The Animal Shelf

The Animal Shelf is a British children's model animation series produced by Cosgrove Hall Films and based on the books written and illustrated by British writer Ivy Wallace. Aimed at a pre-school audience, it first aired on ITV running for four seasons and 52 episodes and ran from 1997 to 2000. It has also aired around world including the ABC in Australia and TVNZ 6 in New Zealand as part of their children's block Kidzone.

Main characters

• Timothy is a young boy who is the owner of the animals. He is never actually seen on-screen, just his shadow. This is the same with all of the human characters apart from the pet-shop owner (whose face is never seen on screen).

Voiced by Susan Sheridan (UK) and Marc Donato (USA/Canada)

• Gumpa is a bear who often acts as the leader of the group. He is quite lazy and enjoys sleeping.

Voiced by Jimmy Hibbert (UK)

• Woeful is a monkey who wears a red fez and coat. He often tells jokes, which are often found rude by the other animals. He enjoys getting his own way, and is quite bossy, which sometimes annoys the other animals.

Voiced by Jimmy Hibbert (UK)

• Stripey is a woolen zebra and Getup's best friend. He seems to be quite wise, and it is revealed in the first episode, Stripey To The Rescue, that he and Getup are Timothy's oldest animals.

Voiced by Jimmy Hibbert (UK)

• Getup is a giraffe who often falls over, and is close friends with Stripey. The material on her hooves is worn, which means that she often loses stuffing through them. She speaks with a broad English accent.

Voiced by Susan Sheridan (UK)

• Little Mutt is a west highland white terrier dog. He wears a pink bow, and often ends up getting into difficult situations. He seems to be close friends with Gumpa. Some children may often mistaken Little Mutt as a girl due to the colour of the bow and his shrill voice.

Voiced by Susan Sheridan (UK) and Jill Frappier (USA/Canada)

• Mrs. Mole and her Baby Moles are a family of moles who live underground that only squeak instead of speak.

Voiced by Susan Sheridan (UK)

Episode guide

Series 1

1. Stripey To The Rescue
2. Gumpa and the Paintbox
3. Getup Crusoe
4. Kinker Visits The Animal Shelf
5. The Treasure Hunt
6. Music In The Woods
7. The Animal's Garden
8. Woeful and the Waspberries
9. Gumpa Solves a Jigsaw Puzzle
10. Tidying Timothy's Bedroom
11. The Trail
12. The Model Monster
13. Little Mut Goes Flying

Series 2

1. Babysitting For Mrs Mole
2. Timothy's Pet Balloon
3. The Great Explorers
4. The Alarm Clock
5. The Wolf In The Wood
6. Woeful Flies To The Moon
7. Captain Gumpa
8. The Hottest Day of the Year
9. The Mystery of the Pictures
10. Timothy's Guest
11. Little Mut Finds an Egg
12. Kinker's Camping Holiday
13. Timothy's Homework

Series 3

1. The First Snowflakes
2. Getup The Skater
3. Waiting For Santa Claus
4. A Very Special Day
5. Living In The Jungle
6. Little Mut's Long Rest
7. Woeful and the Tooth Fairy
8. The Art Gallery
9. A Lazy Afternoon
10. Woeful's Magic Wand
11. Buckets and Spades
12. Gumpa Reads a Story
13. The Jam Factory

Series 4

1. Animal Watch
2. Timothy's Valentine's Cards
3. Gumpa's Halloween Lanterns
4. The Easter Egg Hunt
5. Gumpa's Ark
6. The Garden Sale
7. Looking For Big Mut
8. A Night In a Tent
9. The King of the Castle
10. Timothy's Racing Car
11. The Shooting Star
12. Get Down Getup
13. Gumpa's Head

It's Itsy Bitsy Time

The series was also seen on an American children's wrapper programme called It's Itsy Bitsy Time along with several TV series from overseas and aired on FOX Family Channel in America and Treehouse TV in Canada in 1999 with the British voices being redubbed with American and Canadian voices. The voices were directed by Canadian voice actress Susan Roman who is best known for voicing Sailor Jupiter in the DIC version of the English dubbed anime Sailor Moon. Roman also directed the American and Canadian voices for another British children's animated television series seen on It's Itsy Bitsy Time Tom and Vicky.

Merchandise

The series later had tie in books from Ladybird Books and was also released on VHS in the UK and Australia by Walt Disney Home Video.

External links

• The Animal Shelf on IMDb