Glo Friends

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Glo Friends are small glow-in-the-dark toys in the shape of insects and other small creatures (including the original Glo Worm) that were made by Hasbro's Playskool division, in the mid 1980s (Glo Worm was introduced in 1982). Books were also made by Ladybird to accompany each Glo Friend.

There was also a TV Show based on the Glo Friends´toy-line, originally aired in 1986 as a segment of My Little Pony 'n Friends, that only lasted one season (26 segments were made in total). The show was made by Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions. It featured the Glo Friends as a community of small insects that live in a magical place located in the middle of the forest called Glo Land, where they build their homes and they stock the Moondrops in the Glo Pond, the substance that makes them able to glow in the dark and live.

The main villain in the TV series was Starnose, leader of the Moligans, a group of mole-like creatures that were fired of their homekingdom (called Moleslavia) by their King. Since that moment, the Moligans look for gold and fortune, living in underground tunnels. According to the Glo Friends released books (such as the Ladybird ones, see above), they are short-sighted, and because of that, they want to use the Glo Friends as slaves and lanterns to find the gold of their mines.

Contents

[edit] List of Glo Friends

  • Baby Glo Worm is the youngest member of the Glo Friends´community. She is seen spending most of her time along Glo Grannybug (see below). She is quite curious and often giggles. In the debut episode of the Glo Friends TV show Baby Glo Worm goes Bye-Bye, she escaped of her bed while the other Glo Friends were trying to sing a lullaby to make her sleep, and consequently got lost in the Moligans´Tunnels, putting the other Glo Friends into trouble when they set off to find her.
  • Garden Ant spends his time taking care of his plants and flowers. He cultivates vegetables for the Glo Friend community, and has a vast knowledge about them. His best friend is Bunny Rabbit. He can't tolerate seeing the Moligans eating the roots of a tree, as seen in the episodes Forest Brigade(in which he protects his personal tree) and even in Easy Money Part 2, when a Moleslavia villager is selling "Root dogs" (like Hot Dogs with roots instead of sausages). He is a regular character in the TV series. His house is a sort of pumpkin located in Glo Land.
  • Glo Bashfulbug, as her name indicates, is a female Glo Friend that doesn't know what to say in certain moments. Sometimes, she shows an attraction for Glo Worm, one of the bravest and smartest Glo Friends. In more than one moment, she said to Glo Worm that being brave is hard. She is a regular character in the TV series.
  • Glo Bedbug is the laziest of the Glo Friends. The only things he usually wants to do is eating and sleeping.
  • Glo Bonnie Beetle is another female Glo Friend. According her description, she is very sweet. She doesn't appear in the TV series.
  • Glo Bookbug
  • Glo Bopbug is an eight-legged Glo Friend that wears a top hat and shoes , and uses a cane. He is a regular character in the TV series. He likes to dance. In the Spanish dub of the show, he was called "Abuelete", literally translated as "Granddaddy"
  • Glo Butterfly carries a magic wand. She believes that she can do magic tricks, although she actually can't. In the episode Make no mistake, it's magic, the other Glo Friends said that it is better not to tell her that her "magic tricks" are just coincidences, in order to keep her happy.
  • Glo Bug is sometimes considered the bravest of the Glo Friends. He is not afraid of danger. For example, in the first part of The Quest, he can't tolerate that Rook and the Red Ant army are destroying the forest and for that reason, without wasting time thinking, he dares to run into Rook and face him. For some reason, in the TV series and in his Playskool-Hasbro figure, his hat is pink, while in other media, such as the Ladybird books, his hat has multicoloured strips.
  • Glo Cappy loves going to explore the forests riding in his friend Country Mouse and acts as a reporter of Glo Land. He informs the others about the dangers or anything worth to mention. He and his friend wear a blue cap.
  • Glo Clutterbug is a clumsy insect that usually messes up the situation, and puts the other Glo Friends into trouble. He often falls into traps.
  • Glo Cricket
  • Glo Doodlebug loves art. He often gets frustrated when he feels that his artworks or his painting style are not appreciated. In the episode The Masterpiece, he decides to leave Glo Land in order to go to a cave (accompanied by Snugbug) that he uses as a personal studio. He is a regular character in the TV series.
  • Glo Firefly has a name that has double-meaning: his job is being a fireman, and he is a firefly. He doesn't appear in the TV series.
  • Glo Flutterbug's figure was only available through mail order as Glo Prayerbug. He doesn't appear in the TV series.
  • Glo Grannybug is the wisest and oldest Glo Friend. She lives in the biggest treehouse of Glo Land. She often tells stories to the other Glo Friends and she is often seen taking care of Baby Glo Worm. She also loves celebrating parties with homemade food at the Full Moon Days, in which Moondrops falls to the Earth, as seen for examples in the episode Beware the Tales of Gold.
  • Glo Hopper is a green-bodied grasshopper who is usually seen riding on his best friend Glo Turtle. He tends to jump high under several circumstances, including surprise, happiness, etc.
  • Glo Horsefly
  • Glo Nuttybug
  • Glo Prayerbug is a blue mantis-shaped Glo Friend that, as her name indicates, prays when something goes wrong. She appeared very few times in the TV show (only in the 10-part adventure The Quest and in The Glo Friends save Christmas special) and she had only very few lines. Her toy figure was only available in the US and Canada by mail order.
  • Glo Shuttlebug is a skypilot that rides on his best friend Dragonflyer, that acts as a plane. He is a regular character in the TV series.
  • Glo Skunkbug is a stinking Glo Friend with purple nose (Most of the other Glo Friends have a red nose). He is a very close friend of Glo Clutterbug.
  • Glo Sluggerbug wears a baseball cap and always carry a stick. His best friend is Bullyfrog. He is very brave and in several moments he and his frog friend have excellent ideas when fighting against their enemies. He is a regular character in the TV series. The only moment in which he was seen playing a baseball match with the other Glo Friends was in the episode Bean Ball.
  • Glo Snail
  • Glo Sniffles Snail has a constant cold. He doesn't appear in the TV series.
  • Glo Snugbug is a pink caterpillar-shaped Glo Friend. She is not a regular character in the TV series. She only appeared during the 10-part episode The Quest and The Masterpiece, in which she seemed to show feelings for Glo Doodlebug. She tends to hug all his friends.
  • Glo Spider
  • Glo Tootlebug
  • Glo Waterbug is a sailor insect whose best friend is Dipper Duck. Both of them guard the Glo Moondrops Pond.
  • Glo Worm is the original Glo Friend, and is the unofficial leader of the Glo Friends in the TV series. He is quite brave and smart. He wears purple pyjamas, although the original Glo Worm toy portrays him as wearing green pyjamas.

