Sitting Ducks (TV series)

Sitting Ducks is an American children's animated television series based on the 1970s "Sitting Ducks" lithograph and the 1998 children's book of the same name, created by the poster artist Michael Bedard. Sitting Ducks first appeared in 2001 in Europe, later debuting in North America on Cartoon Network, in Australia on ABC, in Canada on YTV, in the United Kingdom on Nickelodeon, CITV, Disney XD and in the Japanese version of Cartoon Network.

The show lasted for two seasons each comprising thirteen episodes, with the last episode shown on July 5, 2003. Reruns of the show were aired on Qubo in 2007 and was later aired as part of its Qubo Night Owl block until June 30, 2012.

Background

The show takes place in a town called Ducktown and focuses on a duck named Bill and his best friend Aldo, an alligator from the neighboring town of Swampwood. As ducks are a favorite snack of the alligators, Bill and Aldo's friendship is rather unusual. The pair usually end up in varied situations and adventures, getting around on Bill's scooter.

Episodes

Characters

• Bill (Ian James Corlett) – An anthropomorphic diminutive duck who waddles to a different beat. A very kind-hearted, good-natured fellow who is always there when needed. One of his dreams is to fly. With the help of his friend Dr. Cecil, he tries again and again to fly, and eventually is told that the reason he can't is because ducks became too terrestrial. Bill's main appearance difference, apart from his smallness, is his bow tie which he changes every year at the Ducktown Picnic. Bill lives in an apartment with his pet parrot, Jerry. He's been called a "gator lover" for his rare efforts to turn alligators into allies of Ducktown.
• Aldo (Dave Ward) – A lumbering alligator from the town of Swampwood. He's Bill's best friend, though he often receives grief from his fellow gators on being a "duck lover". Has a blind Uncle Artie and a baby cousin Andy. Once was the cook at the bowling ball factory, he transferred to the assembly line after he befriended Bill, as he didn't want to cook any more ducks.
• Bev (Kathleen Barr) – Owner of the Decoy Cafe, where many ducks go to eat. She's a sweet duck who also has an alias, Madam Bevousky, as whom she offers fortune telling services to the residents of Ducktown. She is also the focus of Bill's romantic interests.
• Ed, Oly and Waddle (Louis Chirillo, Phil Hayes and Jay Brazeau) – Three brothers and friends of Bill who live next door to him. These three goofy freeloaders are similar to the Three Stooges and tend to scheme their way into things and are usually the ones behind some prank or plot, from which they always try to distance themselves when things go awry. Ed wears a tropical shirt and speaks with a New York accent. Oly wears a green beret and speaks with a "beatnik" accent. Waddle is the shortest and fattest and has a more childlike voice.
• Cecil (Ian James Corlett) – Ducktown's only dentist, Cecil speaks with a British accent and is always there to offer advice to Bill or the others. Naturally, Aldo is typically his only customer, being the only person in town who actually has teeth. He also provides beak adjustments for the ducks.
• Claire – Cecil's wife who was scared of alligators, just like Aldo in the first episode.
• Fred (Phil Hayes) – a melancholy, but sometimes nervously hyper penguin, who migrated from Antarctica to Ducktown, in which he has a citizenship. He's somewhat of a loner most of the time, always seen surrounding himself with bags of ice or air-conditioning to remain comfortable in the intolerable (to him) heat. Has a duck girlfriend, Dot Cable, and a cousin, Gelata.
• Raoul (Michael Benyaer) – A Hispanic crow who tends to be the freeloading troublemaker in Ducktown, and likes trading insults with Bill. He especially enjoys mocking Bill's attempts to fly.
• Drill Sergeant Duck (Cathy Weseluck) – A tough duck who makes it hard for Aldo to come into Ducktown, as she also is the leader of the Duck Defense League, an anti-gator organization.
• Other characters that have appeared in the show have been voiced by Dale Wilson, Brian Dobson, Sylvia Zaradic, Chantal Strand, Chiara Zanni, Pauline Newstone, Paul Dobson, Lee Tockar, Garry Chalk, Jay Brazeau, and Scott McNeil.

Merchandise

Sitting Ducks proved to be a big hit with the European children's show market, and as a result toys, clothing and other merchandise were created. The entire series was on Hulu, a free video streaming service

VHS releases

DVD releases

Print

The cartoon itself also spawned a couple of books. Quacking Up is a joke book written by Rick Walton featuring the characters from the television show, and Plucked Duck a children's picture book by Danielle Mentzer and Annmarie Harris based on the episode "Duck Naked". Both books were released in 2004, roughly a year after the show had ended.

Video games

In May 2003, LSP Games and Asobo Studios picked up the rights from Universal Studios to create games for Sitting Ducks.^[1] Then, during 2004, Sitting Ducks was released for Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance and PlayStation 2.^[2] An Xbox version was also planned to include a multiplayer racing option, but was quietly cancelled.^[3]

See also

• Sitting Ducks, a lithograph created by Michael Bedard in the late 1970s.

References

External links

• Sitting Ducks at the Internet Movie Database