Ebb and Flo
An animated series about a girl and her dog.
Ebb and Flo is an animated short series co-produced by Canning Factory Productions from the UK and Hahn Film AG from Germany. The show is based on the books by children's author Jane Simmons, who wrote the first Ebb and Flo book, Ebb's New Friend, in 1998. The series aired on Five in the United Kingdom and on Noggin in the United States, featuring narration by Fiona Shaw.
Quick Facts
- Creator
- Jane Simmons
- Director
- Thomas Voigt
- Narrator
- Fiona Shaw
- Country
- United Kingdom / Germany
- Language
- English / German
- Runtime
- 5 minutes
- Company
- Canning Factory / Hahn Film AG / VGI Entertainment
- First Aired
- 2005-11-14
- Last Aired
- 2006 · 01
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The world of Ebb and Flo is seen through Ebb's eyes, revealing emotions grown-ups usually hide. Five-year-old Flo does not think of Ebb as a dog, and Ebb does not think of Flo as a child; they are simply best friends. Their life revolves around a boat moored near the mouth of a sea estuary, the boatyard, and a little dinghy they use to visit Flo's Granny, who lives up a nearby creek.
Reader's Guide
Ebb and Flo represents a gentle, character-driven animated series that adapts Jane Simmons's picture books for television. The show's significance lies in its focus on emotional honesty through the perspective of a dog, Ebb, who experiences and expresses feelings that adults often conceal. The series aired on Five in the UK and Noggin in the US, reaching a young audience with its quiet, observational storytelling. Its legacy is tied to the source books by Simmons, who won a silver Nestle Smarties Book Prize for Come On, Daisy! The co-production between UK and German studios, with Kate Canning and Gerhard Hahn as supervising directors and producers, brought a cross-cultural sensibility to the animation. The narration by Fiona Shaw adds a distinctive voice to the series. The show's setting—a boat, estuary, and Granny's house in the wilderness—creates a timeless, contained world where Ebb, Flo, and their friend Bird (a large white goose) learn life's early lessons with Ma watching from a distance.
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