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Pecola
Genre CGI anime series
Created by Naomi Iwata
Developed by Yomiko Advertising
Nelvana
Milky Cartoon
Directed by Mike Fallows
Dan Wakabayashi
Voices of (See article)
Country of origin  Japan
 Canada
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 26
Production
Executive producer(s) Michael Hirsh
Naomi Iwata
Patrick Loubert
Clive A. Smith
Makoto Toriyama
Producer(s) Kim Cleary
Running time 30 min.
Broadcast
Original channel Canada Teletoon
First shown in 2001
Original run April 21, 2003 – May 27, 2003
External links
Website

Pecola is a 3D Japanese anime series from Canada which stars cube-shaped anthropomorphic animals in a place called Cube Town. It is based on a series of children's picture books by Naomi Iwata.[1] The series aired on Cartoon Network in 2003 for 26 episodes. It was produced by Nelvana and Milky Cartoon. This show uses the same graphics as Gregory Horror Show, which was also created by Iwata.

The series has also been shown on TV Tokyo, Teletoon in Canada, YoYo TV in Taiwan, Nick Jr. in Australia and qubo in the US.

The show stars Pecola, a curious and hyperactive penguin who tries to help the people of Cube Town but often wreaks havoc instead. Pecola is an orphaned penguin who lives with Pecolias, his grandfather. Cube Town is a small, isolated coastal village which contains an art museum, a beach, a lighthouse and a canal. It is located adjacent to Crescent Bay surrounded by the Rookery Mountains coastal range and serviced by regular ships (including a weekly freighter) which deliver mail, food and other supplies, as well as occasional tourists from a nearby metropolis named Cubic City. The heights above it lead into Glacier Valley which is snowbound even during summer.

Contents

Voice cast [link]

English Cast

Japanese Cast

Characters [link]

  • Pecola— A penguin who brings excitement to the otherwise dull and boring town. Unlike his fellow penguins, Pecola cannot swim. His catchphrases include "Flapping Flippers!" and "Let's Get Hopping!" Pecola has a special love of pudding and a reputation for pulling pranks.
  • Little Chu/Chewy— A mouse who is the grandson of the great inventor Dr. Chu, and a budding inventor in his own right. He is Pecola's best friend and often reluctant ally in various escapades. He often complains of having a funny feeling in his stomach just before things get out of hand. He owns two vehicles one is a submarine and also an airplane called the Mad Mouse which sits on top his laboratory.
  • Dr. Chu— A mouse who is Little Chu's grandfather. He is Cube Town's greatest inventor and he often invents gadgets that help others on the island. His inventions are often used by Pecola and Chewy in their adventures. He is also friends with Pecola's grandfather, Pecolias.
  • Coco— Another penguin. She is more down to earth than Pecola, and is sometimes frustrated by his antics. She loves to sing; unfortunately, she is terrible at it.
  • Mr. Saruyama— A monkey who runs a fruit stand in town. He is often the target of Pecola's pranks, often leading to his melons falling over, which is a running gag in the show. He also runs the town's newspaper, the "Town Crier" .
  • Gao/Roary— A lion who is Cube Town's postman.
  • Pug/Mr. Puggalski— A pug who owns a grocery store. He is a descendant of the personal chef of the former king of Cube Town.
  • Dr. Hornbender— A old goat astrologist who lives and works at the observatory.
  • Rabi/Robbie— A nervous Rabbit who likes video games.
  • Mayor Papazoni— An elephant. The mayor who makes long and boring speeches. Papazoni travels in a helicopter that he pilots himself. He hides in secret tunnels under the city and at a Mayoral Retreat to work on his speeches, undisturbed by residents and their questions. Constantly refers to the citizens of Cube Town as "voters". His voice is an imitation of veteran newsman Walter Cronkite.
  • Steam / Stim / Steamer— A cat train mechanic and engineer. Chewy, Pecola, and Rudy are smitten with her, which is the cause of tensions and arguments among the three. Her train, The Cactus, is intended eventually to provide a direct link with Cubic City via a tunnel being constructed under the Rookery Mountains . She often stops her work on the engine to play soccer with Pecola and his friends.
  • Aunty Yorkshire— A pig who does the laundry for the town and is often one of the few adults tolerant of Pecola's shenanigans.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Banard/Bernard- Two beagles. They run the town's bakery, though Mr. Bernard often falls asleep on the job and is credited by others for his wife's work.
  • Jabatt and Bashatt— Two tortoises. They are Cube Town's firemen, although there are never fires in Cube Town. Despite this, they often help out around town, and they often provide comic relief when they bump into each other.
  • Officer Kumada— A bear. He helps keep the Cube Town safe with his various rules and observations.
  • Mr. Lonely- A wolf. He is a poet who is usually found writing and reciting sad poetry. He also once rapped. In Coco's concert
  • Gazelle — A vain gazelle; Hillary's boyfriend. He dreams of being a modern artist. He owns a convertible that he lovingly maintains and often drives about Cube Town in.
  • Srally/Hillary- A giraffe; Gazelle's girlfriend. She owns Cube Town Art Museum and is very fashionable. She is also picky about her weight, which is a running gag in the show.
  • Miss Lucky— A blue cat who reports for Cube Town News. She also helped Pecola make a movie.
  • Golagola/Gola Gola— A friendly sea creature who saved Pecola from drowning. At first, the town feared him, but they came to accept him. He has helped with various beach activities and is often seen playing with Pecola and his friends at the beach.
  • Tsunekichi/Rudy— Pecola's fox friend whose catchphrases are "I knew that" and "I was going to say/ask that". He is prone to bragging and showing off his latest toys, not sharing and declaring he is the best at whatever activity he is engaged in.
  • Bongo— A very strong and athletic gorilla who is kind, but is often clumsy as either bumps into something or breaks something though apologizes for it with a trademark"Sorry". In it was revealed he collects model cars.
  • Pecolius— A penguin. Pecola's grandfather who bears a resemblance to Indiana Jones because of his adventures in the name of science and archeology. He appreciates Pecola's unique personality, but at times reminds him to stay out of trouble.
  • Robo-Pecola— A robot version of Pecola who was built by Dr. Chu.
  • Alligetao/Al Agator— A mysterious alligator. He is seen sneaking around Cube Town, taking pictures.

