Poppy Cat (alternatively The Extraordinary Adventures of Poppy Cat) is a British preschool animated television series, which first aired on May 2, 2011 and last aired on October 31, 2015. It is based on a series of books created by British illustrator and writer Lara Jones, and is a co-production of King Rollo Films, Coolabi Productions, Cake Entertainment and Ingenious Media (season 2) for Nick Jr. in the UK and Sprout (season 2) in the U.S., and was dubbed by Klasky Csupo for U.S. production.
Premise
The series centers on Poppy, a young neckerchief-wearing kitten heroine, leading her eccentric team of friends who are stuffed animals â Alma the bunny , Zuzu the Dalmatian puppy, an owl named Owl and Mo the mouse â who belong to a little girl named Lara, who is the narrator of the series. They walk upright, talk and go on many extraordinary adventures to faraway lands of wonder by any kind of transportation they need that matches her neckerchief, like a sailing ship, a train, an aeroplane, a hot-air balloon, a submarine, a rocket ship, a campervan, a horse-drawn carriage and their very own car. But they have to stay away from Egbert, a badger, who is rude and makes fun of them.
Characters
Main
- Lara (voiced in the UK by Maddie Page in the first season, Alisha Holmes in the second season, and in the U.S. by Cindy Robinson, credited as Gigi Sarroino) is the narrator of the show. She is a six-year-old girl with an active imagination who writes and reads stories and draws pictures about the adventures of her pet cat, Poppy, the beloved young kitten leader and her eccentric team of friends, Alma the bunny kit, Zuzu the puppy, Owl and Mo the baby mouse, and not Egbert the nasty badger.
- Poppy Cat (voiced in the UK by Joanna Page in the first season and Jessica Ransom in the second season, and in the U.S. by Haley Charles, credited as Cake Charles) is the main protagonist in the series. She is the leader of the group. She is a feisty, imaginative, cheerful and happy-go-lucky young orange ginger tabby kitten with a big white face and long whiskers and she wears a magic multi-colored neckerchief that takes her and her stuffed animal friends on extraordinary adventures by any type of vehicle they need that matches her neckerchief pattern. She's an adventurer, a heroine, an imagineer, a dreamer, and a devoted best friend to her stuffed animal friends. Poppy's heroic gusto and unquenchable curiosity propel each adventure for her and her friends, often leading to unexpected experiences and discoveries. She is highly conscious of those around her and will go to the ends of the Earth to solve a problem. Poppy likes adventure, but her top priority is always her friends, which is why she is the unspoken leader of her little gang. She's the glue that holds them all together. On her birthday adventure, she wears a pink hat and serves as the Birthday Captain. Her catchphrases are "Would you like to come along?", "Would you like to play?", "Hoop-dee-doo!", "Hooray!", "That's a great idea!", "Come on, everybody!", "Okey-doke, we're off!" and "But first, we're going to need...(type of vehicles)!"
- Zuzu (voiced in the UK by Joanna Ruiz and in the U.S. by Katie Leigh) is a speedy young black and white plush toy Dalmatian puppy with black spots. He is Poppy's best friend who loves doing tricks on his skateboard and laughs very loudly. Zuzu is an adrenaline junkie who is competitive, loud, and practically fearless. He is quite impulsive and cool, quick to laugh at a joke, impatient when it comes to manners and protocol, and a good sport most of the time.
- Alma (voiced in the UK by Nicola Hornett and in the U.S. by Alicyn Packard) is a giggly young pink and white plush toy European rabbit kit with a big pink tummy, pink circles on her cheeks, and in the US dub, she speaks in a Western accent. She often arrives at Poppy's breathless and worked up about a situation, though in the face of danger, she can be quite blithe, to Mo's . Alma, who fancies herself quite a singer, often coaxes her best friend Mo to sing a duet. Mo has an unspoken little crush on Alma and worries about her a little bit. The chatty rabbit is a loyal, affectionate friend who likes jewelry, the color pink, and picnics. She treasures a special seashell that Mo gave her to hear the ocean. In the mystery-solving adventures, she wears glasses with white fluffy eyebrows and red nose and a black pointy beard. Her catchphrases are "Oh, Poppy!", "Hoop-dee-doo!" and "Hooray!" She is implied to have numerous relatives, including a little brother named Chester.
- Mo (voiced in the UK by Charlie Cameron, and in the U.S. by Stephanie Darcy) is a feisty baby pink stuffed toy mouse with a yellow head, pink ears and a striped tail. He loves singing songs with Alma and eating cheese sandwiches, wears a red and green striped tanktop and is Alma's best friend who never gets squashed. In the mystery-solving adventures, he wears a black mustache. He is the youngest of the group.
