Bounty Hamster

Bounty Hamster is a comic science fiction animated series that first aired in 2003. It was created by David Max Freedman and Alan Gilbey, and produced by Peafur Productions, Silver Fox, and Slightly Off Beat Productions for Winchester Television and CITV. The episode "Free Lenny" received a nomination for the TV Series For Children award at the Bradford Animation Festival in November 2002, and the series itself was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2003.

The plot follows 13-year-old Cassie Harrison, whose father was kidnapped by space pirates. She hires the only bounty hunter she can afford: a small blue hamster named Marion. The pair form an odd-couple relationship as they travel the universe searching for her father. Their spaceship, named Keith, consists of a detachable driving cockpit (used like a jolly boat to reach planets) and a larger booster component attached above it. Scenes inside the ship often show large objects and rooms appearing within it.

Running gags include Marion pulling an absurd variety of objects from his cheek pouches—once producing a cruise ship while falling off a cliff. Another recurring joke involves science fiction references, such as when C-3PO from *Star Wars* appears in the ship and Cassie asks who he is. Each episode begins with a brief recap of the setup, showing Cassie’s father being taken away, followed by Marion being revealed from a tough armored outfit while standing on stilts. The opening credits then split the screen into four quarters showing scenes from various episodes, ending with Marion’s fierce growl. The closing credits display an image of stars, and the theme tune sounds like the words "bounty hamster" set to a 3-4 beat.

Though aired in a children’s timeslot, the show has broad appeal due to frequent science fiction references, in-jokes, puns, and nods to other movies and TV series. Marion’s name and eyepatch parody John Wayne and his character in *True Grit*, and the show’s premise—a young girl losing her father and hiring a bounty hunter—is also based on that film.

Marion (voiced by Alan Marriott) is a six-inch-tall blue talking hamster who wears an eyepatch on his right eye for aesthetic reasons only. He stores countless objects in his cheek cavities. He is often angered when called "cute," leading to his catchphrase, "Don't call me CUTE!" before he goes berserk. He is typically clumsy and forgetful, exce