Curious George (TV series)
Curious George is an American preschool children's animated television series based on the children's book series of the same name for PBS Kids which features Jeff Bennett as the voice of Ted Shackelford (credited as "The Man with the Yellow Hat", formerly called that in the original series books and telefilm books). Frank Welker, who voiced George in the 2006 feature film, returns as the voice of him.[2] The show premiered on PBS Kids on September 4, 2006, and originally ended after nine seasons on April 1, 2015 before returning in 2018.
Curious George | |
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Genre | Comedy |
Based on | |
Developed by | Joe Fallon |
Voices of | |
Narrated by | |
Theme music composer |
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Opening theme | "Like Curious George!" by Dr. John |
Ending theme | "Like Curious George!" (instrumental) |
Composer | Nick Nolan |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 15 |
No. of episodes | 198 (389 segments + 3 specials) (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Editor | Kirk Demorest |
Running time | 23 minutes (11 minutes per segment) |
Production companies |
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Animation services |
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Release | |
Original network |
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Picture format | |
Original release | September 4, 2006 – March 17, 2022 |
On September 3, 2018, season 10 premiered on Family Jr. in Canada. Seasons 10-13 debuted on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock in the United States when it launched in July 2020.[3] Seasons 1-9 of Curious George are available to stream for Peacock Premium subscribers since September 20, 2020, which is also available to stream on Hulu.[4] Season 10 of Curious George premiered on PBS on October 5, 2020.[5]
Curious George is a production of Universal 1440 Entertainment (Universal Studios Family Productions before 2013[6]), Imagine Entertainment, and WGBH-TV (WGBH Kids) (before season 13),[7] and animated by Toon City.[8] Each episode has two animated segments per half hour episode, and a short live-action segment after each.
The live-action shorts illustrate and explain various concepts in math and science, and shows a class with kids engaging in experiments, that teach the math or science concept featured in the previous story. This was shown for seasons 1–9 during its first runs. They were removed from re-runs starting after season 10, and future airings of older episodes also remove them.
Settings
- City: George and the Man live in an apartment in the Big City. The actual name of the city is unknown but has some similarities to New York. However in the episode Curious George Takes a Vacation, an airport worker mentions they're in Illinois meaning they possibly live in Chicago. The Doorman keeps a pigeon coop on the roof and is the guardian of Hundley, his dachshund dog. The apartment is near Endless Park, the museum where Professor Wiseman works, and the zoo. Chef Pisghetti's restaurant is nearby, as are a doughnut shop, Dulson's Toy Store, Mabel's Department Store (a parody of Macy's and its erstwhile competitor Gimbels), the supermarket, and the pet shop. These are recurring locations.
- Country: George and the Man vacation in a small house in the country. The house is near Lake Wanasinklake, a stream, and a river that eventually flows past the city and to the ocean. George is friends there with five-year-old Allie and the teenage paperboy, Bill.
Voice cast
- Frank Welker — Curious George, Tony Pizza, Dumpling Duck, Stig, Flint Quint, Bill's Bunnies, Various characters
- Jeff Bennett — Ted Shackelford (credited as "The Man with the Yellow Hat"), Alvin Einstein, Mr. Renkins, Various characters
- William H. Macy (Season 1 only)
Rino Romano — Narrator - Rob Paulsen — Compass, Charkie, Mr. Glass, Hamilton the Pig, Jagger the Rooster, Blanche the Goat, Mr. Dulson, Mr. Ruffweek, Various characters
- Jim Cummings — Chef Pisghetti, Jumpy Squirrel, Mr. Quint, Rodney, Various characters
- Debi Derryberry — Gnocchi (Season 1 only), Lucky the Kitten, Mrs. Dulson
- Bill Chott (Season 1 only)
Lex Lang — The Doorman, Hundley - Dee Bradley Baker — Gnocchi
- B. J. Ward — Aunt Margaret
- E. G. Daily — Steve, Andie, Various characters
- Grey DeLisle — Betsy, Marco, Dorothy, Molly Zucchini, Various characters
- Susan Silo — Netti Pisghetti
- Lara Jill Miller — Allie
- Kevin Michael Richardson — Dr. Baker, Toots, Stew, Various characters
- James Arnold Taylor — Leo Zucchini
- Tara Strong — Claire Zucchini, Various characters
- Carlos Alazraqui — Mr. Zoobel
- Jess Harnell — Dinwoodie
- Amber Hood — Carla
- Annie Mumolo — Bill
- Rolonda Watts — Professor Wiseman
- Kath Soucie — Mrs. Renkins
Episodes
The setting for most episodes is either the city, where George lives in an apartment building with the Man in the Yellow Hat, or the country, where they share a small house near a lake called Lake Wanasinklake. This allows George to mirror the experiences of kids who live in an urban environment and those who live on farms and in suburbs. A few episodes take place in alternate but familiar settings, like an airport or a train station.
