A Bunch of Munsch is an animated anthology television series produced by Cinar. Each episode is based on a book by American-Canadian children's author Robert Munsch.[1] The show aired from December 7, 1991 to December 2, 1992 on CTV in Canada and Showtime in the United States.[2]
| A Bunch of Munsch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Based on | Robert Munsch's books |
| Theme music composer | Jeff Zahn |
| Composers | Jeff Fisher Jeffrey Zahn |
| Country of origin |
|
| No. of episodes | 7 (13 segments) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Micheline Charest |
| Producer | Ronald A. Weinberg |
| Running time | 23 minutes |
| Production companies | CINAR Films Telefilm Canada Maclean-Hunter Television Fund |
| Original release | |
| Network | CTV (Canada) Showtime (U.S.) |
| Release | December 7, 1991 – December 2, 1992 |
Production
editDevelopment
editThe series was announced on January 12, 1991.[3]
Music
editEvery story featured a unique original song, usually sung by the lead character.
Broadcast
editIn Canada, the series aired on CTV on December 7, 1991 with the first special, "Thomas' Snowsuit" and "50 Below Zero".
It debuted in the United States on Showtime on December 17, 1991. It was later added to the Showtime's Fall 1992 lineup opposite of the series debut of American Heroes & Legends, as part of the network's hour long block of kiddie-oriented programming. The series aired regularly with the next episode of the first regular 22-minute episode, "The Paper Bag Princess" premieres on October 14, 1992.
Episode list
editSeven episodes, each being two 11-minute segments in a 30-minute slot (the lone exception being The Paper Bag Princess, which was one 22-minute episode divided into two segments), were created:[4]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Storyboard by | Original air date | Prod. code | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Thomas' Snowsuit" | Bill Speers | Cassandra Schafhausen | Chris Schouten, Bill Speers, Stephan Martiniere and Craig Wilson | December 7, 1991 (CTV)[5] December 17, 1991 (Showtime)[6] | 101 | |||||
| "50 Below Zero" | |||||||||||
|
Thomas tries to run away from the grown-ups such as the teacher and principal who want him to put an ugly brown snowsuit on him. Jason realizes his house is going crazy, especially when Papa sleepwalks everywhere in the house and into dangerous situations. | |||||||||||
| 2 | "David's Father" | Bill Speers | Michel Choquette and Alan Annand | Bob Browning | October 21, 1992 (Showtime) December 5, 1992 (CTV)[7] | 102 | |||||
| "Pigs" | Cassandra Schafhausen | Luc Savoie | |||||||||
|
A schoolgirl named Julie befriends her new neighbor, David, and his enormous father. Megan one day feeds the pigs on her family's farm, and opens the gate to the pig pen, thinking that they are dumb. This results in chaos in the farm and in her school, until she befriends a younger pig who she names Einstein. | |||||||||||
| 3 | "Mortimer" | Bill Speers and Steven Majaury | Don Arioli | Steven Majaury and Meinert Hansen | October 28, 1992 (Showtime) December 14, 1995 (CTV) | 103 | |||||
| "Something Good" | Don Druick | Bill Speers | |||||||||
|
A toddler named Mortimer cause a huge amount of noise in his house, which turns into a worldwide sensation at one point. Julie, Andrew, and Tyya (based on Robert Munsch's adopted children) are on a trip to the grocery store, and try to convince their strict father (based on Robert Munsch himself) into getting them various junk food that tastes good. | |||||||||||
| 4 | "The Paper Bag Princess" | Craig Wilson | Michel Choquette, Alan Annand and Cheryl Blakeney | Craig Wilson and Robert Clark | October 14, 1992 (Showtime)[8] November 28, 1993 (CTV)[9] | 104 | |||||
|
Princess Elizabeth becomes friends with a dragon after she realizes the true colors of her fiancé Prince Ronald. Narrated by Robert Munsch. | |||||||||||
