowman (voiced by Mel Winkler) - Johnny is 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 - They are 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".

• Catrina (voiced by Debi Derryberry) - Catrina is 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.

• Madame Butterfly (voiced by Laraine Newman) - Madame Butterfly is the mother of Catrina and the owner and proprieter of the local diner, a favorite lunch stop for Oswald and his friends.

Minor characters

• Pongo (voiced by Richard Kind) - Pongo is 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!"  

• Buster (not voiced) - A very slow moving turtle living in the same apartment building as Oswald. He appears in several episodes.

• 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.

• Steve Tree (voiced by Fred Stoller) - Steve is a walking, talking tree. Sometimes his pet Woodrow the woodpecker pecks on him, usually on his head.

• 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.

• Bingette Bunny (voiced by Kathy Najimy) - A ditsy rabbit who runs the gardening store where Oswald buys his tomato plants. She is usually very unhelpful but usually says "Just doing my job!" when Oswald leaves the store.  

• Roderick Robot - A 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 (not voiced) - A goldfish who Oswald bought at the pet store but had to give to the Big City Aquarium as the fish grew too large.

• Louie (voiced by Michael McKean) - Henry's cousin from the Arctic.

• Paper People (not voiced) - Silent humans made of paper who appear in several episodes as cameo characters.

• Woodrow (not voiced) - Steve Tree's pet woodpecker.

• Tinsel (not voiced) - Roderick's mechanical pet cat.

• Fish (not voiced) - Fish who appear in the episode "Goin' Fishing".

• Maestro Bingo - He runs a store of various musical instruments and appears in the episodes "Daisy Plays an Instrument" and "Fixing the Piano".

Broadcast history

Oswald first aired on the Nick Jr. block on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 21, 2001 and stop airing sometime in 2002. It returned to the Nick Jr. block on September 2003 with a week of new episodes and, once again, was removed from the lineup in 2004. In 2003, Oswald started airing on Noggin and continued to air after September 28, 2009 when it was renamed as Nick Jr.. Oswald was removed from the Nick Jr. lineup on February 29, 2012, but later returned.

In the UK, the show was aired on the Tiny Living strand on Living TV (now Sky Living) and on Five (now Channel 5).

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

Episodes

Main article: List of Oswald episodes

Season 1 first aired August 21, 2001 with 12 episodes and ended on March 4, 2002. Season 2 began March 8, 2002 with another 12 episodes and ended on September 19, 2003 with the final episode, "Friends Indeed / 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."

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

• Official website from Nick Jr.
• Oswald at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• Oswald at LocateTV.com