Season | Segments | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
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First aired | Last aired | Network | ||||
1 | 60 | 30 | September 4, 2006 | February 23, 2007 | PBS Kids | |
2 | 40 | 20 | September 3, 2007 | April 22, 2008 | ||
3 | 22 | 11 | September 1, 2008 | April 22, 2009 | ||
4 | 18 | 9 | September 8, 2009 | June 14, 2010 | ||
5 | 20 | 10 | September 6, 2010 | May 6, 2011 | ||
6 | 20 | 10 | September 5, 2011 | June 25, 2012 | ||
7 | 12 | 6 | December 3, 2012 | April 24, 2013 | ||
Specials | November 25, 2009 | October 28, 2013 | ||||
8 | 12 | 6 | February 10, 2014 | May 21, 2014 | ||
9 | 12 | 6 | October 28, 2014 | April 1, 2015 | ||
10 | 28 | 15 | September 3, 2018 | December 10, 2018 | Family Jr./PBS Kids | |
11 | 29 | 15 | May 6, 2019 | August 12, 2019 | ||
12 | 29 | 15 | February 3, 2020 | February 21, 2020 | ||
13 | 30 | 15 | July 15, 2020 | December 11, 2020 | Peacock/PBS Kids | |
14 | 29 | 15 | October 21, 2021 | |||
15 | 28 | 15 | March 17, 2022 |
Broadcast and release
The show premiered on PBS through PBS Kids in the United States and through CITV in the United Kingdom in 2006 and Family Jr. in Canada in 2015. Season 10 premiered on PBS and the series made its debut on the PBS Kids 24/7 channel the same day. All seasons are available on Peacock and PBS Kids with the first 9 seasons exclusive to Peacock Premium and Hulu.
Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas, an animated television film, was released on November 25, 2009. It was distributed by PBS and produced by Imagine Entertainment and Universal Animation Studios. The film is a holiday television special featuring George, as featured in the TV series, wondering what to give The Man in The Yellow Hat who is also wondering what to give George. It is shown every Christmas season on PBS Kids.
Awards
- 2008 – Outstanding Children's Animated Program
- 2010 – Outstanding Children's Animated Program
References
- "Oasis Animation Employer Profile". Animation World Network (AWN). Retrieved 2020-04-22.
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 143. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- "NBCUNIVERSAL UNVEILS PEACOCK, A FREE PREMIUM AD-SUPPORTED STREAMING SERVICE WITH SUBSCRIPTION TIERS". NBCUNIVERSAL MEDIA. 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
- "Curious George New Movie, TV Series Seasons Streaming Free on Peacock". Variety. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
- @ItsPeebs (2020-08-20). "Beginning October 5, 2020, Season 10 of Curious George will debut on PBS! 5 "new" episodes will air that week. These episodes are already available on Peacock" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- "Curious George - Program Summary". PBS. Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- "Curious George - Program Summary". PBS. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- "Curious George - TV Credits". PBS. Retrieved September 18, 2016.