Peep and the Big Wide World
Peep and the Big Wide World (PATBWW) is an animated children's television series created by Danish-Canadian animator Kaj Pindal. It revolves around the lives of Peep, Chirp, and Quack, as viewers discover, investigate, and explore the world around them.[3]
| Peep and the Big Wide World | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Peep |
| Genre | Educational Children's television series Comedy |
| Created by | Kaj Pindal[1][2] |
| Directed by | Rick Marshall |
| Voices of | Scott Beaudin (1-3) Shawn Molko (4) Maxwell Uretsky (5) Jamie Watson Amanda Soha |
| Narrated by | Joan Cusack |
| Theme music composer | Steve D'Angelo Terry Tompkins |
| Opening theme | "Peep and the Big Wide World" performed by Taj Mahal |
| Ending theme | "Peep and the Big Wide World" (instrumental) |
| Country of origin | Canada United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 60 (240 segments) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Kate Taylor |
| Producers | Vince Commisso Marisa Wolsky |
| Running time | 22–25 minutes |
| Production companies | WGBH Boston 9 Story Entertainment TVOntario Discovery Kids Eggbox LLC National Film Board of Canada |
| Original release | |
| Network | TVOKids (Canada) TLC (2004–08) and Discovery Kids (2004–10) (seasons 1-3) (U.S.) PBS Kids Member Stations (seasons 4-5) (U.S.) |
| Release | April 12, 2004 – September 14, 2007 |
| Release | January 4, 2010 – October 14, 2011 |
The show was based on the 1988 short film of the same name produced by the National Film Board of Canada,[4] which itself is based on the 1962 short film The Peep Show,[5] also produced by the National Film Board of Canada. The series premiered on April 12, 2004, on Discovery Kids and on TLC as part of their Ready Set Learn children's block in the United States, and on TVOKids in Canada. It was produced by WGBH Boston (through its kids division WGBH Kids) and 9 Story Media Group (formerly 9 Story Entertainment; in its debut production), in association with TVOntario and Discovery Kids and is distributed by Alliance Atlantis (through AAC Kids).
Carriage on the Discovery children's networks ended on October 10, 2010 with the discontinuation of Ready Set Learn and the replacement of Discovery Kids with The Hub, and now, Discovery Family. From April 1, 2007 through January 3, 2018, it was offered to public television stations via independent public television distributor American Public Television. Beginning January 1, 2018, the series was distributed by PBS Kids. U.S. broadcasts ended December 26, 2021.
Throughout its run, it has been underwritten by the National Science Foundation, with Northrop Grumman underwriting season four in 2010.
Each episode consists of two 9-minute stories, which are animated segments, and two 2-minute live action segments, in which children explore and demonstrate the same topic presented in the animated segment. The show is narrated by Joan Cusack.[6]
Overview edit
Viewers follow Peep, Chirp, and Quack as they investigate and explore the world around them. Following the 9-minute animated episode, there is a 2-minute live-action segment which features children exploring and demonstrating the same topic presented in the episode. The animation consists of bright colors and simple shapes, which simulates and reflects a youthful art style.
Episodes edit
Some of the episode numbers are out of order the correct order can be found by using a mobile device and going to the Peep and the Big Wide World website and attempting to download the episode, it will state its proper number.
