Sitting Ducks
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Sitting Ducks is an iconic lithograph created by Michael Bedard in the late 1970s. It depicts a literal interpretation of the idiom "sitting duck". Three ducks are relaxing in the sun on white chairs by the poolside, one looks up and notices two bullet holes in the wall.
Bedard then went on to create an entire series of "Sitting Ducks" related lithographs, which culminated in a children's book and a cartoon series.
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[edit] Book
Bedard's 1998 book, Sitting Ducks (ISBN 0399228470) has the plot that crocodiles hatch ducks in a "duck factory", then send them to Ducktown, where the ducks live an idyllic life, where billboards encourage them to fatten up. The crocodiles presumably eat the ducks once they are fat. One duck is befriended by a crocodile, who lets him know that if only the Ducktown residents would get fit, they could fly away and avoid being eaten.
[edit] Cartoon
In September 2001, Universal Studios premiered a Sitting Ducks cartoon. It proved to be a big hit with the European children's show market, along with gaining the usual merchandising gig, toys, clothing, etc. Sitting Ducks also proved to be popular in Japan when it debuted there in the first quarter of 2002. It was not until two years later, in 2003, that Universal Studios brought the show to America, debuting on Cartoon Network in April of 2003. It lasted until February 2004 on the network, but is still shown in reruns overseas.
The show focuses in a town called Ducktown, on a duck named Bill, and his best friend Aldo, a huge alligator from the neighboring town of Swampwood. Seeing as how ducks are favorite snacks of the alligators there, Bill and Aldo's friendship is rather unusual. The pair usually end up in varied situations and adventures.
[edit] Characters
- Bill- A shrimp 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.
- Aldo- A lumbering, strong 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".
- Bev- Owner of the Decoy Cafe, where all the ducks go to eat. She's a sweet duck who also happens to have an alias, Madam Bevousky, as whom she offers fortune telling services to the residents of Ducktown.
- Ed, Oly and Waddle- Three brothers who live next door to Bill, these three lovable losers tend to scheme there way into things and are usually the ones behind some prank or scheme, which they always try to distance themselves from when things go awry.
- Cecil- 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.
- Clair- Cecil's wife, who runs a jawbreaker store in Ducktown.
- Fred- a melancholy, but sometimes hyper penguin, who migrated from Antarctica to Ducktown. He's rather antisocial most of the time and is always seen surrounding himself with blocks of ice of air-conditioning to remain comfortable in the intolerable (to him) heat.
- Raoul- A Hispanic crow who tends to be the troublemaker, usually insulting Bill and the others.
[edit] Video games
LSP and Asobo Studios picked up the rights from Universal Studios to create games for Sitting Ducks back in 2003. The PC and GBA versions were released on March 2, 2004, with the PSone (April) and PS2 (July) versions following. An Xbox version was also planned, but was quietly cancelled. Sadly, the game was not a success, but is still sold.
