Chucklewood Critters

Chucklewood Critters is an American line of television specials and an animated TV series created by former Hanna-Barbera animators, Bill Hutten and Tony Love, which centered on two woodland animals: Buttons, a young bear cub, and Rusty, a fox cub. It started as a Christmas special in 1983 called The Christmas Tree Train, followed by eight more holiday/seasonal specials. In 1997 it was developed into a series entitled The New Chucklewood Critters, which ran for two seasons.

Characters

• Buttons lives in a cave in Chucklewood Park, along with his parents, Abner and Bridgett.
• Rusty and his parents, George and Rosie, live in the same cave as Buttons' family.
• Ranger Jones, a.k.a. Jonesy, is the park ranger in charge of Chucklewood, and the only regular human character in the series.
• Bearbette and Frisky are a zaftig female bear cub and a slim female fox cub, respectively; they were introduced in the Valentine's Day special, Honeybunch. They live in Chucklewood with Bearbette's parents, Darwin and Bernadine; Frisky is an adopted member of the family and as Buttons and Rusty's girlfriends.
• Skipper and Bluebell are rabbits, introduced in A Chucklewood Easter. They live in an underground warren and bear a bit of a suspicious resemblance to Bugs Bunny.
• Lester is a Cajun alligator who lives in nearby Crystal Bayou, which is where Bearbette and her family lived before moving to Chucklewood; Lester is a close friend of the family.
• Franklin the Owl is the cubs' teacher, who sometimes turns into a rap singer to make the lessons more interesting.
• Freddy the Raccoon is a friend and classmate of the cubs, introduced in School Daze, who tends to be a troublemaker.
• Turner the Turtle is another friend and classmate of the cubs, who was introduced in What's Up, Mom? and sometimes appears to be wearing a bow tie.
• Claude the Coyote is a trader who'll stoop to underhanded means to make a deal; he was introduced in the episode An Eye for a Tooth. His voice is modeled after that of W. C. Fields (whose middle name was Claude).
• Quacker the Duck is a denizen of the forest, who often relays messages for the others. True to his name, he often makes quacking sounds.
• Skeeter the Mouse is the smallest member of the cast. Because of his size, he is often nervous and high-strung.

Specials

• The Christmas Tree Train (1983)
• Which Witch is Which? (1984)
• The Turkey Caper (1985)
• A Chucklewood Easter (1986)
• The Adventure Machine (1991)
• What's Up Mom? (1992)
• Honeybunch (1992)
• Twas the Day Before Christmas (1993)
• School Daze (1994)

Series

Season 1 (1998)

1. "Mudcats Galore" / 1998.01.06
2. "Chucklewood Cousins" / 1998.01.13
3. "The Salmon are Running" / 1998.01.20
4. "The Big One" / 1998.01.27
5. "No Cave Like Home" / 1998.02.03
6. "Mother Nature's Missing" / 1998.02.10
7. "An Eye for a Tooth" / 1998.02.17
8. "The Mystery of the Sneaky Snacker" / 1998.02.24
9. "Anything You Can Do...?" / 1998.03.03
10. "Raging Rivers" / 1998.03.10
11. "Scenter of Attention" / 1998.03.17
12. "Timeout" / 1998.03.24
13. "Family Feud" / 1998.03.31 Chaos erupts as the cub duos parents fallout in their respectful cave.

Season 2 (1999)

1. "Spring Eternal" / 1999.03.06
2. "The Gram who Came to Dinner" / 1999.03.13
3. "The Wishing Stone" / 1999.03.20
4. "Smile Please Lester" / 1999.03.27
5. "Winter Wonder" / 1999.04.08
6. "The Creature from Chucklewood Lake" / 1999.04.15
7. "Where Did I Come From?" / 1999.04.22
8. "Nora Know It Owl" / 1999.04.29
9. "The Lone Pony" / 1999.06.03
10. "Unidentified Furry Object" / 1999.06.10
11. "The Treasure of Chucklewood, Part 1: The Search" / 1999.07.08
12. "The Treasure of Chucklewood, Part 2: The Rescue" / 1999.07.15
13. "Arrival of the Fittest" / 1999.07.22

Voice cast

• Barbara Goodson - Buttons, Christie (Which Witch is Which), Frisky
• Kathy Ritter - Rusty, Rosie (The Christmas Tree Train/Which Witch is Which/The Turkey Caper)
• Mona Marshall - Rusty, Bearbette, Bluebell
• Alvy Moore - Abner (The Christmas Tree Tain/Which Witch is Which/The Turkey Caper/A Chucklewood Easter), Santa (The Christmas Tree Train)
• Morgan Lofting - Bridgett (The Christmas Tree Train/Which Witch is Which/The Turkey Caper)
• Oceana Marr - Bridgett (A Chucklewood Easter)
• Bill Ratner - George (The Christmas Tree Train/Which Witch is Which/The Turkey Caper)
• Robert Axelrod - George (A Chucklewood Easter/What's Up, Mom?), Easter Bunny (A Chucklewood Easter)
• Bill Boyett - Ranger Jones (The Christmas Tree Train/Which Witch is Which/The Turkey Caper/A Chucklewood Easter)
• Dan Roth - Skipper (A Chucklewood Easter), Marty (The Turkey Caper), Toy Dept. Manager (The Christmas Tree Train)
• Doug Stone - Lester, Skeeter
• Steve Bulen - Franklin

Additional Voices

• Bobby West
• Shane Margolis
• Shifra Margolis
• Standley Gurd, Jr.
• Dan Smith
• Jan Carole
• Brock Richards
• Marsha Jones
• Joyce Roberts
• Hal Ventura
• Ann Green
• James Curtis
• R.T. West
• Susan Clark
• Bill Kerns

Availability

Most of the holiday specials were released on VHS videocassette, but these are now out of print. More recently, the entire series and all the specials have been made available on a four-volume DVD set but as of now, the DVD set has been discontinued by its publisher (Platinum Disc) and practically, out of print

External links

• Chucklewood Critters at the Internet Movie Database
• Stephen's UnOfficial Chucklewood Critters Home Page

Specials:

• A Chucklewood Easter at the Internet Movie Database
• The Christmas Tree Train at the Internet Movie Database
• The Turkey Caper at the Internet Movie Database
• Which Witch is Which? at the Internet Movie Database