Pappyland
Encyclopedia
Pappyland is an award-winning live action children's television
show originally written by Jon Nappa. More than 65 episodes were written by award-winning children's writer, Benette Whitmore. It was originally broadcast on TLC
from September 30, 1996 to December 1999. Then, after cancellation
, aired reruns until February 24, 2003. The show starred acclaimed cartoonist-artist Michael Cariglio (born in Whitesboro, New York
) as Pappy Drewitt, an artist
/49er
type character who lived in a magical cabin in a bizarre land with many different creatures and people. More than half of the show was shot on bluescreen. Pappy and other characters danced, sang, taught life lessons and other children's television fare but the main focus of the show was watching Pappy draw pictures. The camera was positioned directly above his paper and he would carefully explain the purpose of each technique used. The purpose was for children viewers to be able to follow along with Pappy and create the same image as he did. Viewers who sent in their work, had their drawing shown during the closing credits.
His friend Sing-a-Song Sam was portrayed by Mike Curley (born in Birmingham
, England
).
When shown on public television, WCNY
in Syracuse, New York
presented the show, which was produced by the non-profit Craftsmen and Scribes' Creative Workshop and Creative Media Solutions TV, also based in Syracuse, New York. In fact, the P.O. Box plug mentions Syracuse as being the city where home viewers sent in their drawings.
Elmer (Joe Cariglio) is an old, wisecracking man who sits in a rocking chair on Pappy's desk. He tells a lot of jokes to Pappy. At the beginning and end of each episode, he would shout "Hey Sonny! Dontcha know what time it is?", indicating that it was time to say hello to everyone, or that it was time to leave. Originally, Elmer had a wife named Monica, but after the alleged sex scandal with president Bill Clinton, she was cut from the show. He smoked a pipe in the original VHS.
Binky is a talking paintbrush that lives in Pappy's cabin. He likes to paint pictures.
Lily is a talking flower who originally lived in a flower field, but later lived in Pappy's Cabin.
Mailbird (Ted Long) is a bird who appeared in later seasons of the show. He delivered Pappy's mail and often crashed into his cabin when doing so. He was very disorganized, but Pappy later helped him get organized.
Sing-a-Song Sam (Mike Curley) is a singer who sang a song about the lesson learned in the episode.
Buddy Bear (Ted Long) is a bear who loves honey. He lives in a cave in Pencil Point. Like Pappy, he likes to draw, and would sometimes draw for the home viewers in situations where Pappy encountered a problem he couldn't get out of. He has a pen pal named Elizabeth who is hearing impaired.
Chucky Woodchuckles (Peter Johanns voiced as fill in for a few episodes) is a beaver who wore glasses and a propeller hat (though in the intro [and early episodes], he is seen without them). He lives in a dam. He is very friendly but tended to lose things he borrowed from others, such as Pappy's crayons. Pappy taught him about responsibility.
Tree-O are a group of three trees that lived in a forest. They didn't appear in later episodes, as they were replaced by Woody.
Woody is a tree that lived at the entrance of Pappyland. He once thought he had no friends, but Pappy cheered him up by drawing a picture of him. He appeared in the original VHS, and sang the song "Big Ol' Tree". He is the only character besides Pappy, Elmer, and Grandpappy to appear in the actual show, but he didn't appear until later episodes.
Pumpkin Pop and Pumpkid are father and son pumpkins that lived on a cart next to Woody.
Turtle Lou (Gabriel Velez) is an Italian anthropomorphic turtle who lives by a river on the path to pencil point. He likes to fish. He originally appeared to look like a non-anthropomorphized regular turtle. Pappy called him "Turtle Louie"
Doodlebug is a bug who was introduced in later episodes. He tries to stump Pappy by doodling something for Pappy to finish. Pappy, however, always wins.
Duggan is a small parrot
who appeared in a few episodes. He is usually unjustifiably angry and sometimes violent towards the other residents of Pappyland. A drawing or soothing talk from Pappy often placates him, but more often he uses it as an excuse to criticize Pappy.
Grandpappy is a painting of Pappy's grandfather. He also appeared in the original VHS.
