The World of David the Gnome

The World of David the Gnome, originally titled David, el Gnomo and also known as David, the Gnome, is a Spanish animated television series based on The Secret Book of Gnomes, a series of children's books by Dutch author Wil Huygen and illustrator Rien Poortvliet. The series was originally created in Spain by BRB Internacional, who were also responsible for the Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds franchise and other animated series, such as Bobobobs and Around the World with Willy Fog, and Televisión Española. Twenty-six episodes were produced. There was also a spin-off series, Wisdom of the Gnomes.

The English-language dub, The World of David the Gnome, was produced by Canadian studio CINAR in association with Miramax Films. Christopher Plummer was narrator, with Tom Bosley voicing David. David the Gnome aired weekdays on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block from 1988 until 1995 in the United States.

Synopsis
The series follows the gnomes, a kind species who are 15 centimetres (6 inches) tall and weigh between 250 and 300 grams (8 and 10 ounces). There are several types of gnomes: those of the forest, garden, farm, house, dunes, and Siberia, as well as nomadic "gypsy" gnomes, who are generally looked down upon by other gnomes. With few exceptions, a gnome's lifespan is exactly 400 years, though one couple in the Balkans lived for 550 years. When they reach the end of their lifespan, they transform into large trees; though they seem to have some control over when and where this happens, they cannot avoid it. For this reason, gnomes are dedicated to protecting forests and the environment, as trees are their ancestors. Gnomes such as the main characters live in pairs in caves or holes under trees, and have a mainly vegetarian diet. They are often aided by forest animals when traveling long distances or need to reach a specific location quickly. They also have the powers of telepathy and mind control. Their main enemies are the trolls, malevolent and clumsy creatures who cause trouble, as well as gnome poachers.

Characters

 * David (voiced by Tom Bosley) is a gnome of the forest who is 399 years old, making him the oldest gnome around except for Franklin, a gnome from the West who lived for 550 years. David is a doctor and uses his knowledge of many fields, such as hypnosis and acupuncture, to heal his patients, usually animals or other gnomes. David also befriends a bird that, when he whistles, arrives to transport him to where he needs to go. For longer trips, he sometimes travels in a basket attached to its neck.
 * Lisa (voiced by Jane Woods) is David's wife and companion, who is also 399 years old. They have two children, Lily and Harold. She is in charge of the household, but occasionally accompanies him on his adventures.
 * Swift the Fox (voiced by Vlasta Vrána) is David's best friend, who lives in the forest and is loyal to him, always being ready to transport David to where he needs to go. He is the cub of David's former fox mount, Nimble.
 * The Trolls, Pit, Pat, Pot, and Holler, are four trolls that cause trouble for the gnomes and the inhabitants of the forest. They possess some supernatural powers and can cast magical spells too powerful for gnome magic to break. However, they are unintelligent and are vulnerable to sunlight, as direct exposure to it turns them to stone. Holler was voiced by A.J. Henderson, Pit was voiced by Marc Denis, Pat was voiced by Rob Roy, and Pot was voiced by Adrian Knight.
 * Susan (voiced by Barbara Pogenmiller) is David and Lisa's granddaughter.
 * King (voiced by Richard Dumont)
 * Paul (voiced by Walter Massey) is David's twin brother, who has a normal moustache in contrast to David's handlebar moustache. He also wears differently colored clothing, as he wears a dark blue jumper and hat, as well as beige trousers and dark boots.

Episodes
David the Gnome ran for twenty-six episodes, each approximately 24 minutes in length. In the U.S., the series originally aired between January 4, 1988, and February 9, 1988. The English-language episode titles are listed below, along with brief episode synopses:

Telecast and home media
The series aired on weekdays on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block for seven years from 1988 until 1995 in the U.S. Later, it aired on TLC (as part of the channel's Ready Set Learn block). The series aired on The Family Channel in Canada from its launch in 1988 until 1990. It was later aired on British Columbia's statewide Knowledge Network.

In England, the series ran on various channels. It was first picked up on ITV's Children's ITV block, then The Children's Channel, and finally Nickelodeon. In Australia, the show was first picked up on ABC, and later aired on Nickelodeon. In Ireland, this show was picked up on RTE's The Den block in the early 90s.

