Big Bag
A preschool series featuring Muppets and animated shorts.
Big Bag is an American live-action/animated puppet children's television series created by Nina Elias-Bamberger for Cartoon Network and Children's Television Workshop. Targeted at preschool viewers, it was co-produced by Cartoon Network and Sesame Workshop, with Muppet characters created by the Jim Henson Company. The show aired from 1996 to 1998, with reruns airing through 2001, alongside another program titled Small World.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Puppetry
- Educational
- Sketch comedy
- Creator
- Nina Elias-Bamberger
- Developer
- Lou Berger
- Allan Neuwirth
- Gary Cooper
- Director
- Emily Squires; Yoram Gross
- Voices
- María Conchita Alonso
- Fran Brill
- Kevin Clash
- Allen Enlow
- James Spector
- Narrator
- Andrew Sachs ("William's Wish Wellingtons" segment)
- Theme music
- Michael Abbott; Sarah Weeks
- Opening theme
- "Big Bag!"
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The show's main Muppet is Chelli, a dog, who runs a general store on Main Street with his best friend, Bag. They live in an unnamed town alongside their human friend Molly and several other animals, each named after its species. Two sock puppets, Lyle the Sock and Argyle McSock, work as stockroom boys. Season two introduced a humanoid Muppet named Sofie. During the first season, the cast frequently interacted with many human regulars, including local children and other colorful townspeople.
Cast and characters
Chelli, a patchwork dog, is the main Muppet character and is performed by Joey Mazzarino. Ed Eyth designed him, and Rollie Krewson built him. His best friend is Bag, an anthropomorphic cloth bag performed by Rickey Boyd. Bag communicates in gibberish that the other characters seem to understand. Two Muppet socks, Argyle and Lyle, are known for telling knock-knock jokes, which Lyle calls sock-sock jokes. Lyle has a Brooklyn accent, while Argyle speaks with a Scottish accent. Rickey Boyd and Joey Mazzarino performed them from 1996 to 1997, then Jeff Conover took over from 1997 to 1998. Sofie, a Muppet girl performed by Alice Dinnean, joins the cast in the second season. Additional puppets were handled by Jeff Conover, Andy Stone, and Matt Vogel. The human characters include Molly, played by Selena Nelson; Kim, played by Tessa Ludwick; Joey, played by John Mountford and Adrian Smith; Bernard, a crossing guard played by Cullen Douglas; Trudy, Martha, and Josie, all played by Clare Sera; Doc Furrball and Waldo Muckle, both played by Cullen Douglas; and the Neighborhood Kids, played by Ashley Jones and Jamie Ryan. Voice actors include María Conchita Alonso as Troubles the Cat, Fran Brill as Nina, Ashley Carin as Sarah, James Spector as Ace, Kevin Clash as Avery, Allen Enlow as Samuel, Pam Lewis as Little Chick, Andrew Sachs as the Narrator, and James Spector as Slim Pig.
Animated segments
The show framed seven animated segments, each running approximately 3 to 8 minutes, produced by studios in New York City, Australia, and Europe with consultation from Sesame Workshop and Cartoon Network. Troubles the Cat is the first original cartoon based on Latino characters to air in the United States, created by then 5-year-old Marina Mendez and Karen Mendez Smith and developed for television by Nina Elias-Bamberger, Jim Martin, Marie Poe, Luis Santeiro, and Nina Shelton. It features a six-year-old Latina girl named Marina and her multicultural friends; her cat Troubles uses a troublescope to sniff out relationship problems. 24 episodes were made, and it was the only short, along with Koki, carried into the second season. William's Wish Wellingtons follows William, whose magic Wellington boots make any wish come true; 13 of 26 episodes made were aired, with narration by Andrew Sachs. Slim Pig is a two-dimensional pig in a three-dimensional world who can slide between barriers and assume various shapes; 13 of 39 episodes made were aired.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Big Bag first air?
Big Bag first aired on 2 June 1996.
When did Big Bag end?
Big Bag last aired on 11 May 1998.
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