The Littles

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The Littles from the cartoon adaptation. Clockwise from top left: Frank, Helen, Dinky, Tom, Grandpa Little (in the "center" of the image) and Lucy.
The Littles from the cartoon adaptation. Clockwise from top left: Frank, Helen, Dinky, Tom, Grandpa Little (in the "center" of the image) and Lucy.

The Littles were the title characters of a series of children's novels by American author John Peterson, the first of which was published in 1967. Peterson's books were adapted into an animated series by DiC Entertainment 16 years later. In 1985, an animated feature film called Here Come the Littles was released, and the television show ran on ABC Saturday mornings from September 10, 1983 to November 2, 1985. It ran for a total of three seasons, and for a total of 29 episodes.

Similar to Mary Norton's earlier novel The Borrowers, The Littles features a family of tiny but intelligent humanoid creatures with mouse-like features (the Littles) who live in a house owned by the Bigg family. The mouse-like features include a long, furry tail, long teeth and mouse-like ears. Their height is 4-6 inches. In the original books, nobody (not even the Biggs) knows anything about the Littles. By contrast, in the TV series, only Henry Bigg knew of the Littles.

Contents

[edit] Main Characters

[edit] The Little Family

The Littles are a family of tiny people living in the walls of human houses. The Little family consists of William T. Little and Wilma Little (Frank and Helen in the TV series), their children Tom and Lucy, and Uncle Pete (Grandpa Little in the TV series). In the books, Uncle Nick, Granny, and Grandpa also live with the family.

[edit] Tom and Lucy Little

The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Little. Tom is the oldest and Lucy is the youngest.

[edit] Dinky

An older cousin of the other Littles, he is a pilot and serves as the mail service and occasional transport for all tiny people in the area. In the books he flies a glider (competently) and is responsible and adventurous; in the TV series he flies a propeller plane (poorly), is clumsy and frequently gets into trouble - usually these troubles remit directly into Grandpa Little, who loses his temper and charges into "disciplining" the unfortunate Dinky. In the books he marries Della, who also learns to fly. Also, while he lives on his own in the books, in the TV series he lives with the family.

[edit] Ashley

Another younger cousin of Tom and Lucy. Portrayed as a tantrum-prone and a rebellious spoiled brat, he often sabotages whatever his older cousins accomplish, only to feel bad about it when Tom and Lucy are put in danger as a result. Appears only in the TV series during seasons two and three.

[edit] Henry Bigg

Henry Bigg's version for the TV series.
Henry Bigg's version for the TV series.

Henry Bigg is the boy who lives in a house with The Littles. He never discovers the Littles in the book series, but in the cartoon he is one of the few humans who knows of the Littles' existence.

In the TV series, Henry is the first human being to discover the Littles. He discovers them when they help him escape his evil Uncle Augustus in the movie "Here Come The Littles." The second opening theme of the TV series incorrectly says that he discovered the Littles when one of them fell into his suitcase.

[edit] Dr. Hunter and Peterson

They are the villains of the TV series. Dr. Erick Hunter is an evil scientist who makes several attempts to capture the Littles so that he can expose them to the rest of the world and thus become rich and powerful. He is also depicted as being Henry's arch-nemesis. James Peterson is Hunter's main (and only) henchman and sidekick. He assists Hunter in his every dark attempt to capture the Littles. His name may possibly be a homage to the original Littles author "John Peterson". Both Hunter and Peterson are exclusive characters to the TV series.

[edit] Slick

Slick is Henry's pet turtle who is usually seen hanging with The Littles. In emergencies when Tom and Lucy must contact Henry, they tie messages on Slick's back and send them to Henry.

[edit] Family Tree

In the TV series the family tree is mostly clear. Frank and Helen are the parents of Tom and Lucy, Grandpa is the father of Helen, and Dinky is a cousin (presumed first cousin) of Tom and Lucy.

In the books the family tree is never explicitly identified. Occasional references to relationships indicate a family tree, but the references are conflicting.

The Little family actually spans four generations. William and Wilma are the parents of Tom and Lucy. The parents of William and Wilma are never mentioned. Uncle Pete is the uncle of William. Granny and Grandpa are the parents of Uncle Pete and grandparents of William. Aunt Lily is probably the sister-in-law of William, making her son Dinky the nephew of William and first cousin to Tom and Lucy. Uncle Nick is probably the brother of Uncle Pete and Uncle of William.

This family tree conflicts with one of the statements made in the books. In The Littles and the Trash Tinies it is claimed that Aunt Lily is the sister of Uncle Nick. If Aunt Lily were the sister of Uncle Nick, she would have had to marry someone also with the last name "Little". Also this would make Dinky and William cousins and Dinky refers to William as "Uncle Will". Dinky might do this because William is about ten years older. However, in the TV series, Dinky refers to Frank and Helen as Mr. and Mrs. Little.

[edit] Cartoon Voices

[edit] TV History

Along with Inspector Gadget and Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats, The Littles was one of the first cartoons produced by DiC for American television.

The first two seasons of shows feature The Littles around the Bigg household, but to improve the show's popularity the final season features the Littles traveling around the world.

During the production run of the show, the Littles were also popular enough to warrant two movie tie-ins.

On May 24, 1985, the Littles starred in their first animated feature, Here Come the Littles, which serves a prequel to the TV series. It was directed by Bernard Deyriès and written by Eleanor Burian-Mohr, Jack Olesker, and Jeffrey Scott. This is available on DVD.

