Premiere | 1994 |
Network | Fox Kids |
Seasons | 3 |
Episodes | 65 |
Jim Henson's Animal Show with Stinky and Jake aired on Fox Kids from 1994 to 1996, later re-running on Animal Planet, with 26 new episodes made in 1997.
The show was hosted by Jake, a jovial polar bear, and Stinky, his skunk friend. The other main characters were Armstrong the Chicken Hawk, Ollie the Tapir, Bunnie Bear, Tizzy the Bee, Yves St. La Roache, Rhonda Rat, and Dullard the Aardvark. The series' format resembled that of a talk show. In each episode, the hosts would interview two guests, who were different species of animals. The animals would talk about themselves and show clips of their real-life counterparts.
One notable episode about bald eagles features Sam the Eagle as a guest.
Distribution[]
- Season one made its debut on October 3, 1994[1] on Fox Kids.
- Season two premiered on September 11, 1995.[2]
- Season three was in production during November and December of 1997,[3] and began airing on Animal Planet as early as February 19, 1998.[4]
- Four episodes were released on VHS, eight on DVD, and the complete first season on digital download (see Animal Show videography).
Puppeteer credits[]
- Bill Barretta as Armstrong the Chicken Hawk, Dullard the Aardvark, and others
- John Eccleston (Seasons 2 & 3 only) as Yves St. La Roache and others
- Dave Goelz as Stinky and others
- Louise Gold (Seasons 2 & 3 only) as Tizzy the Bee, Bunnie Bear, Rhonda Rat, and others
- David Greenaway (Season 2 only) as assistant puppeteer
- Karen Prell (Season 1 only) as Ollie the Tapir, Tizzy the Bee, and others
- Mike Quinn (Season 1 only) as assistant puppeteer, other assorted characters, and occasional voice-overs
- Katherine Smee (Season 3 only) as various assorted characters
- Andrew Spooner (Season 2 only) as assistant puppeteer
- Steve Whitmire as Jake the Polar Bear and other assorted characters
- Mak Wilson (Season 1 only) as Yves St. La Roach and others
Production credits[]
- Executive Producer: Brian Henson
- Producer: Jocelyn Stevenson
- Director: Peter Harris
- Writers: Jim Lewis, Jocelyn Stevenson, Bill Oddie, Rob Sprackling, and John Smith
- Music: Ed Welch, Mark Radice, Philip Balsam, Dennis Lee
- Jim Henson's Muppet Workshop New York: Peter MacKeenan, Elena Pelliciaro, Mark Ruffin, Fred Buchholz
- Production Design: Derek Brown
- Production Coordination: Tatiana Bicat
- Puppets built by Jane Howell and David Skelly
Notes[]
- Many of the songs used for the first two season's film segments were recycled from previous Henson productions, including The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, Muppet Babies, The Tale of the Bunny Picnic, Billy Bunny's Animal Songs, and others.
- The puppets created for this show were reused in many subsequent Muppet productions, including (but not limited to), Muppets Tonight, Bear in the Big Blue House, Mopatop's Shop, and Sesame Street.
- The show was two minutes longer in non-US countries. Those extra two minutes normally featured a film segment on one of the day's animals, with commentary from Armstrong and Ollie (and Bunnie in later seasons).
See also[]
- Animal Show episodes
- Animal Show characters
- Animal Show merchandise
- Animal Show songs
- International Animal Show
Sources[]
- ↑ Episode 101: Cheetah & Gazelle
- ↑ The Washington Post "The TV Column" by John Carmody, August 21, 1995
- ↑ Louise Gold Fanpage compiled by User:Emma
- ↑ Star Tribune TV listings, February 19, 1998