The Littles is 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 the The Littles 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.
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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, Uncle Pete, Granny and Grandpa (Amos), and Baby Betsy also live with the family. Other relatives that don't live with them include Cousin Dinky and his wife Della and his mother Lily the nurse. Granny's sister Littlebit and her cousins Tracy and Gracie.
Tom and Lucy Little both insist on doing good deeds for big people, including a blind woman. One time they also tried to find a Grandma Little for Grandpa. They also can make mischief around the place.
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 with his mother Lilly the nurse in the books, in the TV series he lives with the family.
Another younger cousin of Tom and Lucy. Portrayed as a tantrum-prone and 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.
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.
The first season of the TV series never revealed how Henry learned about the Littles, as it opened with Henry telling the audience that he has "a very special secret" and is the only one who knows about the Littles. During the second season, the opening says that Tom and Lucy fell inside Henry's suitcase when he moved, and he discovered them when he opened his suitcase afterward. In the final season, Henry traveled to other parts of the world with his parents, using a specially designed carrier (a hollowed-out camera case) to take the Littles with him.
The movie Here Come the Littles follows the second season opening in that Tom and Lucy get trapped in Henry's suitcase. However, Henry doesn't discover them until much later, first seeing Grandpa and Dinky while mowing his Uncle Augustus' yard. Augustus takes them away from Henry, believing them to be toys. To rescue Grandpa and Dinky, Tom and Lucy decide to reveal themselves to Henry, befriending him and asking him for help.
Henry takes great care to keep other humans, including his own parents, from learning about the Littles. In one episode, however ("Dinky's Doomsday Pizzas"), Henry betrayed the Littles when he learned that if he did, he would be on TV. The incident, and its resulting fallout, turned out to be only a dream, specifically Dinky's dream.
They are the villains of the TV series. Dr. 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. Peterson is Hunter's main (and only) henchman and sidekick. He assists Hunter in his every dark attempt to capture the Littles. Their first names were never mentioned on the series. Peterson's name may possibly be a homage to the original Littles author "John Peterson". Both Hunter and Peterson are exclusive characters to the TV series.
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. Slick also wears roller skates in an attempt to move more quickly, but often comically slips and slides around.
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. I disagree. As an avid reader of the series it is clear that Granny and Grandpa (Amos) Little are the grandparents of Will and Wilma Little. Uncles Pete abd Nick are Granny Little's sons as they are Will's uncles and Granny is Tom and Lucy great grandma (see The Little Have a Party). Baby Betsy is the youngest Little. According to the same book, Granny's cousins are Tracy and Gracie and her sister is Littlebit. Mrs. Little has a sister that lives four houses away. Cousin Dinky and his mother Lily live together in a house nearby. His father is dead.
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.