Pecola

Pecola
Genre	CGI anime series
Created by	Naomi Iwata
Developed by	Yomiko Advertising Nelvana Sesame Workshop 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	Cartoon Network
First shown in	2001
Original run	April 21, 2003 – May 27, 2003
External links
Website

Pecola is a Japanese 3-D Anime series that was computer-generated in Canada, with 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 show stars Pecola, a curious and hyperactive penguin that tries to help the people of Cube Town but often instead wreaks havoc. The series aired on Cartoon Network in 2003, for 26 episodes. It was produced by Nelvana, Sesame Workshop and Milky Cartoon. This show uses the same graphics as in Gregory Horror Show (which was also created by Iwata).

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

Pecola is an orphaned penguin who lives with Pecolias, his Grandfather. Cube Town is an isolated small coastal village with such features as an art museum, beach, lighthouse (which has the number 36 above its entrance) and canal. It is located adjacent to Crescent Bay surrounded by the Rookery Mountains coastal range and served by regular ships (including a weekly freighter) that deliver mail, foodstuffs and other supplies plus occasional tourists from a nearby large metropolis named Cubic City. The heights above it lead into Glacier Valley which is snowbound even during summer.

Voice cast

English Cast

• Austin Di Iulio- Pecola

• Stephanie Beard- Coco

• Richard Binsley

• Donald Burda

• George Buza

• Len Carlson- Officer Kumada

• Michael Cera- Robbie Rabbit

• William Colgate- Dr. Hornbender

• Neil Crone

• Jill Frappier- Aunty Yorkshire

• Jake Goldsbie

• Keith Hampshire

• Tracey Hoyt- Hilary

• Howard Jerome

• Keith Knight- Al A.Gator

• Julie Lemieux

• Marla Lukofsky

• Sharron Matthews

• Miriam McDonald- "Chewy"(or "Chuie"/"Chewie"/"Little Chu")

• Sunday Muse

• Scott McCord

• Peter Oldring

• Stephen Ouimette

• Avery Saltzman

• Adrian Truss- Mr. Lonely

• Chris Wiggins- Pecolias

• Tom Kenny- Gazelle

• Charlie Adler- Dr. Chu

• Thea White- Cori the Squirrel

• Jennifer Hale- Various

Japanese Cast

• Umeji Sasaki- Pecolius

• Paku Romi- Rabi-san

• Mayumi Asano- Rob Pecola

• Mitsuaki Hoshino- Gao-san

• Ryusei Nakao- Saru-yama

• Kenyu Horiuchi- Gazelle

• Yu Shimaka- Mayor Papazōni

• Chika Sakamoto- Tsunekichi

Characters

• Pecola— He is a penguin that brings excitement to the otherwise dull and boring town. Unlike his fellow penguins, Pecola cannot swim. His catchphrases include exclaiming "Flapping Flippers!" and "Let's Get Hopping!" Pecola has a special love of pudding and a reputation for pulling pranks.

• Little Chu/Chewy— He is a mouse. He 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.

• Dr.Chu He is a mouse. He is Little Chu's Grand Father. He is Cube Town's greatest inventor who often invents various gadgets to help others on the island. His inventions are often used by Pecola and Chewy in their adventures often leading mischief and sometimes chaos. He is also friends with Pecola's Grandfather Pecolias.

• Coco— She is another penguin. She's 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 runs a fruit stand in town and his often the target of Pecola's pranks often leading to his melons falling over which is a recurring running gang in the show. He also runs the town's newspaper the "Town Crier" in as seen in the " The Town Crier".

• Roary A lion who is the only postman of Cube Town and rides around delivering mail on his scooter.

• Mr. Puggalski— He is a pug who owns a grocery store. He is a descendant of the former king of Cube town's personal chef.

• Dr. Hornbender A old goat who is an astrologist lives and works at the observatory. He often tells people about the stars and various discoveries he finds in his telescope.

• Rabi/Robbie— He is a nervous Rabbit who likes video games.

• Mayor Papazoni — An elephant. The mayor who makes long and boring speeches that put everyone to sleep. Papazoni gets around with a helicopter he pilots himself. Secret tunnels under the city and a Mayoral Retreat at a remote location provide a respite and opportunity 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 locomotive, The Cactus, is intended eventually to provide a direct link with Cubic City via a tunnel being constructed under the Rookery Mountains (Episode: The Wild Ride). She often stops her work on the engine to play soccer with Pecola and his friends (Episode: A Career Day).

