Stanley (2001 TV series)

Not to be confused with Stanley (1956 TV series).
Stanley
Created by Jim Jinkins
David Campbell
Voices of Charles Shaughnessy
Jessica D. Stone
David Landsberg
Ari Meyers
Rene Mujica
Shawn Pyfrom
Hynden Walch
Philece Sampler
Khylan Jones
Candi Milo
Wallace Shawn
Theme music composer Peter Lurye
Opening theme "My Man Stanley" by Baha Men
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 65
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) Cartoon Pizza
Walt Disney Television
Distributor Buena Vista Television
Release
Original network Playhouse Disney
Original release September 15, 2001 (2001-09-15) – November 26, 2004 (2004-11-26)

Stanley is an American animated television series that aired on Playhouse Disney based on the series of children's books written by "Griff" (as indicated on the cover of the original book), also known as Andrew Griffin. It was produced by Cartoon Pizza, and was developed for television by Jim Jinkins (the creator of Doug, PB&J Otter, Allegra's Window, JoJo's Circus and Pinky Dinky Doo) and David Campbell.

Stanley teaches a wide variety of issues preschool children face, including change, growth, rules, and dealing with others. Each episode centers on an animal that deals with or helps explain the issue Stanley is grappling with.

Junkanoo and reggae fusion group Baha Men, known for their hit song "Who Let the Dogs Out", sang the theme song for the series, "My Man Stanley".

Synopsis

Each episode shows Stanley (voiced by Jessica D. Stone) in a situation he does not fully understand. He discusses it with his pet goldfish Dennis (Charles Shaughnessy) before consulting the Great Big Book of Everything, a remarkably complete zoology book aimed at young children. By observing how an animal copes with the same situation Stanley faces, or how it can overcome a similar difficulty, Stanley learns to deal with the situation himself.

Throughout the show Stanley and all his preschool aged friends are able to talk to his pet cat, Elsie (Hynden Walch) and dog Harry (Rene Mujica) as well as Dennis. Other animals also seem to occasionally respond, but never talk or give a definite indication they truly understood what was said. Stanley and his friends actively try to keep the adults (that is, except Stanley's grandmother), and by extension Stanley's older brother Lionel, from realizing this.

The Great Big Book of Everything appears to be magical in nature, able to either let the animals out of the pages or allow the children to enter, sometimes changing them into animals in the process. This does not appear to be imaginary since occasionally adults do notice the noise, and Stanley works hard to hide the animals. There is also an episode where Stanley's brother sees a T-Rex in the yard, but dismisses the memory when it disappears back into the book.

The Halloween special features Stanley's grandmother who, it is implied, is a witch. She reveals that she too can work the book, and in fact was the one who gave it to Stanley. She was also the one who taught its theme song to Harry and Elsie.

When someone says the "Great Big Book of Everything", hints it out, or even has the book, Elsie and Harry will wake up or find their way into the scene and start singing. This usually annoys Dennis, who after the introductory verse, says something like "Oh not again!".

Broadcast history

In the US, the series aired on Disney Channel's daytime preschool block Playhouse Disney since its debut, September 15, 2001. When Playhouse Disney rebrands its on-air presentation in 2007, Stanley was put on a new timeslot at 6:00AM ET on the weekends. As of May 2008, Stanley no longer airs on Playhouse Disney, but DVD's and books are still available. In February 2011, the show was completely removed when Playhouse Disney rebranded as Disney Junior. The show was briefly seen online on DisneyJunior.com as part of "fan favorites" week on the week of June 20, 2011, and it cannot be seen on the internet any more. As of March 23, 2012, the series returned on the U.S. airwaves on Disney Junior.

In Canada, it ran on The Family Channel from 2002 to 2007, and then was moved to Disney Junior, which has been running since 2007. It also aired on the Canadian-French version of Disney Junior since 2010.