| 5 | "The Boy in the Drawer" | Greg Bailey | Irene Berkowitz, Peter Landecker and Lucie Lortie | Greg Bailey and Chris Damboise | November 4, 1992 (Showtime) December 4, 1994 (CTV) | 105 | |||||
| "Murmel, Murmel, Murmel" | Cheryl Blakeney | Greg Bailey and François Brisson | |||||||||
|
Shelley must find a way to stop a Delinquent little boy-minded and shaped gnome from causing chaos in her house while her parents ignore it. Robin finds an unusual baby named "Murmel, Murmel, Murmel" who can only say his name in a sandbox, who needs an owner. | |||||||||||
| 6 | "The Fire Station" | Steven Majaury and Meinart Hansen | Thomas LaPierre | Steven Majaury | November 11, 1992 (Showtime) January 3, 1998 (CTV) | 106 | |||||
| "Angela's Airplane" | Cheryl Blakeney | Meinert Hansen | |||||||||
|
A boy and a girl named Michael and Sheila visit a fire station to wreak havoc and have fun, especially when they sneak onto a mission with the Dalmatian, Spot. Angela, a little girl is obsessed with buttons and is very curious about the world sneaks onto an airplane and begins to have a fascination for it. | |||||||||||
| 7 | "Moira's Birthday" | Craig Wilson and Richard T. Morrison | Stephen Ashton | Craig Wilson | December 2, 1992 (Showtime)[10] December 1, 1994 (CTV)[11] | 107 | |||||
| "Blackberry Subway Jam" | Diana West | Richard T. Morrison | |||||||||
|
A little girl named Moira has an enormous and loud destructive birthday and invites her entire school. All they do is eat the entire time. A young boy named Jonathan starts to notice subway station keep wreaking havoc in his apartment, so he decides to convince the man in charge of it at the City Hall by giving him crates of his favorite food, blackberry jam. | |||||||||||
Voices
edit- Julian Bailey
- Sonja Ball
- Matthew Barrot
- Thor Bishopric
- Eramelinda Boquer
- Tia Caroleo
- Richard M. Dumont
- Kathleen Fee
- Holly Gauthier-Frankel
- Amy Fulco
- Andrew Bauer-Gabor
- Norman Groulx
- Jesse Gryn
- Shayne Olszynko-Gryn
- Mark Hellman
- A. J. Henderson
- Arthur Holden
- Lisa Hull
- Gary Jewell
- Rick Jones
- Tamar Kozlov
- Liz MacRae
- Bronwen Mantel
- Gordon Masten
- Anik Matern
- Carlyle Miller
- George Morris
- Michael O'Reilly
- Lianne Picard-Poirier
- Hayley Reynolds
- Patricia Rodriguez
- Michael Rudder
- Terrence Scammell
- Kaya Scott
- Harry Standjofski
- Jory Steinberg
- Gab Taraboulsy
- Christian Tessier
- Jacob Tierney
- Vlasta Vrána
- June Wallack
- Jane Woods
Distribution
editVHS releases
editAll episodes were released to VHS by Golden Book Video in the early 1990s. The releases were eventually packaged and updated in the late 1990s by Sony Wonder.
DVD release
editAll episodes were released to DVD by Cookie Jar Entertainment. Mill Creek Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 on August 4, 2015 which includes a bonus episode of The Busy World of Richard Scarry.[12]
References
edit- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 165–166. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 100. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- ^ "The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada". 12 January 1991.
- ^ "A Bunch of Munsch Episode Guide". TVmaze.
- ^ "A Fine Sense Of The Absurd". The Ottawa Citizen. December 7, 1991 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Times Herald from Port Huron, Michigan". 15 December 1991.
- ^ "TV for the holiday season; Viewing fare for young and old". The Kingston Wig-Standard. December 3, 1992 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Especially for kids". The News and Observer. October 10, 1992 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Love's Lesson". Calgary Herald. November 26, 1993 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "TV Topics (page 17)". The Buffalo News. November 29, 1992 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Munschfest". The Edmonton Journal. November 25, 1994 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Date, Cost, Details, Box Art for 'The Complete Series' from Mill Creek Archived 2015-07-28 at the Wayback Machine