• Granny Yorkshire She is a pig who does the laundry for the town and his often one of the few adults tolerant of pecola's shenanigans.

As she often tries to connect with Pecola and of course babysit him. She has son who currently lives in Cubic City and Pecola is said to often reminds her of him.

• Mr. and Mrs. Bernard- They are both beagles. They run the town's bakery and Mr. Bernard often falls asleep on the job and is often credited by others for his wife's work.

• Jabatt and Bashatt They both tortoises. They are the firemen of Cube Town, although they don't do much as the never is a never a fire in Cube Town. Despite this they often help out around town, they are also in charge of fireworks safety, they also help rescue people from trees, they also help water Granny Yorkshire's garden during droughts, and they often provide comic relief when they bump into each other.

• Officer Kumada A bearl. He helps keep the Cube Town safe with his various rules and observations.

• Gazelle — A gazelle. Hillary's boyfriend. Has pretensions of being a modern artist (Episode: The Wild Ride). Is very vain about his antlers (Episode: Pecola Grows Horns). He owns a convertible that he lovingly maintains and often drives about Cube Town in.

• Hillary- A Girafe. She is Gazelle's Girlfriend. She is the owner of the Cube Town Art Museum and his up one the latest fashions and trends. She is also picky on her weight which is often a running gag and also she once left to go on a trip to Cubic City.

• Ms. Lucky A blue cat. She is the reporter of Cube Town News and often on the scene reporting various things go one in the town. She also helped Pecola make a movie.

• Gola Gola He is a sea creature who is a friend to Pecola and everyone in Cube Town. He first appeared when he saved Pecola from drowning after he failed at trying to swim and they both became good friends doing many things around town. At first every in town was afraid of Gola Gola and he took the efforts Pecola, Chewy, and Dr. Chu to help get Gola Gola out of town and help him get home. Later appearances Gola Gola has become friends with everyone and has helped with various activities at the beach like the annual fishing contest where he helped deliver the grand prize a brand new yacht.(Pecola's Island) In same episode He would later save Pecola, Chewy, and Gazelle after they got stuck on an island that was near the other side of Cube Town.(Pecola's Island) He is also often seen playing with Pecola and his friends at the beach "" Gazelle's Goof""

• 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 while not sharing and declaring he is the best at whatever activity he is engaged in (Episode: Robo-Rudy) and (Tri-brag-a-Thon).

• Cori — A squirrel that runs Cori's Cafe (as chef and waitperson).

• Bongo A gorrila who is one of the strongest in Cube Town. Although his is very strong and athletic he is very apoloetic at his own strength. He also likes to collect model toy cars.

• Pecolius — A Penguin. Pecola's Grandfather who undertakes adventures on behalf of science and archeology in the vein of Indiana Jones. He appreciates Pecola's unique personality but at times reminds him to make an effort to stay out of trouble.
• Robo Pecola — A robot version of Pecola who was built by Professor Chu he looks like Pecola only silver with various buttons and can fly. He's twice as destructive as the real Pecola as he is often unaware of things and sometimes his programing along with its various gadgets gets him into trouble.

• Al.Agator he is an mysterious alligator. He keeps coming to Cube Town for an unknown reason that is left as mystery in the series he is often seen some episodes that focus on him trying show him sneaking around Cube Town and takes pictures of various things in Cube Town.

Episode guide

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

Themes explored on the show include:

• The role of the community in teaching lessons to youngsters (a la It Takes a Village)

• That adults were once young themselves and occasionally enjoy revisiting youthful pursuits of playing

• Caring for someone can involve being selfless on their behalf by considering their needs ahead of your own

• Taking responsibility for your actions and correcting the damage that results

124

References in Other Media

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.

The Running Gags

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.

- Mr. Puggalski's market stocks exotic canned goods like caramel coated kumquats and jalapeño-flavored oatmeal.

Inconsistencies and mysteries

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.

in-jokes

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 signer of the theme performing.

Video game

In Japan, an educational game based on the show was released for the Sega Pico entitled Pecola no Daibouken Maboroshi no Aisukurīmu o no 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

1. ^ Back in time with Billy Bat

External links

• Milky Cartoon homepage
• Milky Cartoon's Pecola page
• Pecola at TV.com
• Pecola at the Internet Movie Database
• YoYo TV Pecola page
• Qubo: Pecola Episode Guide