Putt-Putt (series)

Putt-Putt
Putt-Putt and Pep
Genres	Adventure, Edutainment
Developers	Humongous Entertainment
Publishers	Humongous Entertainment Night Dive Studios
Creators	Shelley Day
Platforms	DOS, Microsoft Windows, 3DO, Macintosh, iOS
Platform of origin	DOS
First release	Putt-Putt Joins the Parade October 30, 1992
Latest release	Putt-Putt: Pep's Birthday Surprise 2003

The Putt-Putt series is a collection of children's adventure and puzzle computer games created by Humongous Entertainment. This franchise was Humongous Entertainment's first game series to be developed.^[1] They primarily involve clicking to get to a destination, although some sub-quests and mini-games involve the keyboard. The main character, Putt-Putt, an anthropomorphic purple convertible, and his pet dog, Pep, travel to various locations.

History

Putt-Putt was originally thought up by Shelley Day as a series of bedtime stories for her son, Travis; the first story involved Putt-Putt saving a cat caught in a tree.^[2][3] Child actor Jason Ellefson did Putt-Putt's voice for the first eight of the games. In the games released between 1998 and 2000, Nancy Cartwright (of The Simpsons fame) voiced Putt-Putt. Michelle Thorson voiced Putt-Putt in Pep's Birthday Surprise.

The games are supported by ScummVM and thus can be played on other platforms such as handhelds. Humongous has brought several Putt-Putt and other titles to iOS^[4] and Android.

In 1997, Humongous made an agreement with Lancit Media Entertainment to create an animated TV series of Putt-Putt,^[5] along with movies and home video releases.^[6] However the plan was never put into action.

Several games from the original series were later re-released by Humongous on Steam in April 2014,^[7] alongside games from the Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish, and Spy Fox series.^[8][9][10]

Games

Adventure games

Humongous Entertainment classified these games as Junior Adventures (for kids 3-8)

Putt-Putt Joins the Parade (1992)

Released in 1992, this is Putt-Putt's first game, as well as the very first Humongous Entertainment computer game. It also shows how Putt-Putt and his dog Pep first met.

Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon (1993)

When Putt-Putt visits the fireworks factory, a slip of Pep's paw sends him rocketing to the moon. Once there, he needs to gather the pieces of a rocket ship to get himself, Pep, and his new friend, Rover back home to Earth. There was a hidden sneak peek to this game if Fatty Bear looks through a telescope in Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise. The game was ported from DOS to Windows in 1995, and re-packaged in 1999. It was rereleased on Steam on May 1, 2014

Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo (1995)

In this game, Putt-Putt has to rescue the zoo animals and return them to Outback Al (who also appears in Putt-Putt Enters the Race) before the Zoo's grand-opening. The animals he needs to rescue are Baby Jambo the elephant, Masai the giraffe, Kenya the lion cub, Zanzibar the hippopotamus, Sammy Seal, and Little Skeeter the snake. The game features the song "Topiary Creatures".

Putt Putt Travels Through Time (1997)

In this game, Putt-Putt visits Mr. Firebird's lab on his way to school. Due to a malfunction in the time machine, the portal sucks up the dog Pep, along with Putt-Putt's school supplies. Putt-Putt travels through four different eras to recover his school supplies and Pep.

Putt-Putt Enters the Race (1998)

Putt-Putt gets an invitation from his friend Redline Rick to join the Cartown 500. Rick tells him that he has to get four things for the race. High powered, high octane gasoline, super speedy radial racing tires, a safety helmet for Pep, and a triangular flag with a specific number on it. When all of the objectives are completed, Putt-Putt is allowed to enter the race. The player is then allowed to race as Putt-Putt at the end of this game, the first time in the series where the Putt-Putt can be directly "driven." This is the first game to have Putt-Putt's voice done by Nancy Cartwright. Many characters from previous games make return appearances, including Smokey the Fire Engine, Rover, Outback Al and others. This game was released on iOS and Google Play on June 27, 2014.

Putt-Putt Joins the Circus (2000)

"Putt-Putt Joins the Circus" is the sixth Putt-Putt adventure from Humongous Entertainment. In this game, Putt-Putt (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) and Pep go to see B.J. Sweeney's Big Top Circus (a reference to Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus) in Apple Valley. They hop on board Roll-Along Cassidy the circus train after a goat eats their ticket. When they reach Apple Valley, they meet B.J. Sweeney, crying because the circus' five main acts aren't put together. So Putt-Putt searches the circus grounds for the performers so they will practice and finally perform for opening night. It becomes a "Huge Success". Original music and songs were composed by Scott Lloyd Shelly. This game was released on iOS and Google Play on October 4, 2013.

