Toot & Puddle is a traditionally animated children's television series, based on the book series by Holly Hobbie, who also co-created the series with her husband Douglas. The series features the voices of Joanne Vannicola as Toot and Samantha Reynolds as Puddle. It was produced by Mercury Filmworks in association with National Geographic Kids, Treehouse TV and Nick Jr..
The series premiered in Canada on Treehouse TV on September 2, 2008 and last aired there on July 31, 2011. In the United States, the series first aired on Noggin on November 16, 2008 before moving to Nick Jr. on September 28, 2009 and aired there until the series finale on May 15, 2011. Twenty-six episodes were produced.
Contents
Plot
The series focuses on the lives of two adventurous pigs, Toot and Puddle. The two live in Woodcock Pocket with many friends. In each episode, the duo learns about a different place or culture.
During the course of each episode, either Toot visits a new location and communicates to Puddle by sending a postcard, or the two travel together. In each episode, The Boomerang Song (an exclusively-written song) is used as a transition between both stories.
Characters
Toot (voiced by Joanne Vannicola) is a young pig who loves to explore. He almost always travels somewhere away from his home with his digital camera to capture photographs of his adventures. He's Puddle's best friend.
Puddle (voiced by Samantha Reynolds) is a pig and Toot's best friend. He likes to explore, but finds the area where he lives more interesting than places far away.
Opal (voiced by Taylor Barber) is a cheerful and happy-go-lucky pig and Puddle's little cousin who is inquisitive (i.e. asks many questions).
Tulip (voiced by Linda Ballantyne) is a parrot who lives in Woodcock Pocket.
Otto (voiced by John McGrath) is a tortoise who lives in the forest in a tortoise like house.
Desmond (voiced by Andrew Sabiston) is a kangaroo from Australia.
Lilly (voiced by Bryn McAuley) is a frog who lives in Pocket Pond.
Dr. Ha Song (voiced by Denis Akiyama) is a Chinese pig who lives in the clinic.
Gabe is a friend of Toot & Puddle.
Production
Licensing rights to the Toot & Puddle books were acquired by Silver Lining Entertainment Limited by 2001. The following year, they announced plans for Millimages to develop a half-hour special based on the I'll Be Home for Christmas book and a 26-episode half-hour series; the series was put on hold a few months later in favor of a special based on the Top of the World book; no further updates were made regarding Silver Lining and Millimages' progress and, by the time Silver Lining Entertainment Limited was acquired by Chorion in 2005, the Toot & Puddle rights had been sold to Chorion.
Episodes
All episodes were directed by Cristian Larocque.
The Great Cheese Chase/Swing Shift (2 September 2008 in Canada; 17 November 2008 in the US) – Toot & Puddle fly to France to get cheese. / Puddle makes a swing using a tire, but the tire goes missing!
Free-Falling Friends/Curried Favors - Toot & Puddle are given skydiving lessons. / Toot flies to India and learns how to cool off.
Opal's Big Move/Get With the Beat - Toot takes Opal to meet a famous ballerina he met in Russia. / Toot flies to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to learn about tribal culture.
You Reap What You Sow/Lost and Found - Puddle teaches Opal how to plant a garden. / Toot & Puddle fly to Belize to discover an ancient temple.
Doors, Drawers, and Floors/Abominable Toot - Puddle teaches Toot how to share with others. / Toot & Puddle go to Tibet in the Himalayas to see if the Abominable Snowman is real.
The Dragon Kite/Tulips for Tulip - Puddle and Opal go kite flying, but their kite flies away. / Toot & Puddle fly to the Netherlands to find tulips for their friend Tulip.
The Scarecrow/Which Way's Which? - Opal and Puddle can't decide what to wear to Otto's costume party. / Toot flies to Denmark and helps a goose find her glasses.
Toot & Puddle's Campout/Toot's Alpine Adventure - Toot & Puddle go camping. / Toot flies to Germany to discover a castle and meets a lost calf.
Party Pride/The Race - Toot & Puddle throw a house party for their friends while it's raining. / Toot & Puddle fly to the Balearic Islands, Spain and enter in a soapbox race.
Puddle's Poison Ivy/The Amazing Maze - Puddle gets poison ivy which postpones Toot's trip to Egypt. / Toot & Puddle fly to Ireland to explore its many hedge mazes.
Pilot
The pilot, a Christmas special film titled I’ll Be Home for Christmas, was released on December 5, 2006.
Katie Leigh – Toot
Adam Wylie – Puddle
Jessica DiCicco – Opal
Walker Edmiston
Julian Holloway
Edie McClurg
Annie Mumolo
Natalia Nogulich
James Sie
Joe Whyte