Fur Bear was a skinny bear who lived in Pappyland in the original VHS. He spent his whole hibernation rinding an elephant. In the Christmas special he invoked the name "Jesus" in what turned out to be an awkward moment for the characters and viewers.
McBride was a pirate who lived in a ship in a bottle in the original VHS. He is currently searching for his pirate captain, Captain Jack.
Fishface was a mean-spirited fish that Pappy eventually won over with his kindness and drawing. He lived in the lake near Turtle Lou and did appear in later episodes.
Snacker Jack is Pappy's cousin who appeared in the episode "Snacker Jack and the Snack Attack". At first all he eats is a bunch of junk food, but Pappy talks him into eating good food.
Uncle Tony is Turtle Lou's cousin that appears in the episode "Turtle Lou visits Italy".
Donkey Dan is a donkey that lives in a stable.
Rosie Raabe Pappy's fairy that lives nearby.
Great New Friends With Open Arms was sung by a look-a-like of Sing-A-song Sam in the episode: "Turtle Lou visits Italy".
Healthy Snack is a song sung by Sing-A-Song Sam in the episode "Snacker Jack and the Snack Attack". This song is to help Snacker Jack start eating healthy snacks.
High Noon is a song sung by Sing-A-Song Sam to help Pappy feel brave enough to fight Doodle Dude.
The program's Theme Song is performed by a children's chorus.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
show originally written by Jon Nappa. More than 65 episodes were written by award-winning children's writer, Benette Whitmore. It was originally broadcast on TLC
TLC (TV channel)
TLC is an American cable TV specialty channel which initially focused on educational content. Since 1991 TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks...
from September 30, 1996 to December 1999. Then, after cancellation
Cancellation
A cancellation is a postal marking applied on a postage stamp or postal stationery to deface the stamp and prevent its re-use. Cancellations come in a huge variety of designs, shapes, sizes and colors...
, aired reruns until February 24, 2003. The show starred acclaimed cartoonist-artist Michael Cariglio (born in Whitesboro, New York
Whitesboro, New York
Whitesboro is a village in Oneida County, New York, United States. United States. The population was 3,943 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Hugh White, an early settler.The Village of Whitesboro is inside the Town of Whitestown....
) as Pappy Drewitt, an artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
/49er
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
type character who lived in a magical cabin in a bizarre land with many different creatures and people. More than half of the show was shot on bluescreen. Pappy and other characters danced, sang, taught life lessons and other children's television fare but the main focus of the show was watching Pappy draw pictures. The camera was positioned directly above his paper and he would carefully explain the purpose of each technique used. The purpose was for children viewers to be able to follow along with Pappy and create the same image as he did. Viewers who sent in their work, had their drawing shown during the closing credits.
His friend Sing-a-Song Sam was portrayed by Mike Curley (born in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
).
When shown on public television, WCNY
WCNY-TV
WCNY-TV is Syracuse, New York's public television station and PBS member station. WCNY-TV's programming is also seen in Utica on low-powered repeater W22DO-D channel 24 Digital...
in Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
presented the show, which was produced by the non-profit Craftsmen and Scribes' Creative Workshop and Creative Media Solutions TV, also based in Syracuse, New York. In fact, the P.O. Box plug mentions Syracuse as being the city where home viewers sent in their drawings.
Characters
Pappy Drewitt (Michael Cariglio) is an artist who loves to draw. The theme song suggests that he created Pappyland; although the episode "Grandpappy's Day for Drawing", which aired in 1997, suggests that Grandpappy Drewitt (presumably Pappy's father and also played by Cariglio) created Pappyland rather than Pappy himself. He lives in Pappyland and has many friends who live there. A running gag in the series was that whenever he coloured the picture he drew earlier in the episode he would break one of his crayons. This was done so Pappy could teach kids that you don't have to throw away a crayon just because it breaks. On occasion, when he colored in the picture, he also went outside the lines, thus teaching kids that it's all right to go outside the lines when coloring. In the original VHS, he was portrayed as a hillbilly.Elmer (Joe Cariglio) is an old, wisecracking man who sits in a rocking chair on Pappy's desk. He tells a lot of jokes to Pappy. At the beginning and end of each episode, he would shout "Hey Sonny! Dontcha know what time it is?", indicating that it was time to say hello to everyone, or that it was time to leave. Originally, Elmer had a wife named Monica, but after the alleged sex scandal with president Bill Clinton, she was cut from the show. He smoked a pipe in the original VHS.
