Under the Umbrella Tree

Under the Umbrella Tree

Title card for the 30-minute specials
Created by Noreen Young
Starring Holly Larocque
Bob Stutt
Stephen Brathwaite
Noreen Young
Country of origin Canada
No. of episodes 280
Production
Running time 15 minutes
Release
Original network CBC
Original release 11 September 1986 – 20 June 1993
External links
Website

Under the Umbrella Tree is a Canadian children's television series created by Noreen Young that originally aired on CBC from 1986–1993. The show was produced by CBC and Noreen Young Productions,[1] and also later by The Disney Channel which began airing the show on May 7, 1990.[2]

The series centers on a diverse set of main characters who share a house on Spring Street in a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario. The characters include Holly (a human), Iggy (an iguana), Jacob (a blue jay), and Gloria (a gopher). The show's title is derived from the fact that the characters live together in a home featuring a prominent indoor umbrella tree.

When production of the show ended in 1993, syndication continued on The Disney Channel until 1997, and on YTV and Canal Famille until 1997. Twenty-seven episodes of the show were released to DVD by Cinerio Entertainment in partnership with Noreen Young in 2006, following a long wait for expiration of ownership rights.

Overview

The series

280 episodes were produced over the years; 270 are 15 minutes long; ten are 30-minute specials.. Every episode focuses on a different theme, such as sports, holidays, singing, dancing, exercise, and various other activities. However, valuable life lessons are often woven into every story, such as the importance of keeping promises, being considerate of others, or assuming responsibility for one's actions.

The show's characters were created by Ken Sobol, who also wrote the majority of the series episodes. Sobol had previously worked closely with Noreen Young on Readalong and Téléfrançais, two other children's television series.

Characters

Jacob Bluejay with puppeteer Stephen Brathwaite in 2006.

Recent developments

In 1997, Under the Umbrella Tree reruns were placed on hiatus, after The Disney Channel stopped allowing the airing of the program and shelved the episodes. Since Disney owned all rights to the show, airing reruns on another television station was not possible until the rights expired in 2005.

From 2009 to 2011, Under The Umbrella Tree aired on TV3 Medford weekdays and weekends as part of the network's children's block.

DVD releases

In 2006, Noreen Young Productions in unison with Cinerio Entertainment began selling several episodes on DVD. To date, eight volumes have been released, with Volumes 1, 2, 3 & 4 featuring all-new introductions to the episodes with Iggy, Gloria and Jacob, played by their original performers.

Volume 1: Bird-Brain, Hamster Hullabaloo, The Trombone, The Best Hiding Place Ever, Uncle Jack Comes Back.
Volume 2: Chez Iggy, Hanky Panky, The Gingerbread House, Love-Valentine's Day (1/2 hour Special).
Volume 3: To The Dentist, Migration Party, Jacob's Girlfriends, Going Bananas, Stargazing.
Volume 4: Gloria Gets Rough, Private, The Aqua Show, Live and Learn: Back To School (1/2 hour Special).
Volume 5: Twins, Cranky Movie, Chickadee Tea, Christmas Under The Umbrella Tree (1/2 hour Special).
Volume 6: Iggy's Collection, The Princess and the Pea Soup, Sir Jacob of Blue, The Tooth Fairy, Small Worlds.
Volume 7: Growing, Gloria’s Allowance, The Accordion Lesson, Piano Lessons (1/2 hour Special featuring Jon Kimura Parker).
Volume 8: Safety Poster Contest, Gloria Can’t Sleep, Singing Telegrams, Hockey Holly, Iggy’s Airlines.

References

  1. Under the Umbrella Tree (1986) credits. IMDb.com. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  2. The Disney Channel Magazine, Vol. 8, no. 2 (typo in magazine: should be "no. 3"), May/June 1990: pp. 37, 45.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 26, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.