Season 1 (2004) edit
Production codes are from the file names of the episodes on peepandthebigwideworld.com
| Episode № | Segment names | Original airdate | Prod code | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Season | First segment | Second segment | ||
| 1 | 1 | Spring Thing | Springy Thingy | 12 Apr 2004 | 110 |
| 2 | 2 | A Duck's Tale | Quack's Tracks | 13 Apr 2004 | 101 |
| 3 | 3 | Quack and the Very Big Rock | Shadow Play | 14 Apr 2004 | 102 |
| 4 | 4 | Current Events | Quack Loses His Hat | 15 Apr 2004 | 103 |
| 5 | 5 | Night Light | Sounds Like... | 16 Apr 2004 | 104 |
| 6 | 6 | The Windy Day | Peep Feet | 19 Apr 2004 | 105 |
| 7 | 7 | Newton's Big Adventure | Peep Crosses the Road | 20 Apr 2004 | 106 |
| 8 | 8 | Stormy Weather | Peep in Rabbitland | 21 Apr 2004 | 107 |
| 9 | 9 | Quack's Stuck Stick | Peep's Can | 22 Apr 2004 | 108 |
| 10 | 10 | Under Duck | All Fall Down | 23 Apr 2004 | 109 |
| 11 | 11 | The Perils of Peep and Chirp | Hoop Tricks | 26 Apr 2004 | 111 |
| 12 | 12 | Save It For Later | The Red Ballmoon | 27 Apr 2004 | 112 |
| 13 | 13 | Chirp Builds a Nest | Stuck Duck | 28 Apr 2004 | 113 |
| 14 | 14 | The Real Decoy | Peep's Lost Leaf | 29 Apr 2004 | 114 |
| 15 | 15 | Birds of a Feather | The Incredible Shrinking Duck | 30 Apr 2004 | 115 |
| 16 | 16 | Go West Young Peep | A Delicate Balance | 3 May 2004 | 116 |
| 17 | 17 | The Fish Museum | Peep's Night Out | 4 May 2004 | 117 |
| 18 | 18 | There's No Place Like Home | Flipping Newton | 5 May 2004 | 118 |
| 19 | 19 | Chirp's Flight Program | Mirror Mirror in the Dump | 6 May 2004 | 119 |
| 20 | 20 | Bridge the Gap | Meeting Half-Way | 7 May 2004 | 120 |
| 21 | 21 | Peep Plants a Seed | The Root Problem | 10 May 2004 | 121 |
| 22 | 22 | Hide and Go Peep | A Peep of a Different Color | 11 May 2004 | 122 |
| 23 | 23 | That's a Cat | Faster than a Duck | 12 May 2004 | 123 |
| 24 | 24 | Quack Hatches an Egg | The Whatchamacallit | 13 May 2004 | 124 |
| 25 | 25 | Wandering Beaver | Peep's New Friend | 14 May 2004 | 125 |
| 26 | 26 | The Trip to Green Island | Give Me a Call | 17 May 2004 | 126 |
Season 2 (2005-2006) edit
Production codes are from the file names of the episodes on peepandthebigwideworld.com
| Episode № | Segment names | Original airdate | Prod code | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Season | First segment | Second segment | ||
| 27 | 1 | Finders Keepers | Quack Quiets the Universe | 2 May 2005 | 201 |
| 28 | 2 | Peep's Moon Mission | The Many Moons of Quack the Duck | 3 May 2005 | 202 |
| 29 | 3 | The Mystery of the Thing That Went and Came Back | Peep's Color Quest | 4 May 2005 | 203 |
| 30 | 4 | Reflection Affection | Peep Deep in the Big Muddy | 5 May 2005 | 204 |
| 31 | 5 | Chirp Sorts it Out (Sort Of) | Hear Here! | 6 May 2005 | 205 |
| 32 | 6 | Dry Duck | 9 May 2005 | 206 | |
| 33 | 7 | Snow Daze | Flower Shower | 10 May 2005 | 207 |
| 34 | 8 | Who Stole the Big Wide World? | M-U-D Spells Trouble | 11 May 2005 | 208 |
| 35 | 9 | Finding Time | Smaller than a Peep | 12 May 2005 | 209 |
| 36 | 10 | Quack Quack | One Duck Too Many | 13 May 2005 | 210 |
| 37 | 11 | Count Them Out | Peep Prints | 25 Sep 2006 | 212 |
| 38 | 12 | Stick With Me | Tree Feller | 26 Sep 2006 | 211 |
| 39 | 13 | A Daring Duck | The Trouble With Bubbles | 27 Sep 2006 | 213 |
Season 3 (2007) edit
Production codes are from the file names of the episodes on peepandthebigwideworld.com
| Episode № | Segment names | Original airdate | Prod code | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Season | First segment | Second segment | ||
| 40 | 1 | The Sounds of Silence | 16 Apr 2007 | 301 | |
| 41 | 2 | The Tooth, the Whole Tooth, and Nothing but the Tooth | The Winter of Quack's Discontent | 17 Apr 2007 | 302 |
| 42 | 3 | Nosing Around | The Last Straw | 18 Apr 2007 | 303 |
| 43 | 4 | The Disappearing Drink | Door Tour | 19 Apr 2007 | 304 |
| 44 | 5 | In a Bind | Star Light, Star Bright | 20 Apr 2007 | 305 |
| 45 | 6 | Big Bird | Chirp Flies the Coop | 10 Sep 2007 | 310 |
| 46 | 7 | Bedtime Story | The Deep Duck Woods | 11 Sep 2007 | 306 |
| 47 | 8 | I Spy a Spider | Robin in the Bat Cave | 12 Sep 2007 | 307 |