In 1989, Family Home Entertainment released four VHS tapes of the series in the U.S., each containing two episodes. In the United Kingdom, Video Collection International Ltd released one VHS tape of The World of David the Gnome (Cat. No. VC1178) with the first two episodes, Good Medicine and Witch Way Out, on 14 May 1990.

A complete series DVD set was released in the United Kingdom in 2006 by Revelation Films. The complete series was also released on DVD in 2011 in Spain and Italy. Most episodes are available on DVD in Germany and the Netherlands. The Italian and Spanish-language versions can currently be found on their respective countries' Amazon websites. The complete series was released on DVD in the U.S. in 2012 by Oasis DVDs.

Wisdom of the Gnomes
Wisdom of the Gnomes (La llamada de los gnomos, literally "Call of the gnomes") is the first spin-off of The World of David the Gnome. It follows Klaus, a judge who travels with his assistant Danny on Henry the Swan and aims to solve disputes and lawsuits between animals peacefully and wisely. Like in The World of David the Gnome, trolls also appear. David also appears in the final episode. The penultimate episode features Wil Huygen and his wife, the only pair of humans in direct communication with Gnomes. Klaus and Danny complain to Huygen of "inaccuracies" in his book, though what these errors are is not made specific.

Cast

 * Robert Axelrod - Adaptation
 * Richard Epcar - Adaptation
 * Melora Harte - Adaptation
 * Dave Mallow - Adaptation, Director
 * Doug Stone - Adaptation, Director

Episodes

 * 1) Klaus the Judge (27 September 1989)
 * 2) Loch Ness (4 October 1989)
 * 3) Trip to Canada (11 October 1989)
 * 4) The Magic Carpet (18 October 1989)
 * 5) The Chamois (25 October 1989)
 * 6) Trip to Nepal (1 November 1989)
 * 7) The Gold-Diggers (8 November 1989)
 * 8) Adventure in the Arctic (15 November 1989)
 * 9) The Discovery of Ithaca (22 November 1989)
 * 10) The Carpathians (29 November 1989)
 * 11) Trip to Venice (6 December 1989)
 * 12) The Ballad of Gnomoshima (13 December 1989)
 * 13) The Gnome-Olympics (20 December 1989)
 * 14) Trip to Siberia (10 June 1993)
 * 15) Andalusia (17 June 1993)
 * 16) China (24 June 1993)
 * 17) France (1 July 1993)
 * 18) Hawaii (8 July 1993)
 * 19) The Stolen Mirror (15 July 1993)
 * 20) The Winter Race (22 July 1993)
 * 21) Mystery in the Forest (29 July 1993)
 * 22) The Gnomewegians (5 August 1993)
 * 23) Argentina (12 August 1993)
 * 24) Dany's Wedding (19 August 1993)
 * 25) Holland (26 August 1993)
 * 26) Goodbye Klaus (2 September 1993)

Later sequels
Other sequels, both in serial and movie form, were The Gnomes' Great Adventure (1987), The Great Adventure of the Gnomes (1995), The Gnomes in the Snow (1999) and The Fantastic Adventures of the Gnomes (2000).

The series was also preceded by the popular television movie Gnomes in 1980, which was based on the same series of books as The World of David the Gnome.

In 1997, there was a series called The New World of the Gnomes which was a retelling of the original series as David and his nephew Tomte now travel the world to save animals and preserve nature as it is endangered by problems of modern-day pollution and environmental dangers. Lisa, David's wife from the original series, also appears in the show. Other than the humans who cause either unintentional or intentional destruction to nature and harm to animals, the show's other antagonists are three trolls who run into David and the gnomes now and then, their names are Stinky, Brute, and Drool. The show was made in collaboration with the World Wildlife Foundation.

In popular culture
A still shot of the titular character became a meme through images with explicit phrases; most commonly "I am a motherf***er" and "How about I slap your sh*t?"

Cancelled revival
In 2015, The Weinstein Company announced a revival titled Gnomes. No update has been given since The Weinstein Company went defunct on July 16, 2018 due to the sex abuse scandal.