Busytown

Busytown is a fictional town inhabited by an assortment of anthropomorphic animals, as depicted in various books by the children's author Richard Scarry. Main characters of these books include the following: Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm, Mr. Frumble, police Sergeant Murphy, Mr. Fixit, Bananas Gorilla, Hilda Hippo, and Farmer Fox.

In the mid-1990s Cinar (now Cookie Jar Entertainment) produced the animated series The Busy World of Richard Scarry, based around the inhabitants of Busytown. The series originally aired on Showtime in the United States. A board game and a computer game based on Busytown were also produced in the 1990s.

Recurring characters

Although the books contain a wide assortment of characters from different countries and backgrounds, there are some who appear in most of the stories as stars or guests making cameo appearances. For example, Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm and Sergeant Murphy, Douglas McDaniel's favorite, often appear in the illustrations even if they are not mentioned in the text.

The most frequent characters include:

The Cat Family

Father Cat: who runs a grocery store and is sometimes referred to as Grocer Cat, His first name is John. He frequently does business with Farmer Alfalfa. In the cartoon series The Busy World of Richard Scarry, he works as a travel agent.

Mother Cat: a typical housewife and mother. Mother Cat's first name is Fiona.

Sally Cat: Huckle's younger sibling. She is 5 years old. In her early appearances she was known as Little Sister. Sally Cat has red spots in The Busy World of Richard Scarry but she is 6 years old and has orange spots in Busytown Mysteries.

Huckle Cat: their school-age son. He is 7 years old. Huckle is often shown in the cockpits of planes and flying with Rudolf von Flugel. It is implied that his ambition is to be a pilot when he grows up. (Huck was the nickname for Scarry's son, Richard Scarry Jr.) Huckle Cat has red spots in The Busy World of Richard Scarry but he is 8 years old and has orange spots in Busytown Mysteries.

Lowly Worm: Huckle's best friend pet. He often stays with the Cats as a house guest. Although he attends school with the Cat children, Lowly can also be seen in more adult situations, like driving a street sweeper or working in the operating room of the Busytown Hospital. Lowly Worm has appeared in The Busy World of Richard Scarry, and Busytown Mysteries.

Grandma Cat: lives in another town and it requires a journey by plane to visit her. She is a skilled driver.

The Pig Family: Father Pig is a house painter married to a typical housewife. They have twin children Harry and Sally.

Sergeant Murphy: a cocker spaniel police motorcyclist who is often present in street and road scenes. He is married and has a little girl named Bridget. He is dedicated to his job and his passion for motorcycles is shown in the fact that he wears his crash helmet in bed. His name is reflection on the stereotypical Irish-American policeman.

Mayor Fox: a fox and the Mayor of Busytown. He always wears a monacle, top hat and a ribbon of office.

Rudolf von Flugel: a fox pilot who flies a red-coloured German World War I monoplane and dresses in the uniform of a German officer of the time. He often takes Huckle, Lowly and Little Sister up in his planes, though these flights frequently end in disaster. His name is the German word for wing (Flügel).

Smokey, Sparky and Snozzle: a trio of pig firefighters. Sparky and Snozzle wear a saucepan and colander as headgear, and one of them uses a trombone for a siren.

Mr. Fixit: a fox repairman who boasts that he can fix anything, but does not often show this ability. He once attempted to fix Mother Cat's vacuum cleaner but it ran on the ceiling instead of the floor. A similar character is the local school's Janitor Joe.

Mr. Frumble: a pig who often loses and chases after his hat. He drives a pickle-shaped car and is prone to vehicular accidents.

Wolfgang Wolf, Benny Baboon and Harry Hyena: a trio of layabouts who spend their time lazing in the sun or eating or getting into trouble. On one occasion they were deemed suitable enough to fly to the moon (with Lowly as a passenger).

Bananas Gorilla: a thief whose passion for the fruit that bears his name leads him to steal bunches of them from Grocer Cat, which leads to his pursuit by Sergeant Murphy, Bananas also has many watches on each wrist.

Miss Honey: a bear school teacher. Her pupils include the Cat children and Lowly Worm.

Beverly Baboon: A Baboon who works at the Library.

Farmer Alfalfa: a goat who owns a farm in the outskirts of Busytown and specializes in growing corn. Non-conscientious drivers can often be seen driving through his fields. (He may have been named after a Terrytoons character of the same name.)

Farmer Patrick Pig: another farmer who resides on the outskirts of Busytown. Being a pig, he also loves to grow corn, but he often grows wheat, as well.

Lily Bunny: a little rabbit in overalls who is Huckle Cat's friend. She likes counting numbers and likes to do what she likes best.

Hilda Hippo: a self-conscious hippopotamus who works as a playground monitor at the elementary school. She also has a fairly obvious crush on Lowly. It is also revealed that she's allergic to roses.

Jason the Mason: a pig mason who specializes in building brick foundations and chimneys. Although skilled at his trade, he is somewhat clumsy.

Sawdust the Carpenter: a cat carpenter who builds houses. He sometimes works alone and sometimes with several apprentices.

Fred: A squid who offers fish and chips.

Doctor Lion: a lion doctor who runs both a private practice and works at the Busytown Hospital and is the primary health care provider for most of the citizens.

Nurse Nelly: a cat nurse who often works as Dr. Lion's assistant both at his office and in the hospital.

Postman Pig: a pig letter carrier. Although not the only carrier in Busytown, his route includes the Cat family's home.

P.S. Pig: a pig letter carrier. who appears in The Busy World of Richard Scarry.

Pig-Will and Pig-Won't: Two pig brothers who drive a sausage shaped car and are friends of Huckle and Sally. Pig-Will wears a green shirt and Pig-Won't wears a red shirt.

Goldbug: A cricket the Busytown Action Bug news who drives a small yellow van.

Bully Bobcat: a bobcat who decides Squeaky.