Ants in Your Pants
| Ants in Your Pants | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Music video |
| Created by | Kathilee Porter |
| Developed by | Treehouse TV |
| Written by | Kathilee Porter, Bryan Levy Young, Kim Sparks, Rachel Bartels |
| Creative director(s) | Kathilee Porter |
| Presented by | Lickety Split/Marty Stelnick |
| Starring | Douglas John, Judy & David, John Lithgow |
| Theme music composer | Douglas John |
| Opening theme | Douglas John |
| Ending theme | Douglas John |
| Composer(s) | Douglas John |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 107 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Susan Ross |
| Producer(s) | Kathilee Porter |
| Location(s) | Toronto, Ontario |
| Cinematography | Shawn Kelly, Andrew Baxter |
| Editor(s) | Marc Dupont |
| Running time | 27 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
YTV Productions Treehouse TV |
| Release | |
| Original network | Treehouse TV |
| Original release | November 1, 1997 – 2004 (Reruns until February 27, 2008) |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Treetown |
Ants in Your Pants Is a Canadian children's music video television program made and aired by Treehouse TV that aired from 1997 to 2004 (Reruns were going on until 2008).
Plot
The series was created and produced by Kathilee Porter.
The TV show begins with its intro, which consists mostly of CGI animations with the "Ants In Your Pants" theme, the song was written by children's music artist Douglas John.
The host, a puppet monkey in corduroy overalls, named Lickety Split, then takes over. He lives in a large tree with his mother (who is not seen, only heard or mentioned), and usually explains what he has been doing lately, and a music video is shown. Usually, there are three music videos, all separated by a Lickety Split segment. After the last music video was played, an image of scattered leaves is shown before the next Lickety Split segment.
In the second segment, the Pesky Ants, named Janesaw, Woodchip and Dusty, are introduced. They are three ants who frequently cause trouble for him, but can also be helpful and kind on rare occasions.
In the third season, "Kiddin' Around" and "Stretch and Wiggle!" are presented. "Kiddin' Around" features a CGI video camera showing kids doing fun activities. "Stretch and Wiggle" shows exercises. The last segment before the end of the show is 10 minutes long and is titled "Lickety's Tree Fort!" and features a guest star, such as Bob McGrath, Douglas John, Judy & David, and (on one occasion) John Lithgow.
Cast
- Marty Stelnick as Lickety Split
- Jason Hopley, Ben Deustch, Colin Penman as Janesaw, Woodchip, and Dusty
Soundtrack
| Ants In Your Pants - Volume 1 | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Douglas John | |
| Released | 1998 |
| Genre | Children's Music |
| Label | ZepLenz |
| Producer | Douglas John |
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ants In Your Pants" | Douglas John | 2:51 |
| 2. | "Ug A Bug" | Douglas John | 2:27 |
| 3. | "Ooey Gooey" | Dutch Robinson | 2:58 |
| 4. | "The Wiggle" | Douglas John | 2:08 |
| 5. | "Barnyard Symfunny" | The Barnyard Orchestra | 2:06 |
| 6. | "Inky Dinky Spider" | Lee Powell | 2:38 |
| 7. | "Let's Talk Turkey" | Douglas John | 2:17 |
| 8. | "Baa Lu" | The Barnyard Orchestra | 3:35 |
| 9. | "Aram Sam Sam" | Dutch Robinson | 2:29 |
| 10. | "Do Your Socks Get Soggy?" | Douglas John & MacHeel | 3:31 |
| 11. | "Woogie Boogie" | Jude Johnson | 2:39 |
| 12. | "If I Were Not A Little Kid" | Martha Johnson | 3:36 |
| 13. | "Tomato Hat" | Justin Hines | 2:45 |
| 14. | "Wiggle Em So" | Shelley Hamilton, Corey Michaels | 3:59 |
| 15. | "What The Animals Do" | Arlene Duncan | 4:00 |
Popularity
Ants in Your Pants was an entirely new concept in children's television. Although many children's programs (both at the time and in the present) were very musically based, this was the first known to feature music "videos". As a result, the show became popular with Canadian children and was widely praised by adults. Its soundtrack was a Juno nominee in 2000 for Best Children's Album. A number of music videos from the program began appearing on YouTube in 2007, with the highest-viewed video, "Tomato Hat" (which featured a young Justin Hines), peaking at more than 100,000 views. On December 13th 2015, episodes of the program have been uploaded to YouTube by GToonsAnimation. Within 50 days, it has already made over 20,000 views and growing.