Putt-Putt: Pep's Birthday Surprise (2003)

It's Pep's birthday tomorrow and Putt-Putt wants to throw a surprise party for him. He just needs to get everything he needs before the party tomorrow morning. In this game, Putt-Putt is voiced by Michelle Thorson. Some of the music is reused from Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo. This is the only Putt-Putt game without a demo, possibly because the game was only released after Atari's takeover along with Pajama Sam: Life Is Rough When You Lose Your Stuff!.

Other games

Customization

Players can change Putt-Putt's color to red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or rainbow. All colors can be painted on again. This also changes the color of the dashboard in Putt-Putt Enters the Race, Putt-Putt Joins the Circus, Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-O-Rama, Putt-Putt Travels Through Time and Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo. However, in Putt-Putt Joins the Parade and Putt-Putt Enters the Race, the player needs to put 3 coins in a coin slot before changing his color. But in Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon and Putt-Putt: Pep's Birthday Surprise, the color can only be changed temporarily as it just turns back to purple immediately.

Availability

• For Steam the games were released as single games,^[12] or bundled together in the "Putt-Putt Complete Pack"^[13] or came packaged with all Humongous Entertainment games in "Humongous Entertainment Complete Pack".^[14]
• Humongous Entertainment released a CD titled "Humongous Entertainment Triple Treat", which included Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo, Pajama Sam's Sock Works and Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds.^[15]
• Humongous Entertainment released a CD titled "Humongous Entertainment Triple Treat 2", which included Putt Putt Travels Through Time, Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside and Freddi Fish and Luther's Maze Madness.^[16]
• Humongous Entertainment released a "Putt-Putt Fun & Learning Kindergarten Edition"^[17] package with a Putt-Putt notebook and a CD that included Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo and Big Thinkers Kindergarten.^[18]
• Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-O-Rama was released for Windows and Macintosh on a compilation CD titled "Super Duper Arcade 1",^[19] along with Spy Fox in: Cheese Chase, Pajama Sam's Sock Works and Freddi Fish and Luther's Water Worries and .^[20]
• Putt-Putt and Pep's Dog on a Stick was released for Windows and Macintosh on a compilation CD titled "Super Duper Arcade 2",^[21] along with Spy Fox in: Hold the Mustard, Pajama Sam's Lost & Found and Freddi Fish and Luther's Maze Madness.^[22]

Characters

Main characters

• Putt-Putt - A purple convertible car, full fun and excitement and happy to help those he meets.
• Pep - An abandoned puppy, whom Putt-Putt adopted and has been his pet and best friend ever since.

Baby Animals (Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo)

• Baby Jambo the Elephant - An Elephant who has the fear of mice.
• Masai the Giraffe - A giraffe who gets stuck at a drawbridge
• Kenya the Lion Cub - A little lion cub resemebling Nala from The Lion King played by Kathleen Young
• Samantha "Sammy" Seal - A seal who does tricks and stunts
• Little Skeeter the Snake - A Snake who is frozen in Articland
• Zanizbar the Hippo - A hippo who lives in Jungleland

Recurring characters

• Mr. Baldini - The proprietor lorry of the Cartown Grocery Store. Putt-Putt frequently makes grocery deliveries for him in exchange for coins.
• Ms. Bundlebugget - The Cartown librarian trolley, who keeps interesting keeps, which Putt-Putt reads when he gets a chance.
• Mr. Firebird
• Mrs. Goodbake - Cartown's jolly and gold-hearted cake baker van, who makes delicious confectioneries.
• Outback Al
• Rover - A friendly moon buggy who was deserted on the moon, until Putt-Putt gave him a ride back to Earth.
• Smokey - The Cartown Fire Engine Chief, who is a red fire truck that gives safety tips to those he meets.
• Mrs. Widget - The cheerful toy shop bumper car, who often has a product on the house.

Pep's Birthday Surprise-only characters

• Caristas - Two caravans that make and serve hot cocoa.
• Hank - A security patrol car, who makes a record of the world's biggest twine as a hobby.
• Mr. Kibble - The Cartown Pet Store Truck, who sells pet food and supplies.
• Marvin - An auto-mobile Magician who entertains people at parties.
• Mildred - A three-wheeled mail truck, who has a knack at keeping secrets.
• Reginald Windbag, III - A mobile inflator also called 'Reggie', who comes from a long line of inflators.
• Sunshine - A happy, carefree van who sells odd sorts of items.
• Torvil - A farm tractor, who tends to the barnyard.^[23]

Books

Various Children's books about Putt-Putt have been published by Lyrick Publishing and Random House. A cassette tape audio adaptation was created for "Putt-Putt's Night Before Christmas".

Reception

The Putt-Putt series received various awards including "All-Star Software Award" from Children's Software Revue, "Reader's Choice Award" from Mac Home Journal and "2000 Best Picks Award" from Choosing Children's Software.^[31]

References

External links

• Putt-Putt at Humongous Entertainment
• Putt-Putt series at MobyGames