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Kipper (TV series)

Animated children's television series

Summary

Animated children's television series

Field	Value
image	Kipper title card.png
caption	Title card
based_on
genre	Children's television show
Slice of life
Education
Comedy
creator	Mick Inkpen
voices	Martin Clunes
Chris Lang
Julia Sawalha
director	Mike Stuart
music	Bob Heatlie
country	United Kingdom
language	English
num_series	6
num_episodes	78
list_episodes	List of Kipper episodes
producer	Ginger Gibbons
runtime	10 minutes (approx.)
company	HIT Entertainment
network	ITV (Children's ITV)
first_aired
last_aired

Slice of life Education Comedy Chris Lang Julia Sawalha

Kipper is a British preschool animated children's television series based on the characters from Mick Inkpen's Kipper the Dog picture book series. Seventy-eight episodes were produced. The videos have won awards including a BAFTA award for best children's animation. The show was produced by HIT Entertainment with animation production by Grand Slamm Children's Films, and ran for six seasons on ITV from September 1997 until December 2000. Out of these, thirteen episodes - twelve of the first series, and the last of the third series, were written by Mick Inkpen himself.

Premise

The series follows Kipper the Dog as he embarks on various adventures to an assortment of destinations throughout the English countryside. He is joined by friends, Tiger, Pig, Arnold, and Jake.

Characters

Kipper (voiced by Martin Clunes) is a fun-loving, caring and warm-hearted dog with a soft voice who is the titular character of the series. He embodies the true essence of what it means to carpe diem. He is also very selfless, even though he hoards lots of small belongings like books and toys. Kipper is a Jack Russell Terrier who has many exciting encounters with his friends.
Tiger (voiced by Chris Lang) is Kipper's best friend. He is more realistic, practical, and wise than Kipper with a tendency to think long-term. Sometimes Tiger can be very smug and haughty, even though he really is a kind dog at heart. Tiger is a Scottish terrier.
Pig (voiced by Chris Lang) is Kipper's second best friend. Pig is very outgoing, but loves normality and gets easily irritated by anything strange or mysterious. He likes to eat chocolate cake and biscuits.
Arnold (voiced by Chris Lang) is Pig's live-in toddler cousin and Kipper's third best friend. Even though Arnold almost never talks, he is actually more curious, observant, and intelligent than Pig. He can still say easy words like "duck" and "igloo".
Jake (voiced by Chris Lang) is a friendly Old English Sheepdog who is Kipper's fourth best friend. He is a minor character in the first series who makes more regular appearances after joining the main characters in the second series where he, Kipper, and Tiger have had many adventures together.
The Magic Frog (voiced by Chris Lang) is a magical frog who Kipper met and encountered once.
The Bleeper People (voiced by Chris Lang) are two space aliens who live on the moon.
Mouse (voiced by Julia Sawalha, credited as Julie Sawalha in later appearances) is a young female mouse who lives with Kipper at his house. She is the only female character who appears in the series.

Episodes

Main article: List of Kipper episodes

Broadcast

The series aired on Children's ITV (later CITV) in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it aired on Nick Jr. and PBS Kids Sprout. It also aired in Canada on YTV around the late 1990s as a part of its YTV Jr. lineup.

Home media

UK releases

In the United Kingdom, HIT Video and HIT Entertainment PLC both released various VHS tapes and DVD releases of the television series.

Release name	Format	Release year
The Visitor and Other Stories	VHS	1998
Pig's Present and Other Stories	VHS	1998
The Little Ghost and Other Stories	VHS	1998
Snowy Day and Other Stories	VHS	1999
Kipper's Circus and Other Stories	VHS	1999
The Treasure Hunt and Other Stories	VHS	1999
Christmas Eve and Other Stories	VHS	1999
Looking after Arnold and Other Stories	VHS	2000
The Big Freeze and Other Stories	VHS	2000
Crazy Golf and Other Stories	VHS	2000
Hide and Seek and Other Stories	VHS	2001
The Flying Machine and Other Stories	VHS	2001
The Robot and Other Stories	VHS	2001
The Magic Carpet and Other Stories	VHS	2002
Classic Collection	VHS/DVD	2004
Treasured Tales	DVD	2009

US releases

In the United States, VHS tapes of the show were originally released by Hallmark Home Entertainment through Family Home Entertainment, Artisan Entertainment, and briefly Lyrick Studios, and later on, VHS tapes and DVDs were released by HIT themselves.

Video name	Format	Release date
The Visitor and Other Stories	VHS	July 14, 1999
Pig's Present and Other Stories	VHS	February 1, 2000
Snowy Day and Other Stories	VHS	August 15, 2000
Pools, Parks and Picnics	VHS/DVD	June 5, 2001
Tiger Tales	VHS/DVD	June 5, 2001
Playtime in the Park (Blockbuster Exclusive)	VHS	June 5, 2001
Imagine That	VHS/DVD	January 15, 2002
Cuddly Critters	VHS/DVD	March 5, 2002
Amazing Discoveries	VHS/DVD	June 4, 2002
Let It Snow	VHS/DVD	October 22, 2002
Playtime	VHS/DVD	January 28, 2003
Fun in the Sun	VHS/DVD	June 3, 2003
Friendship Tails	VHS/DVD	January 27, 2004
Water Play	VHS/DVD	March 23, 2004
Kipper Helps Out	VHS/DVD	August 10, 2004
Puppy Love	VHS/DVD	January 25, 2005

Digital download releases

This list is for videos that were never released on physical media and are only available on digital download in the US. There are currently only two. One is called "Tales of Adventure" featuring episodes already on other releases. The other is an alternate version of "The Visitor & Other Stories" in which the episodes are in reverse order as to how they are on the US VHS release.

Release name	Release year	Episodes
Tales of Adventure	2013
The Visitor & Other Stories	2013

Reception

Common Sense Media gives Kipper four out of five stars, and it says the show's characters are positive role models, except Tiger, "but he always learns his lessons"; all the characters "do lots of exploring and learn lessons about friendship, kindness, and the difference between right and wrong". A list published by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute names Kipper as the top television show for two- and three-year-old children because of its focus on "developing social and emotional intelligence" through interactions among its characters. HIT Entertainment chairman Peter Orton regarded the show as a potential new Snoopy as it gained popularity.

References

(2005). "Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003". McFarland & Co.
(2019). "Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film". McFarland & Co.
Shapiro, Audrey. (28 September 2006). "Kipper". [[Common Sense Media]].
(11 March 2013). "The 10 best television shows for young children". [[Thomas B. Fordham Institute]].
(May 1, 1998). "Kipper the Dog shows he is a big HIT". The Times.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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