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Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies

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Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies
GenreAnimated series
Created byDouglas Wood
Andy Yerkes
Based on
  • an idea by George Evelyn and Wild Brain
  • character designs by Eric Brace
StarringFloella Benjamin
Vanessa Williams
Phillipa Alexander
Jules de Jongh
Teresa Gallagher
Opening theme"Movie Time!"
ComposerLester Barnes
Country of originUnited Kingdom
United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes52
Production
Running time10 minutes
Production companyKing Rollo Films
National Geographic Kids
Original release
NetworkCBeebies (UK)
PBS Kids (US)
ReleaseMarch 19, 2007 (2007-03-19) –
January 18, 2008 (2008-01-18)

Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies is an animated educational wildlife children's television series. The live action footage comes from the BBC Natural History Unit archives, as well as the National Geographic Society. The series originally aired on CBeebies in the UK and was created by Douglas Wood, who is also the author of the companion children's picture book When Mama Mirabelle Comes Home, published by National Geographic Books. A total of 52 episodes were produced; in the United States, they were packaged as 26 half-hours.[1]

In the American version, all of the animals except Karla and Bo have American voices. Vanessa Williams is the voice of Mama Mirabelle in the US, and Floella Benjamin is the voice for Mama Mirabelle in the UK.

The series is produced by UK animation studio King Rollo Films, whose other shows include The Adventures of Spot, Discovery Kids' Paz, the Nick Jr. block and Noggin's Maisy, Sprout's Poppy Cat and Mr. Benn. The show's opening theme was written by Lester Barnes (the composer for Horrid Henry, Me Too!, Paz and Urmel).

Premise

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Set in the African savanna, it focuses on an enthusiastic elephant named Mama Mirabelle, who travels around the world to film real wildlife footage and project them onto a screen of fireflies in front of almost the entire animal kingdom. The "Home Movies" are used for educational purposes not only for the main young characters but for the preschool audience at home.

Characters

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  • Mama Mirabelle the elephant; she always wears a beautiful orange hat with blue flowers on it and is the lead mother of the series. Voiced by Floella Benjamin in the United Kingdom and Vanessa Williams in the United States.
  • Max the elephant, he is voiced by Phillipa Alexander in the United Kingdom, Teresa Gallagher in the United States, and Josephine Schmidt in Germany, Max is Mama Mirabelle's son. He also loves a bit good muddy fun with his adopted siblings Karla and Bo.
  • Karla the zebra, voiced by Teresa Gallagher in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and Jennifer Wieb in Germany, is a bit of a prim and proper animal but loves mud. Her favourite game is called Nuzzle Tag. She is the adopted daughter of Mama Mirabelle. And the adopted sister of Bo and Max.
  • Bo the cheetah, voiced by Jules de Jongh in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and Jesco Spirgen in Germany, is the adopted son of Mama Mirabelle and adopted brother of Max and Karla, who loves to pounce.
  • Merlin the bat, voiced by Kuchi Brasso in the United Kingdom and Tajja Isen in the United States.
  • Kayla the red kangaroo – She is friends with Mama Mirabelle and was voiced by Moya O'Sullivan.
  • Ronjy the tiger – Seen in Muddy Wonderland.
  • Kylie, Kayla's daughter. She is voiced by Gabriella Lewis, though she only said one line the each episode she appeared in.
  • Daddy Stripes the zebra, Karla's father. He is voiced by David Holt in the United Kingdom and Lucien Dodge in the United States.
  • Keisha, Karla's wombat friend. She is voiced by Emma Tate in the United Kingdom and Katie Leigh in the United States.
  • Benny the bird – Loves to aid. He is voiced by Lizzie Waterworth-Santo.
  • Winnie the wildebeest – Is Karla's friend. She is voiced by Sarah Williams.
  • Jacques the walrus – A fellow traveller of Mama Mirabelle. He is voiced by Alan Marriott.
  • Mama Bird – Benny's mother, who is voiced by Elly Fairman.
  • Edna the Echidna – A young echidna who lives in Australia and is voiced by Felicia Hamilton.

Crew

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  • Susan Blu – Voice Director
  • Kent Meredith – Voice Director

Episodes

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  • 01. Elephant Walk
  • 02. The Sounds of the Savanna
  • 03. A Little Help from My Friends
  • 04. Baby of a Different Stripe
  • 05. Hide and Go Seek
  • 06. Tell Me About It
  • 07. To Sleep with Wombats
  • 08. All Creatures Great and Small
  • 09. Anybody Home?
  • 10. Healthy Habits
  • 11. Play's the Thing
  • 12. Sam Spades of the Savanna
  • 13. Gourmet Grazing
  • 14. Kings and Queens of the Savanna
  • 15. I Spy
  • 16. Eyes, Ears, Noses, and Trunks
  • 17. The Boy Can Blow
  • 18. I Don't Like Spiders and Snakes
  • 19. What's in a Tail
  • 20. Footprints in the Sand
  • 21. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
  • 22. Nobody's Perfect
  • 23. Things That Go Yip, Howl and Screech in the Night
  • 24. Cracking the Code
  • 25. A Savanna Kwanzaa
  • 26. You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
  • 27. Change is Gonna Come
  • 28. Trumpet While You Work
  • 29. Spot the Difference
  • 30. Hot-and-Cold Running Critters
  • 31. Why Zebras Can't Fly
  • 32. Super Duper Savanna Animals
  • 33. Come Out of Your Shell
  • 34. Travels with Mama
  • 35. Tails of the Galápagos
  • 36. Happy Habitats
  • 37. Savanna Lullaby
  • 38. It Gives You Paws
  • 39. Out of Reach
  • 40. Family Style
  • 41. Curtain Up!
  • 42. Listen Up!
  • 43. Rainy Day Blues
  • 44. Take Me to the Water
  • 45. Find Your Way Home
  • 46. The Nose Knows
  • 47. Jumbled Jungle
  • 48. Alone Together
  • 49. Muddy Wonderland
  • 50. Do You See What I See?
  • 51. Have You Heard?
  • 52. This is Mama's World

References

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  1. ^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 275. ISBN 9781476672939.
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