Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat

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Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat
Genre	Animated, Children
Running time	30 minutes (with commercials)
Starring
Country of origin	USA
Original channel	PBS Kids
Original run	September 3, 2001–January 1, 2006
No. of episodes	over 40
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Sagwa is the name of a cat in the children's book Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat by author Amy Tan. Sagwa's popularity with children prompted an educational animated series of the same name on PBS Kids. In the series, which is set circa 1900 during the Qing Dynasty, Sagwa has fun in her day-to-day life while learning and teaching valuable life lessons. The show is notable for its setting and messages about familial obligations and loyalty.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 3 Voice cast 4 External links

[edit] Plot

Sagwa resides in the palace of a Magistrate in China, part of a royal family of cats. She and her siblings, along with various other cats and Fu-Fu the Bat partake in adventures that are usually accompanied by moral lessons, as is typical with most children's shows. However, one aspect that sets this show apart is its display of various aspects of Chinese culture, which helps promote awareness and understanding of other ethnicities.

[edit] Characters

• Sagwa - born in the year of the dog
• Dongwa - Sagwa's older brother, born in the year of the monkey
• Sheegwa - Sagwa's younger sister, born in the year of the rat
• Baba and Mama Miao - Sagwa's father and mother
• Nai-Nai and Yeh-Yeh - Sagwa's grandparents
• Fu-Fu - Sagwa's best bat friend
• The Cook
• The Reader
• The Foolish Magistrate - King
• Tai-Tai - Queen
• Ba-Do - King's daughter
• Luk-Do - King's daughter
• Huang-Do - King's daughter

[edit] Voice cast

• Sagwa - Holly Gauthier-Frankel
• Dongwa - Oliver Grainger
• Sheegwa - Jesse Vinet
• Baba Miao - Arthur Holden
• Mama Miao - Ellen David
• Nai-Nai - Sonja Ball
• Yeh-Yeh - Neil Shee
• Fu-Fu - Rick Jones
• The Cook - Raugi Yu
• The Reader - Russell Yuen
• The Foolish Magistrate - Hiro Kanagawa
• Tai-Tai - Khaira Ledeyo
• Ba-Do - Kathy Tsoi
• Luk-Do - Leanne Adachi
• Huang-Do - Rosa Yee

The names of the characters are derived from Chinese. The spellings have been altered to more basic phonetic versions to help kids pronounce them correctly.

• Sagwa - 傻瓜 Shǎ Guā (translated literally: "silly melon head" or "dumb melon." In China, used to call someone foolish or naive, especially young children)
• Sheegwa - 西瓜 Xī Guā (watermelon)
• Dongwa - 冬瓜 Dōng Gūa (Chinese gourd/Chinese watermelon)
• Baba Miao - 爸爸猫 Bà Bà Māo (father cat)
• Mama Miao - 妈妈猫 Mā Mā Māo (mother cat)
• Fu Fu - 蝠蝠 Fú Fú (lucky - from 蝙蝠 Bīan Fú Bat)
• Yeh Yeh - 爷爷 Yé Yé (grandfather on the father's side)
• Nai Nai - 奶奶 Nǎi Nǎi (grandmother on the father's side)
• Tai Tai - 太太 Tài Tài (wife)

[edit] External links

• Official site @ PBS Kids
• Sagwa's author Amy Tan's Homepage