| 48 | 9 | Marble Mover | Fair Shares | 13 Sep 2007 | 308 |
| 49 | 10 | The Feats of Peep | Quack Goes Nuts | 14 Sep 2007 | 309 |
Season 4 (2010) edit
Production codes are from the file names of the episodes on peepandthebigwideworld.com
| Episode № | Segment names | Original airdate | Prod code | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Season | First segment | Second segment | ||
| 50 | 1 | The Lurmies are Coming | Quack's Square Deal | 4 Jan 2010 | 406 |
| 51 | 2 | An Inconvenient Tooth | 8 Jan 2010 | 401 | |
| 52 | 3 | Bringing Spring | Quack's Pond Party | 25 Jan 2010 | 403 |
| 53 | 4 | You Can Count on Bunnies | Falling Feathers | 29 Jan 2010 | 405 |
| 54 | 5 | Trading Places | The House of Sand and Frog | 8 Feb 2010 | 402 |
| 55 | 6 | Magic Duck Dancing | Chirp Chirp Tweet Tweet Chirp | 12 Feb 2010 | 404 |
Season 5 (2011) edit
Production codes are from the file names of the episodes on peepandthebigwideworld.com
| Episode № | Segment names | Original airdate | Prod code | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Season | First segment | Second segment | ||
| 56 | 1 | Two's a Crowd | 10 Oct 2011 | 501 | |
| 57 | 2 | The Road Not Taken | 11 Oct 2011 | 502 | |
| 58 | 3 | Soap Opera | Diva Duck | 12 Oct 2011 | 503 |
| 59 | 4 | Quack and the Amazing Sandy Magic | Duckball | 13 Oct 2011 | 504 |
| 60 | 5 | Things That Go Peep in the Night | Mud Muddle | 14 Oct 2011 | 505 |
Characters edit
Main edit
- Peep (Voiced by Scott Beaudin[7] in the first 3 seasons, Shawn Molko in Season 4 and Maxwell Uretsky in Season 5): A male, yellow chicken who is very curious. He is the youngest bird of the group. The show's title is derived from his name. Peep is female in the original short film.
- Chirp (Voiced by Amanda Soha): A female, red robin who is also curious, and attempts frequently to fly, with unsatisfying results, until "A Daring Duck", when she flies from the ground. In "Big Bird" she meets a real robin for the first time. She is Peep and Quack's friend. Chirp is male in the original short film.
- Quack (Voiced by Jamie Watson): A male, blue-purple duckling who wears a white sailor's hat. He is older than Peep and Chirp, as they are still chicks. He frequently boasts about himself and ducks as a whole, and unwittingly makes many discoveries. Quack is purple in the original short film and is now referred to as blue, but is still quite indigo. He also seems to have a hoarding issue, as evidenced in the episode "An Inconvenient Tooth, Part 1."
- The Narrator (Voiced by Joan Cusack): The Narrator tells the episode's story, although the characters rarely have any interaction with her. In the episodes "Dry Duck, Part 1" the birds did have a short interaction with her and in "Quack Quiets the Universe" she and Quack interact as well.
Minor edit
- Ant (Voiced by Robert Tinkler): A busy male ant who appears in some episodes.
- Beaver Boy (Voiced by Tessa Marshall): A young naïve male beaver who lives in an adjoining pond to Quack's. He appears in several episodes. His desire to please his mom and dad often results in him chewing down too many trees. He often calls Quack "Blue Sailor" Peep "Yellow Guy" and Chirp "Red Round".
- Beaver Mom: (Voiced by Debra McGrath) Beaver Boy's workaholic mother.
- Beaver Dad (Voiced by Phillip Williams): Beaver Boy's businesslike father.
- Dragonfly (Voiced by Catherine Disher): A quiet dragonfly.
- Fish: Cohabitants of Quack's pond.
- Frog: A frog who lives in Quack’s pond. He rarely talks.
- Hoot (Voiced by Corinne Conley): A menacing, but kind purple female owl who lives in the Deep Dark Woods.
- Nellie (Voiced by Marium Carvell): A red female dog who acts as a seemingly maternal figure for the birds.
- Newton (Voiced by Colin Fox): An old, male, dark-green turtle who lives under an apple tree.
- Quack #2 (Voiced by Megan Mullally): An annoying pink female duck who has her own pond, built by Quack, Peep, Chirp, Beaver Boy and his parents.
- Rabbit (Voiced by Jayne Eastwood): An excitable and somewhat distracted rabbit.
- Robin (Voiced by Holly Hunter): An adult robin.
- Skunk (Voiced by Adrian Truss): A rather deadpan skunk who lives near Quack's pond.