Episode guide [link]

No. Segment 1 Segment 2 Airdate Prod.
code
1 Double Troubles (Pilot) Detective Pecola 21 April 2003 101
2 Constellation Pecola Good Deeds 22 April 2003 102
3 Fire Drill Frenzy Hurricane Pecola 23 April 2003 103
4 Robo-Rocket Mayor Muddle 24 April 2003 104
5 Your Wish is my Command Robbie to the Rescue 25 April 2003 105
6 One Lonely Night Miss Lucky's Bloopers 28 April 2003 106
7 Spring Cleaning Monster Moth 29 April 2003 107
8 The Cube Town Tri-Brag-a-Thon The Wild Ride 30 April 2003 108
9 Half Baked Hide 'N' Go Sleep 1 May 2003 109
10 Not Seeing is Disbelieving Melancholy Pecola 2 May 2003 110
11 Pecola's Penguin Special Bot and Switch 5 May 2003 111
12 Golagola Operation Papazoni 6 May 2003 112
13 High and Dry Two Brilliant Inventors 7 May 2003 113
14 Ode to Pecola Laundry Quandary 8 May 2003 114
15 Cool It! Yeti or Not 9 May 2003 115
16 The Curse of Cube Town Postman Pecola 12 May 2003 116
17 Runway Pecola Pecola's Island 13 May 2003 117
18 The Town Crier Pecola Grows Horns 14 May 2003 118
19 Coco's Concert Spaceman Pecola 15 May 2003 119
20 Robo-Rudy Lights, Camera, Pecola! 16 May 2003 120
21 A Career Day Power Pecola 19 May 2003 121
22 Prince Puggalski Painting Pecola 20 May 2003 122
23 Pecola and the Pirates Mysterious Pecola 21 May 2003 123
24 Gazelle's Goof Pecola in a Yacht of Trouble 22 May 2003 124
25 Yorkshire's Puddin Pecola's Tunnel Trouble 23 May 2003 125
26 Yo! Pecola Great Cubes of Fire! (Series Finale) 27 May 2003 126

Themes [link]

Themes explored on the show include:

  • That adults were once young themselves and occasionally enjoy revisiting youthful pursuits
  • Caring for someone involves being selfless and considering their needs ahead of your own
  • Taking responsibility for your actions and correcting the damage that results

References in other media [link]

Pecola was an art rock band from Toronto Canada at the end of the 90s. They released a 7 and 12 inch on Teenageusa recordings and a CD on Kosherrock records.

Running gags [link]

The series has a few running gags, including:

  • Every time Pecola comes to Mr. Saruyama's shop, his perfectly stacked melons are knocked down, either by Pecola or Mr. Saruyama himself.
  • Mr. Bernard always sleeps on the job but also gets all of the credit for doing the work.
  • Mayor Papazoni generally doesn't notice his speeches induce sleepiness.
  • Coco's singing is terrible.
  • Pecola, Chewie, and Rudy's infatuation with Steamer.
  • Jabatt and Bashatt's constant clumsiness.
  • Steamer is always repairing her train The Cactus which is prone to breakdowns.

Inconsistencies and mysteries [link]

In the episode Gazelle's Goof Hillary leaves in Gazelle's car to spend the day in Cubic City. Most episodes portray Cube Town as isolated and depending on ships to get mail and foodstuffs. For example in The Wild Ride Hillary and Gazelle lament their isolation from urban dynamism living in Cube Town, which make no sense if a trip to Cubic City is possible via a roadway.

In the episode Miss Lucky's Bloopers a reference is made to Miss Lucky's cameraman. But this person is never seen and in wide shots of her stand ups Miss Lucky is shown standing in front of a stationary camera with no one operating it.

In the episode Monster Moth Rudy at one point says "Hi Mom!" into Miss Lucky's camera. But his parents are never shown in the series or otherwise mentioned. The same parental absence applies to Coco and Robbie. And the status of Chewy's parents is unclear—he lives with his grandfather but whether this means he is also orphaned like Pecola is never clarified.

In the some of the shows episodes Dectetive Pecola Hide and Go Sleep" and The Mysterious Pecola a mysterious aligator often mysteriously visits the small island. It left unclarified and unanswered even when the show ended. On why he comes to Cube Town and take pictures of everything. His purpose and appearances in the show has been used to provide a purpose of being the source of mystery in his appearances show.

Meta-jokes [link]

In the episode Golagola, when Pecola turns on the TV to watch cartoons the opening title sequence is shown!

In some episodes, Pecola is seen with a camera whose brand name is "Alocep", which is "Pecola" backwards!

In the episode Coco's Concert the song she practices and sings is the theme song for the show! Her "strained" voice where she suddenly sounds great is the actual singer of the theme performing.

Video game [link]

In Japan, an educational game based on the show was released for the Sega Pico entitled Pecola no Daibouken Maboroshi no Aisukurīmu wo Sagase! (ペコラのだいぼうけん まぼろしのアイスクリームをさがせ!)


References [link]

  1. ^ Back in time with Billy Bat

External links [link]

Milky Cartoon homepage


https://wn.com/Pecola

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