Wimzie's House Gallery
Wimzie's House is a half-hour American-Canadian preschool children's television program which ran as La Maison de Ouimzie on Télévision de Radio-Canada in the morning and on Radio Quebec in late afternoons starting March 4, 1995, and in English on CBC Television starting October 21, 1996 and in the United States on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) from September 1, 1997 to August 31, 2001.[1] Reruns of the show aired in the United States on the Cookie Jar Toons block on This TV, in syndication as part of the Cookie Jar Kids Network block, and on Light TV from December 22, 2016 to September 30, 2019. The series was produced by Cinar (later Cookie Jar Entertainment, now part of WildBrain), with the PBS telecasts presented by Maryland Public Television from 1997 to 2001. The show's puppetry is in the style of Sesame Street, which led to some legal troubles with The Jim Henson Company in 2000 (even though they had some collaboration for some certain children's television shows e.g., Hi Opie!, Dog City, Fraggle Rock, The Hoobs, etc., as well as the same with its production partner, Sesame Workshop, best known for Sesame Park, the Canadian adaptation of Sesame Street). There were two FMV PC games based on the series. Treehouse TV also aired this show in reruns from 1999 to December 2005.
Synopsis[]
The show revolves around Wimzie, a 5-year-old bird-dragon monster girl, who attends a daycare in her house run by her grandmother, a bird named Yaya, since her parents, Rousso (a dragon fireman) and Graziella (an airline pilot bird-like monster) work full-time. The other kids are Jonas (a nerdy goblin), Horace (a dimwitted troll), Bo (Wimzie’s little brother; a dragon like Rousso), and Loulou (Jonas’ hyperactive little sister). She also has a grandmother named Yaya (a bird-like monster like Graziella). Each show revolves around the kids facing a moral or social dilemma and learning how to deal with it.
There are a total of 8 characters and one location in the show. Characters that are often mentioned (such as the neighbors, Wimzie’s relatives, and other kids in the neighborhood) don’t make any appearances.
Episodes[]
- Main article: List of Wimzie's House episodes
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 56 | March 4, 1995 | May 20, 1995 | |
2 | June 17, 1996 | August 31, 1996 |
Season 1: (1995)[]
Season | Episodes | Title | Original airdate | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "The Cookie Crisis" | March 4, 1995 | |||
2 | "Boo!" | March 5, 1995 | ||||
3 | "The Magic Crayon" | March 6, 1995 | ||||
4 | "I Want My Mommy" | March 7, 1995 |
Voice cast[]
- Jane Woods as Yaya. Yaya is Wimzie's 150-year-old maternal grandmother and Graziella's mother. (Like Graziella, she is also a bird-like monster.) She runs a daycare in Wimzie's house for Wimzie and her friends while their parents are working. She has lavender featherless skin and her hair is a stack of orange, blonde and purple. Like Jonas and Loulou, she wears glasses. She occasionally talks to the children (whenever they have a problem) and gives them advice when they need it. Despite her old age, she is full of energy, often being more than a match for a houseful of children, daughter and son-in-law. She also silences everyone during an argument by making a foghorn blowing noise and sound and nobody knows how she does it. She has a bedroom that is only seen in the intro.
- Thor Bishopric as Jonas. Jonas is a goblin who is 5 years old and loves science. He collects dirt and has a surprisingly large collection. His skin is green with purple hair and he wears eyeglasses and a propeller cap. Often in his explanations, he would include his catch phrase "It's very scientific." Lou Lou is his little sister. Wimzie possibly has a crush on him. He has the same voice as Jordi from The Secret World of Santa Claus.
- Holly G. Frankel as Loulou. Loulou is Jonas's 3 and a half-year-old sister (and a goblin like Jonas). She wants to be like the bigger kids. Yet isn't quite ready to make the jump. She is capable of understanding Bo's baby-jabber. Her complexion is yellow-green and she has the same voices as Tessa from The Triplets, Gertie Green Bean and Gloria Goode Darling from The Little Lulu Show and Sagwa from Sagwa the Chinese Siamese Cat. She wears eyeglasses and has purple hair like her brother, tied in a high ponytail decorated in a bow. Her solo songs are titled "When I'm Scared", "I wanna be Big Right Now", "Left Out" and "What's so good about being big?".
