Sitting Ducks is an animated children's television series based on the 1977 "Sitting Ducks" lithograph and the 1998 children's book of the same name, created by the poster artist Michael Bedard. The series first premiered internationally before debuting in the United States on Cartoon Network; reruns also aired on Qubo from 2007 until 2012.
The show lasted for two seasons each comprising thirteen episodes, with the last episode shown on July 5, 2003.
Sitting Ducks stars Bill, a duck who likes to hang out with his socially outcast best friend Aldo, the alligator. The duration of the show revolves around the daily life of the two, while also having the two seek to overcome the stigma between duck and gator-kind in their world and bring forth tolerance between the two species. The citizens of Ducktown are taught to fear and treat the alligators as monsters, while the alligators of Swampwood are taught to eat ducks, and ducks only; both of these ideas are an integral part of the culture of both respective towns.
Bill, a civilized, rational duck, seeks leisure in planes (due in part to his passion for flying and the art behind it) and painting, but more often than not he's constantly pestered by the likes of Ed, Oly, and Waddle, his gluttonous next-door neighbors. The brothers always mooch off of Bill and friends and use them for their own advantages; in essence, they are greedy, self-centered freeloaders. Bill also shares his apartment building with Fred, a melancholy immigrant penguin from the region of Antarctica.
Aldo, on the other hand, resides in Swampwood and is surrounded with temptations to consume ducks. He consistently overcomes this instinct (though, on rare occasions, he nearly eats ducks because his urges sometimes get the better of him), while also encountering resistance from fellow alligators who advise him to end his interspecies friendship with Bill; Aldo remains unwavering in his dedication to their relationship.
Secondary characters such as Bev and Cecil provide support for the main characters in the show and also drive the narrative; Bev is the owner of the characters' main hangout spot, the Decoy Café, and has the second closest friendship with Aldo. Cecil is the "only dentist in a toothless town" while also acting as scientist and an inventor. Raoul is a Spanish crow who delivers snarky commentary on Bill and makes fun of his ambitions; he often looks down on ducks because while they can't fly, crows can.
In 2000, the pitch pilots for Sitting Ducks and the sister project The Santa Claus Brothers were released. Several test animations produced by Flat Earth Productions and Metrolight Studios were included in the pilot, which consisted of scenes from the Sitting Ducks book, now in animated form. Information about the show's characters and setting were narrated by Bill's pet parrot, Jerry. Some of these animation tests were included on the Duck Cravings, Bill & Friends, and Ducktown Adventures DVDs released outside of the United States.
In 2006, Elias Entertainment, one of the show's production companies, had released a of the show titled "Duck-A-Licious", including clips from several episodes from the first and second seasons. All of the clips from season two were shown in widescreen format. Only three full segments of the show have been found in widescreen format, alongside short clips and still frames.
In its American release, the first episode of the show, "Running Ducks/Duck Naked", contained music composed by both Kick and Charlie Brissette. Uploaded on the Internet Archive in 2024, both the original versions of the episodes were found to have contained music completely composed by Kick. The version containing music from Brissette and Kick can be found on the American DVD release of the show. The Kick version was allegedly stated to have been released on Netflix.
Besides airing on Cartoon Network in the US and Japan, the series also aired in Australia on ABC3 and Nickelodeon, in Canada on CBC Television and YTV, and in the United Kingdom on CITV and Boomerang.
Sitting Ducks proved to be a big hit with the European children's show market, and as a result toys, clothing and other merchandise were created.
The show itself also spawned a few books. Quacking Up is a joke book written by Rick Walton featuring the characters from the TV show, and multiple children's picture books by Danielle Mentzer and Annmarie Harris based on various episodes. The books were released in 2004, roughly one year after the show had ended.
In May 2003, Light and Shadow Production picked up the rights from Universal to create games for Sitting Ducks.
Developed by Asobo Studio, the PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows versions are 3D action-adventure titles where the player controls Bill and Aldo in different missions based on episodes from the show, with a Multiplayer racing mode also available. An Xbox release was also planned, but was cancelled.
Developed in-house at Light & Shadow Production with The Code Monkeys assisting the PlayStation version, the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance versions are top-view adventure games where the player can control Bill, Aldo and Fred. It also features a different storyline than the PS2/Windows version. The Game Boy Advance version of the game was generally panned; according to the review aggregator Metacritic, the game received an average score of 34 out of 100, indicating "generally unfavourable reviews. The PlayStation version of the game did not receive enough reviews to earn a critic consensus.