[edit] Villains

  • The main Moligans:
    • Starnose, the leader of the Moligans. He is physically tough and it is mentioned that he is able to scare anyone who tries to ignore his orders. In the Spanish dub of the Glo Friends TV Show, he was called "Narizotas", literally translated as "Big Nose".
    • Nails is a selfish and egocentrical Moligan lady that only worries about her physical appearance or anything in her own benefit. She likes valuable and shining body complements (such as rings, necklaces, earrings, etc.) and she doesn't tolerate that anyone calls her an "ugly witch" (or similar attributions). She seems to have an attraction to Starnose, and can often be seen clinging to him, but that may just be her trying to get close to the main power of the group.
    • Excavator is a scientist that usually remains in his personal laboratory doing chemical experiments or inventing new mining artifacts such as the Bi-Pedal Turbo Tunneler (seen in two episodes of the TV show). In the Spanish dub of the TV series he was called "Inventor".
    • Old Moldy, as his name indicates, is the oldest Moligan in the group. He needs to use a cane. Since he was young, his main dream was to melt a piece of gold to turn it in a huge river of gold. In the episode Caverns of Mystery, his old mine was seen.
    • Brasher is a tall and intellectual Moligan. It is said that he has the best ideas about how to get the gold and the Glo Friends, but Starnose hears and takes them as they were of his own to consider himself as the "main brain of the Moligans".
    • Smasher is Brasher's brother, and unlike him, he is (or acts as) stupid and dumb. Physically, he is tall and tough. He feels the need of "smashing" at least one Glo Friend (during the 10-part episode The Quest, he is seen several times trying to damage the Glo Friends in order to force them to work for the Moligans).
    • Scoop is the youngest Moligan. She is also the only nice Moligan, often secretly sabotaging Starnose's plots, and is friends with the Glo Friends, but fears to leave the Moligans. She wears tight clothing and has a tall auburn hairdo and a braided ponytail.
    • Tumbler is the shortest Moligan. He is also lazy, doing as little digging as possible, and is very gullible, often taking throwaway comments at face value.
  • Rook is a crow, whom the Moligans have enlisted as a spy and lookout. He has little love for his employers, once even dishing out the dirt on them to the Glo Friends newspaper.
  • The Red Ant Army are a group of insect in a desert valley, and Rook's former employers. They only appeared in "The Quest", in which they captured the Moligans and Glo Friends. It was because of them that the Moligans learned of the Glo Friends and their illumination abilities.
  • Wicked Witch of the North Pole, Blanche Dressed in purple fur she appears on the Christmas special along with her weasel/mink live furry scarf and had an icicle wand. She traped Santa and his DearDeers (Reindeer) in an ice cage to stop Christmas.

[edit] Partial Voice Cast

Hal Rayle: Rook / Basher / Nutcap

Roger C. Carmel: Starnose

Nancy Cartwright: Scoop / Baby Gloworm

Charlie Adler: Excavator / Glo Bug / Dipper Duck

Russi Taylor: Glo Cappy

Don Messick: Glo Snail

Frank Welker: Glo Sluggerbug / Bully Frog

Susan Silo: Nails

[edit] Alternate titles

  • Spanish dub, in Spain: Los Gusyluz.
  • French dub: Les Luxioles
  • German dub: Die Glimmerlinge
  • Dutch dub: Twinkel Pinkel
  • Italian dub: Gli amici dil sogni
  • Polish version (English dub, Polish lector): Świetliki
  • Swedish dub: Lyskompisarna och deras vänner

[edit] External links