- Owl (voiced in the UK by Chris Neill, and in the U.S. by Donald King) is a know-it-all brown stuffed toy Eurasian eagle owl who wears a turquoise and purple striped wool hat with a purple pompom on top. He considers himself an expert on almost everything, knowledge that he has gleaned from books or his travels. Though he has traveled very far from his comfortable house, Owl's directions are usually comically convoluted. Owl may complain about Zuzu's inadvertent path of destruction, but he has a soft spot for each of his friends. He's especially supportive of the timid Mo, and like everyone, has great respect for Poppy Cat. Owl likes the finer things in life: a soft coconut-leaf nest, a cup of hot chocolate, and a quick nap whenever he can catch one. He also likes to perform. He is the oldest of the group.
- In the episode "Royal Toad", his singing voice is provided by Spanish tenor opera legend Plácido Domingo.
- Egbert (voiced in both the UK and U.S. by Teresa Gallagher) is the main antagonist of the series. He is a grumpy, short-tempered, arrogant, rude, stout, sneaky and adenoidal stuffed toy European badger cub and the master of disguise with an English accent in both the UK and US. He is very desperate to be part of the group, although only by his rules, but rather than accept their invitation to play (or go on an adventure), Egbert always has 'top secret stuff' to go to on his own way, only to always meet the group again, in their adventure. There, he will insert himself into their journey, costumed as a ridiculous antagonist of his own invention. Depending upon their location, Egbert may fancy himself to be a pirate, troll, or sea monster. His nerdy, eccentric energy elicits groans from everyone but Poppy. Egbert pretends not to know 'this Egbert', and always stays in character. He hates their friends' fun.
Supporting
- Gilda (voiced in both the UK and U.S. by Teresa Gallagher) is a scatter-brained pigeon with an English accent.
- Rocket Cat (voiced in the UK by Richard Jones, and in the U.S. by Rick Zieff, credited as Danny Katiana) is Poppy Cat's favorite superhero. He appears in numerous episodes each time Poppy Cat and her friends visit outer space.
- Mother Bumblebird (voiced in the UK by Teresa Gallagher, and in the U.S. by Lara Jill Miller) and The Bumblebirds are a family of yellow long-necked birds that live in a big purple nest in the snowy mountains or in the sky.
Minor
- Ravi (voiced in the UK by Teresa Gallagher and in the U.S. by Kodi Smit-McPhee) is Poppy's pen pal from Tiger Island. He is a young and friendly plush toy tiger cub who has a broken arm and can't play with the other tigers, and only Poppy and her friends would play with him. In later episodes, however, RaviâÂÂs arm is healed and his cast is gone.
- Chester (voiced in the UK by Teresa Gallagher and in the U.S. by Nancy Cartwright) is Alma's baby brother who is four years old. He is a baby white and blue plush toy rabbit kit boy with a big blue tummy and a Western accent who occasionally goes on adventures with his older sister Alma and the rest of the crew.
Episodes
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Season 1 (2011)
Season 2 (2014âÂÂ15)
Production
Poppy Cat was announced on 2 April 2004, when Zenith Entertainment and distribution company Cake Entertainment had partnered to produce an animated series based on the Poppy Cat books by Lara Jones with producer Andrew Banner adapting & developing the series whilst the upcoming animated series Poppy Cat would be made at Zenith Entertainment's London production office, Cake Entertainment would handle distribution rights to the upcoming series.
Two years later in September 2006, independent international media & intellectual property group Coolabi had brought Zenith Entertainment's children production division including the upcoming television series Poppy Cat as Coolabi had assumed production for the upcoming series.
Broadcast
Poppy Cat has aired in over 140 territories, including Sprout and NBC Kids in the United States as a US-dubbed series, Disney Junior in Latin America and Spain (as La gatita Poppy and La Gata Lupe), KiKA in Germany (as Poppy Katz), Poland on MiniMini+ (as Kotka Pusia), Baraem, Children's Channel and e-vision in U.A.E, SVT in Sweden, S4C's children's block Cyw in Wales (as Popi'r Gath), EBS in Korea, Kids Station in Japan, Okto in Singapore, Disney Junior and RTP2's block Zig Zag in Portugal, Nickelodeon in Australia, Clan in Spain, Rai Yoyo in Italy, Minika ÃÂocuk in Turkey, TVOKids and Knowledge Network in Canada, NRK in Norway, Yle in Finland, RTÃÂjr in Ireland, Mini CITV, Channel 5, ITVBe and Nick Jr. in the United Kingdom and France 5 in France. Poppy Cat first launched on KiKA in Germany in May 2015, with the second series released in April 2017.
Poppy Cat aired by accident on NBC affiliate WSMV-TV in Nashville on 26 October 2014, instead of the Manchester United-Chelsea Premier League match, sparking complaints on Twitter. WSMV-TV rejoined the game in the process.
References
External links