A Little Curious

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A Little Curious is a children's television show that aired on HBO Family. The show, produced by Curious Pictures and HBO, was aimed at preschoolers. It was one of the cornerstone programs for the relaunch of the HBO Family channel in February 1999.

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

Video A Little Curious

Characters

The "pool" of characters, generally based on everyday objects, include:

• Bob the Ball - a boisterous, exuberant bouncing red rubber ball.

Gender: Male

Voiced by: Cameron Bowen

• Little Cup - a cute, woefully 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 bit of string who can twist and tie himself into a multitude of shapes. He also bears a striking resemblance to Earthworm Jim.

Gender: Male

Voiced by: Gary Yudman

• Plush - a multi-colored stuffed dog who is Bob's best friend.

Gender: Male

Voiced by: Bob Kaliban

• Mop - a cute rock music-loving teenage mop who often changes her "hairstyle". She is Mr. String's best friend.

Gender: Female

Voiced by: Amanda Kaplan

• Doris the Door - a door, who, while playful, is easily tired. Doris often talks about her distant childhood.

Gender: Female

Voiced by: Marilyn Pasekoff

• Pad and Pencil - a presumably married drawing pad and pencil couple who constantly fawn over each other through French accents à la Lumiére and Fifi/Babette in Beauty and the Beast and its 2017 live-action remake.

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 such as "Mary Jane". The parents are Mr. 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. Bob is Lacey's best friend and Little Cup is Mary Jane's best friend.

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

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

The characters appear to be designed to evoke a sense of familiarity in preschoolers. For instance, young children can see aspects of their own personalities in Bob and Little Cup, observe the family dynamic among the Shoe Family, and perhaps most obviously, see a bit of their grandparents in Doris the door.

Maps A Little Curious

Episode guide

Season 1 (1999)

1. Loud, Soft, Shake (January 26, 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 20, 2000)
13. Hard, Work, Bump (March 27, 2000)
14. Character Show - Mop (April 3, 2000)
15. Balance, Skip, Rock (April 10, 2000)
16. Push, Over, Top (April 17, 2000)
17. Drop, Loose, Change (April 24, 2000)
18. A Little Curious About Life (August 15, 2000)

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References

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External links

• A Little Curious at HBO Family (Archive)
• A Little Curious on IMDb
• A Little Curious at TV.com

Source of article : Wikipedia