Ox Tales

Ox Tales, also known as The Tales of Boes' Gang (げらげらブース物語, Geragera Būsu Monogatari), is an animated television series produced by Telecable Benelux B.V. and Cosmos Studio in association with Saban Entertainment. It was a co-production between Japan and the Netherlands based on a Dutch comic strip Boes created by Wil Raymakers and Thijs Wilms. The series ran on the Japanese network TV Tokyo from April 7, 1987^[1]–March 29, 1988. It consists of 102 15-minute episodes, which were usually transmitted as 51 half-hour shows of two episodes each.

The series has been aired in many countries outside Japan and has been dubbed and subtitled in English and numerous other languages.

The plot follows the adventures of Ollie the ox as he runs The Funny Farm, containing possibly every creature known, with his best friend Jack the turtle while narrated by a sarcastic toucan.

Ox Tales still continues to appear as a column strip in several Dutch daily and weekly newspapers.

Characters

Main characters

• Ollie, the ox - Ollie is the owner of the Funny Farm and isn't exactly the greenest grass on the farm. Although he means well, he sometimes makes situations worse than they usually are, but this is usually rare.
• Jack Turtleson, the turtle- Jack is probably Ollie's best friend, as he's seen mostly hanging out with him in each episode. However, in every mess that he and Ollie get into, you can bet that his shell will break apart at least once.
• Sammy, the dog - Ollie's most loyal pet on the farm who sometimes accompanies Ollie and Jack on their adventures.

Others

• Edward the elephant - When an air hose or a water hose is needed, Edward comes through.
• Ellen the elephant
• Igor the octopus - Igor is literally inflatable.
• Crown the eagle
• Gaylord the gorilla - A prime primate who usually doesn't know his own strength at times.
• Bongo the gorilla
• Audrey the ostrich - She usually has her head stuck in the ground somewhere on the funny farm.
• Rodney the rhino - A hot-headed rhino who can't seem to keep his horn on or even in one piece.
• Holly the kangaroo
• Bob the kangaroo
• Weave the kangaroo
• Jenny the kangaroo
• Turbo Tail Teddy the kangaroo
• Larry the cheetah
• Lenny the lion - Probably past his prime, as evidenced by his balding mane, Lenny fancies himself as a great hunter, although he can't seem to take the initiative when he finally catches his meal.
• Towilla the toucan - A sarcastic toucan who is the narrator of the show.
• Bruce the bear - A greedy bear who often tries to steal Ollie's honey.
• Buggy the stork
• Horace the horse - A hot-headed and stubborn horse that tends to have a knack for fighting.
• Moe the mole - Pops up from time to time as a segue between scenes, usually laughing at a comedic situation with a laugh similar to Woody Woodpecker's, although he knows when to keep his laughter under control, especially with situations involving crocodiles. Sometimes his laughter is interrupted by something related to the situation he's laughing at.
• Harry the sloth
• Hannah the hen - Leader of a gang chickens that don't take kindly to having their eggs stolen by predators.
• Mr. Croack frog
• Bibbo the owl
• Jojo the baboon
• Samson the seal
• Shirley the sheep
• Walter the woodpecker
• Willy the woodpecker
• Hilda the hippo
• Robby the rooster
• Paul the polar bear
• Down Hill Donny the stork
• Nessie the cow
• Calvin the calf - a juvenile cow who always has the need to suck on an udder.
• Topsy the aardvark
• Tom the turkey
• Tim the orangutan
• Patrick the porcupine
• The MacDuffs the storks
• Snuffles the panda
• Zane the zebra - a zebra who has about as much stubbornness as Horace.
• Peggy the pig - Usually she'll be found feeding her piglets.
• Peter the pig
• Jolly the dolphin
• Tiger the cat
• Cecil the skunk- a mischievous skunk with both a copious flatulence problem and a rather sadistic habit of only wanting to relieve his massive amounts of gas, if he can do so in the presence of others.
• Bura the crow
• Rott the parrot
• Cal the crocodile - a crocodile with a big mouth and a big appetite, and will try to eat any animal on the farm, but fails to do so in any way.
• Morris the mouse - A strategic mouse who knows how to get away in a hurry, and ruin mouse-capturing plans of others in the process.
• Calvin the cat - He's the resident mouse hunter on the farm, although Morris mostly gets the better of him.

Credits

Original credits

• Directors: Hiroshi Sasagawa, Haramaki Naka (co-director)
• From an original idea by: Wil Raymakers, Thijs Wilms
• Music: Shinsuke Kazado, Clous van Mechelen
• Special effects and sound design : Hisao Shirai
• Series Composition: Matsue Jinbo, Tony Dirne, Rob Dirne
• Writers: Nao Furukawa, Toshi Ohira, Mario de Vries
• Producers: Dennis Livson, Kazuo Tabata

English version credits

• Executive producer: Haim Saban
• Supervising producer: Winston Richard
• Directors: Robert V. Barron, Tom Wyner
• Executive in charge of production: Jerald E. Bergh
• Associate producer: Eric S. Rollman
• Script supervisor: Tony Oliver
• Music by: Haim Saban & Shuki Levy
• Original idea & character designs: Wil Raymakers, Thijs Wilms

English dubbed episode writers

• Tracy Alexander
• Robert Axelrod
• Robert V. Barron
• Robert Benedict
• R. Dwight
• Richard Epcar
• Melora Harte
• Dave Mallow
• Benjamin Lesko
• Tony Oliver
• Steve Kramer
• Robert Deutsch
• Doug Stone
• Michael McConnohie
• Mike Reynolds
• Barbara Riel
• Donald Roche
• Michael Sorich
• Jeff Winkless
• Tom Wyner
• Shannon Mahan
• Eric Elfman
• Lisa Paulette
• Dayna Barron
• Wendee Manhel
• Johnny Goff
• Heather Upjohn
• Tim Reid
• Michael Santiago
• Jon Page
• Byrd Ehlmann
• Ann Burgund
• Nora L. Goodman
• Joe Ellison
• Edie Mirman
• Ardwight Chamberlain
• Barbara Oliver
• Mark Ryan-Martin
• Eric Early

English dubbed voice actors

• A.J. Henderson - Olly ox, narrator, Jack Turtleson
• Julian Bailey - Moe the mole

Regional releases

A few episodes of the show were released on VHS in the early 1990s; the show was officially released on DVD in Portugal^[2] and Spain in 2006.

References

External links

• Ox Tales at the Internet Movie Database
• Ox Tales (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• M4E