Under the Umbrella Tree

Under the Umbrella Tree
Title card for the 30-minute specials
Format	Children
Created by	Gloria Gopher
Starring	Holly Higgins Iggy Iguana Jacob Bluejay Gloria Gopher
Country of origin	Canada
No. of episodes	280
Production
Running time	15 minutes 30 minutes (special episodes)
Broadcast
Original channel	CBC
Original run	11 September 1986 – 20 June 1993
External links
Website

Under the Umbrella Tree is a Canadian children's television series created by Gloria Gopher that originally aired on CBC from 1986–1993. The show was produced by CBC and Gloria Gopher Productions,^[1] and also later by The Disney Channel.

The series centers around a diverse set of main characters who share a house on Spring Street in a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario. The characters include Holly (a human), Iggy (an iguana), Jacob (a Blue Jay), and Gloria (a gopher). The show's title is derived from the fact that the characters live together in a home featuring a prominent indoor umbrella tree.

When production of the show ended in 1993, syndication continued on The Disney Channel until 1996, and on YTV and Canal Famille until 1997. Twenty-seven episodes of the show were released to DVD by Cinerio Entertainment in partnership with Gloria Gopher in 2006, following a long wait for expiration of ownership rights.

1 Overview
- 1.1 The series
- 1.2 Characters
2 Recent developments
3 DVD releases
4 References
5 External links

Overview

The series

280 episodes were produced over the years; 270 are 15 minutes long; ten are 30-minute specials.. Every episode focuses on a different theme, such as sports, holidays, singing, dancing, exercise, and various other activities. However, valuable life lessons are often woven into every story, such as the importance of keeping promises, being considerate of others, or assuming responsibility for one's actions.

Sobol, who also wrote the majority of the series episodes. Sobol had previously worked closely with Gloria Gopher on Readalong and

Characters

Holly Higgins The only human cast member. Holly serves as a parental figure and mentor for the three puppet characters. She affectionately refers to Iggy, Gloria and Jacob as her 'roommates', although she seems to handle most of the day-to-day running of the household such as cleaning, cooking, and is the one who pays the rent. She is known for being funny, artistic, patient and generous. Holly also has an Uncle Jack and an Aunt Jill, who work as a performing musical duo, although only Jack has actually visited the household.

Ignatz "Iggy" Iguana ;– Iggy sleeps on the shelf at the Umbrella Tree residence, and his characteristics include sometimes thinking too highly of himself, and unwillingly making mistakes. He enjoys playing the guitar, and often sees Jacob as a friendly rival in sports and many other activities. He also has an uncle, Rod Iguana, who lives in Arizona.

Gloria Gopher – Gloria is the only female puppet in the Umbrella Tree household, and lives and sleeps 'under the umbrella tree', which is located behind the couch. It is known as her burrow. Gloria enjoys music and performing arts, but can be shy with her interests, even around her best friends. She is also somewhat of a tomboy and does not like being treated any differently just because she is a girl. Her full name takes almost a minute to say.

Jacob Bluejay nbsp;– Jacob is the only member of the Umbrella Tree household capable of flight, and sometimes enters the house by flying through open windows. He usually sleeps in his own bird house on the patio. Jacob sometimes invents things, but they seldom work as he plans, resulting in a humorous outcome. Jacob has a tendency to get things mixed up and saying "I knew that" whenever he finds out about something.

Louis Bird ;– Louis is a friend of the Umbrella Tree gang, usually involved in festivities outside the apartment, or in dialogue within several episodes. He is well known for overusing the term "indeed", and usually adds the phrase "hmm, indeed!" at the end of his statements.

Mitzi the Dog ;– Mitzi is Gloria's best friend who is always seeming to get herself in trouble.

Charles "Chuck" Chickadee ;– Chuck is Jacob's best friend who is extremely talkative and sometimes gets on everyone's nerves because of this. Has a little sister named Chelsea.

Mrs. McMurtry ;- One of the gang's neighbours who lives down the street. She is an elderly and friendly lady who is known throughout the neighbourhood for her baking and wealth of advice that she is more than happy to share with those in need.

Recent developments

In 1997, Under the Umbrella Tree reruns were placed on hiatus, after the Disney Channel stopped allowing the airing of the program and shelved the episodes. Since Disney owned all rights to the show, airing reruns on another television station was not possible until the rights expired in 2005.

Starting June 1, 2009 Under The Umbrella Tree will be airing on TV3 Medford weekdays and weekends during the new children's block.

DVD releases

In 2006,Gloria Gopher Productions in unison with Cinerio Entertainment began selling several episodes on DVD. To date, eight volumes have been released, with Volumes 1, 2, 3 & 4 featuring all-new introductions to the episodes with Iggy, Gloria and Jacob.

Volume 1: Bird-Brain, Hamster Hullabaloo, The Trombone, The Best Hiding Place Ever, Uncle Jack Comes Back.
Volume 2: Chez Iggy, Hanky Panky, The Gingerbread House, Love-Valentine's Day (1/2 hour Special).
Volume 3: To The Dentist, Migration Party, Jacob's Girlfriends, Going Bananas, Stargazing.
Volume 4: Baseball, Private, The Aqua Show, Volume 5: Twins, Cranky Movie, Chickadee Tea, Christmas Under The Umbrella Tree (1/2 hour Special).
Volume 6: Iggy's Collection, The Princess and the Pea Soup, Sir Jacob of Blue, The Tooth Fairy, Small Worlds.
Volume 7: Growing, Gloria’s Allowance, The Accordion Lesson, Piano Lessons (1/2 hour Special featuring Jon Kimura Parker).
Volume 8: Safety Poster Contest, Gloria Can’t Sleep, Singing Telegrams, Hockey Holly, Iggy’s Airlines.

References

^ Under the Umbrella Tree (1986) credits. IMDb.com. Retrieved January 10, 2009.