Characters

Cast

Awards and nominations

Emmy Award

Film

On January 3, 2006, Walt Disney Home Entertainment and Cartoon Pizza released a full-length direct-to-video movie based on Stanley. Entitled Stanley's Dinosaur Round-Up, the film centers on the titular character as he, along with Elsie, Dennis, Harry, Mimi, Lester and Marci, team up to save his Great Uncle Stew (John Ritter, who completed his work for the film before he died)'s dude ranch from the greedy Rockin' Rory (an uncredited Randy Quaid) who intends to buy the ranch and turn it into an amusement park.

Episodes

Season 1

1. "Up the Apple Tree / Kangaroo Clean-Up"

2. "Daddy Pride / Show-and-Tell Shark"

3. "Bearly Awake / The Eagle Has Landed"

4. "Watch Out for Lionels / Growing Pains"

5. "Frog Legs / Whoo's Afraid of the Dark?"

6. "Tiger Hunt / Monkey Bar Business"

7. "Camel Commotion / There's Snow Place Like Home"

8. "A Whale of a Song / Sloth for a Day"

9. "Busy Busy Octopus / Honest Ostrich"

10. "Dolphin Talk / Whole Lotta Snakin' Going On"

11. "Platypus Problems / Rabbit Habit"

12. "Savanna-Speeders! / Tyrannosaurus Wrecks"

13. "Hippo Helpers / Where's Stanley?"

14. "Penguin Party / Leave it to Beavers"

15. "The Joker / Baby Pictures"

16. "You've Got Pigeon Mail / It's a Prairie Dog's Life"

17. "Remembering with Elephants / Garbage Can Bandit"

18. "Snow Monkey See, Snow Monkey Do / Sick Day Stanley"

19. "The Big Spill" / Peekaboo Parrot"

20. "Gorilla Sleepover / Sea Lion Slip-Up"

21. "Worms at Work / Caterpillar Countdown"

22. "In a While, Crocodile / The Color of Stanley"

23. "Searching for Spring / Save the Bluebird!"

24. "The Pond Couple / Who's Afraid of Walter Wolf?"

25. "A Little Squirrel Music / A Boy's Best Friend is His Fish"

Season 2

1. "Ant Picnic / The Tooth About Teeth"

2. "Eel-ectricity / Roller Rhino"

3. "Keep 'Em Flying / Guess What's Coming For Dinner"

4. "The Really Real Dragon / A Billy Goat for Dad"

5. "Bloodhound Blues / Clock-a-Doodle-Doo!"

6. "Mistaken Mermaid / It Pays to Be a Pelican"

7. "Woodpecker Woes / P.U. Pup"

8. "Mockingbird Scat / Horsepower"

9. "Proud as a Peacock / Dances with Flamingos"

10. "Sunburn Stanley / Time for Toolfish"

11. "Web Weavers / Muddy Buddies"

12. "The Robbing Raven / Flashlight Fireflies"

13. "Mysterious Moe / Spelling Bee Situation"

14. "Follow the Lemur / Zebra Jigsaw"

15. "Hummingbird Humdinger / Koala Cuddle"

16. "Double-Duty Dad / Look Who's Helping"

17. "Tasmanian Tantrum / Sea Otter Safety"

18. "Gowing-Away Goose / Time to Climb!"

19. "Stanley's Super Spectacles / The Ugly Griffling"

20. "Doing Like Ducks / Speedy Does It"

21. "X-Ray X-tra! / Under the Umbrella Bird"

22. "I Scream for Ice Cream / Snack Savers"

23. "A Little Nightingale Music / Super Squirrel"

24. "Outfoxing Lionel / Jackrabbit Hide-and-Seek"

25. "Me and My Palfish / At the Zoo!"

Season 3

1. "To Catch a Hamster / Pearls of Wisdom"

2. "Living with Leopards / A Chinese New Year"

3. "The Way of the Buffalo / Follow That Falcon"

4. "Shell Game / Sheep and a Haircut"

5. "No News Like Shoe News / Ladybug, Ladybug"

6. "Curse of the Angry Coral / A Little Bird Told Me"

TV specials

1. "Little Dog Lost" (Christmas special)

2. "Grandma Griff's Mystery Guest" (Halloween special)

3. "A Turkey of a Thanksgiving" (Thanksgiving special)

4. "Stanley's Great Big Book of Everything Adventure"

References

    External links

    Channels

    Others

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