- Bruce Dinsmore as Horace. Horace is a 4-year-old troll, Horace isn't as smart as the other kids, but is always asking questions and learning things. He is the strongest of all the children, but angers easily and can sometimes be rough. He gets along best with Bo and his big sister Wimzie. He has the same voices as Tubby Tompkins from The Little Lulu Show and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer from The Secret World of Santa Claus. His skin is light blue and his hair is orange and very straight. He also has a cousin named Morris who looks a lot like him and they are both voiced by the same actor. A running gag throughout the show shows always saying, "Uh/um...question." and then another character would usually respond by saying, "Yes Horace?".
- Tyrone Benskin as Rousso. Rousso is Wimzie's father. He is a calm tailless dragon with orange skin and blonde hair. He works as a firefighter. When not on the job, Rousso likes to relax. He's a little slow but very kind-hearted. It has been revealed that he has a sister named Alice who is Wimzie's aunt.
- Jennifer Seguin as Graziella. Graziella is Wimzie's mother. She is a bird-like monster (as she has arms instead of wings) with pink featherless skin and blonde hair in a beehive hairdo. When not on the job, Graziella will spend time with children, often giving them advice. She works as a pilot and is often away from home for extended periods. She has the same voices as Gertie's Mom from The Little Lulu Show, Muffy's Mom from Arthur, Caillou and Rosie's Mommy from Caillou and Miss Gotto the Teacher from Mona the Vampire and has a brother named Mario, Wimzie's uncle, who forgot to send Wimzie a binga-boinga on her 5th birthday.
- Ajay Fry as Bo. Bo is Wimzie's baby brother. Being still a baby, he often gets most of Yaya's attention and the others keep tabs on him as well. Unlike Wimzie, he is a full tail-less dragon and not a hybrid like his big sister. He is still learning to talk, so he mostly communicates in gibberish. He is around the age of 12–18 months. He has the same voices as Alvin Jones from The Little Lulu Show and Caillou from Caillou.
- Jane Woods as Wimzie. Wimzie is the protagonist of the series, who is a dragon/bird hybrid with a unique appearance, yellow-orange skin, purple hair tied in pigtails decorated in baby blue bows and red wing-like antlers on the top of her head. She is 5 years old and also introduces each episode in the beginning of the series. In the musical numbers, she performs a few of her solo songs which are titled "When There's a Job to Do", "Turtles", "Be Exactly Who You Are", "Something in My Head" and "I Love You". She has a baby brother named Bo. She has the same voice as Lulu Moppet from The Little Lulu Show.
Production[]
Coming soon!
Legal troubles[]
In 1999, the Jim Henson Company issued a lawsuit against the company, claiming the series' puppets and resultant merchandise violated its copyright and trademark rights on The Muppets. CINAR and its licensees Eden LLC and Carson-Dellosa Publishing Company denied and continue to deny any wrongdoing or liability for infringement.
A confidential settlement allowed CINAR to continue broadcasting the series, selling show merchandise, and a "mechanism for preserving the distinctive look of Jim Henson's Muppets in CINAR's future productions."
Ronald A. Weinberg, CINAR President and Co-CEO:
- "We are delighted that it's been settled and that the agreement leaves an open door between the two companies. It's also good news that WIMZIE'S HOUSE will continue to enjoy such a broad audience on PBS in the U.S. and on other channels in over 100 countries around the world. Furthermore, it means that the licensing initiative we launched last year will continue to flourish with both established and new licencee partners."
- ―Ronald A. Weinberg
Media[]
Video releases[]
- Babies Have It Made
- Happy Holidays
- It's Magic Time
- Pet Tales
- You're Special
DVD releases[]
On July 27, 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment released a 10 episode Best-of collection entitled Wimzie's House: A World of Enchantment on DVD in Region 1.[2]
References[]
This Wiki is in the process of major renovation, please bear with us. We are aware that sources are very important to Wikia and make every effort to be decent in this pursuit. Thanks for your understanding.
External links[]
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Wimzies-House-World-Enchantment-Wimzie/dp/B003R2YVQ2