The following year (1986), a made-for-TV movie was created starring the Littles, Liberty and the Littles. This film was also directed by Bernard Deyriès and written by Heywood Kling. This second movie was subsequently edited into a three-part episode and included in the third season of the series. This was released on VHS but is now out of print.

[edit] Broadcast History in the USA

[edit] Episode List

1st Season (1983-1984)

  1. Beware Of Hunter!
  2. The Lost City Of The Littles
  3. The Big Scare
  4. Lights! Camera! Littles!
  5. The Spirits Of The Night
  6. The Little Winner
  7. A Big Cure For A Little Illness
  8. The Rats Are Coming! The Rats Are Coming!
  9. The Little Fairy Tale
  10. Prescription For Disaster
  11. The Little Scouts
  12. A Little Gold...A Lot Of Trouble
  13. Dinky's Doomsday Pizza

2nd Season (1984-1985)

  1. A Little Rock and Roll
  2. The Little Babysitters
  3. The Forest Littles
  4. For The Birds
  5. Twins
  6. Looking for Grandma Little
  7. Every Little Vote Count
  8. The Littles Halloween

3rd Season (1985-1986)

  1. The Little Amazon Queen
  2. Tut the Second
  3. When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
  4. The Wrong Stuff
  5. Deadly Jewels
  6. A Little Drunk
  7. Ben Dinky
  8. The Little Girl Who Could

[edit] DVD Release

On November 13, 2007, S'more Entertainment released The Littles - The Complete Unedited Series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.

[edit] The Littles Bibliography

[edit] The Littles Series

  • The Littles, Roberta Carter Clark, illustrator, 1967
  • The Littles Take A Trip, 1968
  • The Littles To the Rescue, Roberta Carter Clark, illustrator, 1968
  • The Littles Have A Wedding, Roberta Carter Clark, illustrator, 1971
  • The Littles Give A Party, Roberta Carter Clark, illustrator, 1972 (originally issued as "The Littles Surprise Party")
  • The Littles and the Great Halloween Scare, Roberta Carter Clark, illustrator, 1975 (originally issued as "Tom Little's Great Halloween Scare")
  • The Littles and the Trash Tinies, 1977
  • The Littles Go Exploring, Roberta Carter Clark, illustrator , 1978
  • The Littles and the Big Storm, Roberta Carter Clark, illustrator, 1979
  • The Littles and Their Friends, 1981
  • The Littles Go to School, 1983
  • The Littles Treasury: Exciting Adventures With a Family of Tiny People, 1983 (a compendium of the first four Littles books)
  • The Littles and the Lost Children, 1991
  • The Littles and the Terrible Tiny Kid, Roberta Carter Clark and Jacqueline Rogers, illustrators, 1993
  • The Littles and Their Amazing New Friend, 1999
  • The Littles and The Scary Halloween, Jacqui Rogers, illustrator, 2002
  • The Littles Have a Happy Valentine's Day, Jacquelin Rogers, illustrator, 2003 (adapted from The Littles Have a Wedding)

[edit] Not by John Peterson

  • The Littles and the Missing Cat by Cheryl Mead
  • The Littles Move In by Bob Clarke
  • The Littles Riddles by Bob Clarke
  • The Littles Help Out by Bob Clarke
  • The Little Scouts by Dina Anastasio
  • The Little Winner by Grace MacCarone and Suzanne Weyn
  • The Littles Visit the Statue of Liberty by Lorentz Carlson
  • The Littles Sticker Book by Suzanne Weyn
  • The Littles Punch-Out Toy Book by James Razzi

[edit] Littles First Readers series

  • Littles First Readers: The Littles and the Big Blizzard,Jacqui Rogers, illustrator
  • Littles First Readers: The Littles and the Secret Letter, Jaqueline Rogers, illustrator
  • Littles First Readers: The Littles and the Summer Storm, with Teddy Slater, Jacqueline Rogers, illustrator
  • Littles First Readers: The Littles Get Lost
  • Littles First Readers: The Littles Get Trapped!, Jacqui Rogers, illustrator
  • Littles First Readers: The Littles Go Around the World, with Teddy Slater, Jacqueline Rogers, illustrator
  • Littles First Readers: The Littles Go On A Hike, Jaqueline Rogers, illustrator
  • Littles First Readers: The Littles Have a Merry Christmas, Jacquelin Rogers, illustrator
  • Littles First Readers: The Littles Make A Friend, Jacqui Rogers, illustrator
  • Littles First Readers: The Littles and the Scary Halloween Jaqueline Rogers, Illustrator

[edit] Littles Sets

  • The Littles Set #1: The Littles; The Littles to the Rescue; The Littles and the Lost Children; and The Littles Have a Wedding
  • The Littles Set #2: Littles and the Big Storm; Littles and the Trash Tinies; Littles and the Terrible Tiny Kid; and the Littles Go To School
  • The Littles Set #3: Littles and the Great Halloween Scare; Littles Take a Trip; Littles Go Exploring; and the Littles and Their Amazing New Friend

[edit] Other Littles Books

  • The Littles Reproducible Activities
  • The Littles' Scrapbook: A Facsimile Reproduction of Pages from a Tiny Person's Book, Enlarged Six Times; with William Thomas Little

[edit] External links