- Bat (Voiced by Ron Rubin): A shy bat.
- Squeak (Voiced by Kathleen Laskey): An anxious pink, female mouse who lives under a brick and always worries about what could go wrong.
- Tom (Voiced by Alex Hood and Matthew Knight): A sly, male blue kitten with black stripes who often tries to eat Peep, Chirp, and Quack. He is the sole antagonist.
- Raccoon (Voiced by Jeff Lumby): A gobbo, male brown & black raccoon who often tries to wear his sun glasses in "A Peep of a Different Color"
- Blue Jays (Voiced by David Hudson): Silly blue and white birds who love to cause trouble when they see stuff.
Music composition edit
Music for Peep and the Big Wide World is composed by Terry Tompkins and Steve D'Angelo, from Eggplant. The opening theme is performed by Taj Mahal.[8]
Broadcast edit
United States edit
Peep and the Big Wide World was originally broadcast on TLC and Discovery Kids — the latter as part of the Ready Set Learn preschool block —, from April 12, 2004 to September 14, 2007. Reruns of the first three seasons continued to air until October 8, 2010 when Discovery Kids discontinued the block to make way for the new network to launch known as The Hub on October 10.
The last two seasons were broadcast exclusively on select local public television stations with episodes distributed by APT from January 4, 2010[9] to October 14, 2011, though second-runs of previous episodes began as early as April 1, 2007.[10] APT continued distributing reruns through December 2017, well after commercial networks dropped the program. A total of 60 episodes (120 segments) were broadcast.
On January 1, 2018, reruns of Peep and the Big Wide World began airing on the 24-hour PBS Kids channel, marking the first time the series aired nationally on PBS Kids. Despite being a production of PBS station WGBH, Peep and the Big Wide World was turned down by PBS in 2003 in favor of developing programming directed at "slightly older children".[11] (The series was geared toward preschool children ages 3–5; meanwhile, PBS eventually launched the PBS Kids Go! block in 2004 which was intended for children above the preschool level.) The broadcast of the series ended on December 26, 2021, when it was replaced with reruns of Dinosaur Train to the 7:30 a.m. weekend morning timeslot.[12]
APT and PBS Kids broadcasts of Peep and the Big Wide World were paired with a short episode from Pocoyo which aired immediately after each show from 2010 to 2021.
Media edit
Home video edit
WGBH Boston Video released the episodes of the first season on DVD in 2005. The 2005 DVD releases each contained six segments of the specified subject; Peep Explores, Peep Finds, Peep Floats, Peep's New Friends, Chirp Flies, and Quack Knows It All. The 2007 DVD release, Peep Figures It Out contained six segments as usual, plus two bonus segments. In 2011, PBS Kids Video released two DVDs; Seasons of Adventure, and Star Light, Star Bright, which contains episodes from seasons two and three respectively. In 2012, PBS Kids Video released two more DVDs; Finders Keepers and Bringing Spring. In 2014, PBS Kids Video released two more DVDs; Diva Duck, and Peep Discovers (which was once available as a limited release to retail stores). As of 2020, all of these DVDs are now out of print and very hard to find, but commonly found at public libraries. In Canada, Entertainment One released three DVDs in both English and French languages; Stick With Me, Peep's Moon Mission, and Flower Shower.
PBS LearningMedia shorts edit
In 2017, WGBH released PEEP and the Big Wide World: Weather Factors, a media gallery in PBS LearningMedia's Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms project. Weather Factors contains 4 newer animated shorts: PEEP and the TOO Windy Day, PEEP and the Chilly Dam, PEEP and the Changing Sky, and PEEP and the Rainy, Snowy Day.[13]
References edit
- ^ "Peep and the Big Wide World". National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
- ^ Lerner, Loren Ruth (1997). Canadian Film and Video: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature, Volume 1. University of Toronto Press. p. 218. ISBN 0802029884.
- ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 447–448. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- ^ "Peep and the Big Wide World". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- ^ "The Peep Show". National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ . 2023-05-29. Archived from the original on 2023-05-29. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ^ "Peep and the Big Wide World Credits 2004". YouTube. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2020.[dead YouTube link]
- ^ Opening video, with lyrics and credits on official page
- ^ . Archived from the original on 2015-09-10.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 20 April 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ Finucane, Martin (27 May 2003). "WGBH to Produce Commercial Show for Kids". Edwardsville Publishing Company. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ "TV Schedules - AZPM". tv.azpm.org. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ^ "PEEP and the Big Wide World: Weather Factors". PBS LearningMedia. Retrieved 2023-12-11.