The Littles (TV series)

The Littles (French: Les Minipouss) is an American animated television series originally produced between 1983 and 1985. It is based on the characters from The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John Peterson, the first of which was published in 1967. The series was produced for the American broadcast network ABC by the French/American studio DIC Audiovisuel. It was post-produced by a Canadian animation studio, Animation City Editorial Services.

Television history
Along with Inspector Gadget and Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats, The Littles was one of the first cartoons produced by DIC Entertainment for American television, and it was the only one of the three to air on a network rather than in syndication.

The first two seasons of shows featured The Littles around the Bigg household, but to improve the show's popularity the final season featured the Littles traveling around the world.

During the production run of the show, the Littles were also popular enough to warrant two movie tie-ins:
 * On May 25, 1985, the Littles starred in their first animated feature, Here Come the Littles, which serves as a prequel to the television series. It was directed by Bernard Deyriès and written by Woody Kling. This is available on DVD.
 * The following year (1986), a made-for-TV movie was created starring the Littles: Liberty and the Littles. This film was also directed by Bernard Deyriès and written by Heywood Kling. It aired in three parts during the tenth season of ABC Weekend Specials. It was subsequently edited into a three-part episode and included in the third season of the series. The episode is available on DVD.

In 2003, the series began to air on the Syndicated DIC Kids Network block in order to fulfill E/I criteria. However, not every episode of the series was syndicated during this run.

The series also broadcast in the United Kingdom on TVAM and in Australia on Network 10. Many other countries also picked up the series.

The Little family

 * Tom Little – The older of the two Little children.
 * Lucy Little – The younger of the two Little children.
 * Grandpa Little – The oldest member of the family.
 * Dinky Little – A cousin of the family (as in the books, where he is always presented as 'cousin Dinky').
 * Frank Little – the father in the family.
 * Helen Little – the mother in the family and the daughter of Grandpa Little.
 * Ashley Little – A second, younger cousin of the family.

In the television 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 (on Helen's side, as said by Grandpa in the episode "Ben Dinky") of Tom and Lucy. In the books, the family tree is never explicitly identified. The Littles that often appear are Tom, Lucy, Dinky and Grandpa.

Supporting characters

 * Henry Bigg – A 13-year-old boy and one of the few humans who knows about the existence of the Littles. They live in his house and are his best friends
 * Slick – A little turtle and Henry's pet.

Villains

 * Dr. Erick Hunter – A scientist whose primary goal is to prove the existence of the Littles. He often builds machines that can detect these tiny humans to prove to the others and himself that the Littles really exist, but his plans are always foiled by the Littles and Henry.
 * James Peterson – Dr. Hunter's assistant, named for series creator John Peterson.

Other characters

 * Mr. and Mrs. Bigg – Henry's parents. Both archeologists, they often go on journeys.
 * Marie – Henry's classmate and close friend.

Voices

 * Jimmy E. Keegan as Henry Bigg
 * Alvy Moore as Grandpa Little
 * Gregg Berger as Frank Little
 * Patricia Parris as Helen Little
 * Donavan Freberg as Tom Little (seasons 1–2)
 * David Wagner as Tom Little (season 3)
 * Bettina Bush as Lucy Little
 * B.J. Ward as Ashley Little (seasons 2–3)
 * Frank Welker as Slick (season 1)
 * Pat Fraley as Slick (seasons 2–3)
 * Robert David Hall as Mr. Bigg and Dinky Little
 * Laurel Page as Mrs. Bigg
 * Ken Sansom as Dr. Hunter and Peterson (seasons 1–2)

Rachelle Cano provides the opening and closing theme vocals

Additional voices

 * Candace Craig
 * Paul Eiding
 * Jonathan Goldsmith
 * David Hollander
 * Erv Immerman
 * Tress MacNeille
 * Mona Marshall
 * Julie McWhirter
 * Hal Smith - Mr. Finnegan (in "When Irish Eyes are Smiling")
 * Marilyn Schreffler
 * John Stephenson
 * Russi Taylor

Crew

 * Marsha Goodman - Voice Director (Season Three), Talent Coordinator
 * Ginny McSwain - Voice Director (Season Two)

Episodes
A dagger (†) denotes an episode that was not rerun in syndication.

Other merchandise
Some of the merchandise that was released during the series run included: tie-in story books, a Milton Bradley board game, stickers and greeting cards. Foreign merchandise included many more items such as Halloween Masks, a set of figures, card game, VHS videos, records, and more.