A Little Curious

A Little Curious is an American children's animated television series that ran on HBO and HBO Family for two seasons. The series premiered on February 1, 1999 until its final episode aired on May 1, 2000. The series, produced by cel and computer animation Los Angeles Animation Studio Curious Pictures, was aimed at preschoolers. It was one of the cornerstone programs for the relaunch of the HBO Family channel in February 1999.^[1][2]

A Little Curious
The main characters of the show (front row-left to right: Mr. String, Little Cup, Mary Jane, Bob the Ball, Lacey, Pad and Pencil; back row-left to right: Mrs. Shoe, Doris the Door, Mop and Mr. Shoe; Absent: Plush)
Genre	Anthology series Musical Comedy Educational
Created by	Steve Oakes
Written by	Carin Greenberg Baker Nicholas Hollander Laurie Israel Becky Mode Alana Sanko Frederick J. Stroppel
Directed by	Steve Oakes
Voices of	Cameron Bowen Amanda Kaplan Gary Yudman Marilyn Pasekoff Bob Kaliban Gerrianne Raphael Rafael Ferrer Sandy Correia
Theme music composer	The Manhattan Transfer
Opening theme	"I'm a Little Curious" performed by The Manhattan Transfer
Ending theme	"I'm a Little Curious" (instrumental) (season 1) "I'm a Little Curious" (instrumental remix) (season 2)
Composer	Pat Irwin
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	43
Production
Executive producers	Carole Rosen Sheila Nevins Susan Holden Steve Oakes Richard Winkler Tom Box
Producer	John Hoffman
Running time	24 minutes
Production company	Curious Pictures
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	February 1, 1999 (1999-02-01) – May 1, 2000 (2000-05-01)

Plot

The 24-minute episodes are essentially anthologies of shorts centered on a common, easily digested topic word such as "slippery" or "sticky". While each short draws from the same pool of characters, they are produced in a variety of animation techniques.^[3] Animation styles include stop-motion, collage animation, clay animation, traditional 3-D and 2-D hand-drawn animation, and 3-D CGI, along with live-action segments mostly narrated by Bob the Ball.^[4] Some of the shorts are designed to fit more than one topic, and are re-used in different episodes.

Characters

The pool of characters, which are anthropomorphic everyday objects, include:

Main Characters

• Bob the Ball – a cute, friendly, boisterous, exuberant bouncing red rubber ball.

Gender: Male

Voiced by: Cameron Bowen

• Little Cup – a sweetened, innocent glass cup of fruit punch who spends a lot of time learning about the world around him. He is Bob's best friend.

Gender: Male

Voiced by: Bob Kaliban

• Mr. String – a nervous, intelligent, fussy piece of blue string who can twist and tie himself into a multitude of shapes. He frequently says "definitely" and "terrible".

Gender: Male

Voiced by: Gary Yudman

• Plush – a multicolored, air-headed stuffed plush dog who is another one of Bob's best friends. Unlike the others, he mostly speaks in a strange giggly language.

Gender: Male

Voiced by: Bob Kaliban

• Mop – a rock music-loving yellow mop with turquoise hair who frequently changes her hairstyle. She is Mr. String's best friend.

Gender: Female

Voiced by: Amanda Kaplan

• Doris the Door – a pink and orange, Brooklyn-accented, two-faced automatic door, who, while being playful, is easily tired. Doris usually talks about her distant childhood.

Gender: Female

Voiced by: Marilyn Pasekoff

• Pad and Pencil – a presumably romantic drawing notebook and pencil couple who constantly flatter each other through stereotypical French accents.

Gender: Female (Pad), Male (Pencil)

Voiced by: Gerrianne Raphael (Pad), Rafael Ferrer (Pencil)

• The Shoe Family – a family of pairs of shoes with footwear-themed names. The parents are Mr. (Chuck) Shoe (brown dress shoes) and Mrs. Shoe (red high heels), and the children are Lacey (sneakers) and Mary Jane (a pair of Mary Janes). In "A Little Curious About Life", they had a baby brother named Booties. Mary Jane and Lacey are two of Bob's best friends.

Gender: Male (Mr. Shoe), Female (Mrs. Shoe, Lacey and Mary Jane)

Voiced by: Gary Yudman (Mr. Shoe), Sandy Correia (Mrs. Shoe and Lacey), Amanda Kaplan (Mary Jane)

Minor Characters

• Pairs of Shoes

Episodes

^[5][6]

Season 1 (1999)

1. Loud, Soft, Shake (February 1, 1999)
2. Light, Dark, Bubble (February 8, 1999)
3. Near, Far, Swing (February 15, 1999)
4. Slippery, Sticky, Mirror (February 22, 1999)
5. Above, Below, Cover (March 1, 1999)
6. Front, Back, Side (March 8, 1999)
7. Swing, Cover, Shake (March 15, 1999)
8. Rough, Smooth, Picture (March 22, 1999)
9. Open, Close, Ring (March 29, 1999)
10. Bubble, Picture, Mirror (April 5, 1999)
11. Thick, Thin, Twist (April 12, 1999)
12. First, Last, Step (April 19, 1999)
13. Step, Twist, Ring (April 26, 1999)
14. Empty, Full, Pop (May 3, 1999)
15. Same, Different, Beat (May 10, 1999)
16. Fast, Slow, Spin (May 17, 1999)
17. Long, Short, Roll (May 24, 1999)
18. Character Show – Bob the Ball (May 31, 1999)
19. Roll, Spin, Pop (June 7, 1999)
20. Warm, Cool, Heart (June 14, 1999)
21. Character Show – Plush (June 21, 1999)
22. Still, Move, Train (June 28, 1999)
23. Spring, Fall, Turn (July 5, 1999)
24. High, Low, Stretch (July 12, 1999)
25. Side, Stretch, Turn (July 19, 1999)

Season 2 (2000)

1. Top, Bottom, Jump (January 3, 2000)
2. Over, Under, Balance (January 10, 2000)
3. Drop, Lift, Flat (January 17, 2000)
4. Tight, Loose, Squeeze (January 24, 2000)
5. Hit, Miss, Bump (January 31, 2000)
6. Work, Play, Skip (February 7, 2000)
7. Hard, Easy, Change (February 14, 2000)
8. New, Old, Dance (February 21, 2000)
9. Lead, Follow, Act (February 28, 2000)
10. Win, Lose, Tie (March 6, 2000)
11. Push, Pull, Rock (March 13, 2000)
12. Jump, Flat, Squeeze (March 27, 2000)
13. Hard, Work, Bump (April 3, 2000)
14. Character Show - Mop (April 10, 2000)
15. Balance, Skip, Rock (April 17, 2000)
16. Push, Over, Top (April 24, 2000)
17. Drop, Loose, Change (May 1, 2000)

Special (2000)

1. A Little Curious About Life (March 20, 2000)