Binky is a talking paintbrush that lives in Pappy's cabin. He likes to paint pictures.
Lily is a talking flower who originally lived in a flower field, but later lived in Pappy's Cabin.
Mailbird (Ted Long) is a bird who appeared in later seasons of the show. He delivered Pappy's mail and often crashed into his cabin when doing so. He was very disorganized, but Pappy later helped him get organized.
Sing-a-Song Sam (Mike Curley) is a singer who sang a song about the lesson learned in the episode.
Buddy Bear (Ted Long) is a bear who loves honey. He lives in a cave in Pencil Point. Like Pappy, he likes to draw, and would sometimes draw for the home viewers in situations where Pappy encountered a problem he couldn't get out of. He has a pen pal named Elizabeth who is hearing impaired.
Chucky Woodchuckles (Peter Johanns voiced as fill in for a few episodes) is a beaver who wore glasses and a propeller hat (though in the intro [and early episodes], he is seen without them). He lives in a dam. He is very friendly but tended to lose things he borrowed from others, such as Pappy's crayons. Pappy taught him about responsibility.
Tree-O are a group of three trees that lived in a forest. They didn't appear in later episodes, as they were replaced by Woody.
Woody is a tree that lived at the entrance of Pappyland. He once thought he had no friends, but Pappy cheered him up by drawing a picture of him. He appeared in the original VHS, and sang the song "Big Ol' Tree". He is the only character besides Pappy, Elmer, and Grandpappy to appear in the actual show, but he didn't appear until later episodes.
Pumpkin Pop and Pumpkid are father and son pumpkins that lived on a cart next to Woody.
Turtle Lou (Gabriel Velez) is an Italian anthropomorphic turtle who lives by a river on the path to pencil point. He likes to fish. He originally appeared to look like a non-anthropomorphized regular turtle. Pappy called him "Turtle Louie"
Doodlebug is a bug who was introduced in later episodes. He tries to stump Pappy by doodling something for Pappy to finish. Pappy, however, always wins.
Duggan is a small parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
who appeared in a few episodes. He is usually unjustifiably angry and sometimes violent towards the other residents of Pappyland. A drawing or soothing talk from Pappy often placates him, but more often he uses it as an excuse to criticize Pappy.
Grandpappy is a painting of Pappy's grandfather. He also appeared in the original VHS.
Fur Bear was a skinny bear who lived in Pappyland in the original VHS. He spent his whole hibernation rinding an elephant. In the Christmas special he invoked the name "Jesus" in what turned out to be an awkward moment for the characters and viewers.
McBride was a pirate who lived in a ship in a bottle in the original VHS. He is currently searching for his pirate captain, Captain Jack.
Fishface was a mean-spirited fish that Pappy eventually won over with his kindness and drawing. He lived in the lake near Turtle Lou and did appear in later episodes.
Snacker Jack is Pappy's cousin who appeared in the episode "Snacker Jack and the Snack Attack". At first all he eats is a bunch of junk food, but Pappy talks him into eating good food.
Uncle Tony is Turtle Lou's cousin that appears in the episode "Turtle Lou visits Italy".
Donkey Dan is a donkey that lives in a stable.
Rosie Raabe Pappy's fairy that lives nearby.
Songs
Big Ol' tree is the song sung by Woody with Pappy on their first show. It was written by Jon Nappa.Great New Friends With Open Arms was sung by a look-a-like of Sing-A-song Sam in the episode: "Turtle Lou visits Italy".
Healthy Snack is a song sung by Sing-A-Song Sam in the episode "Snacker Jack and the Snack Attack". This song is to help Snacker Jack start eating healthy snacks.
High Noon is a song sung by Sing-A-Song Sam to help Pappy feel brave enough to fight Doodle Dude.
The program's Theme Song is performed by a children's chorus.