"We are the Littles. We're living with you, don't you know!" - theme song to "The Littles"
The Littles: The Complete Series DVD Review
By A.J. Carson
They live in your walls. They watch your every move. They scavenge your home for food and other bits of detritus for their décor. A button for a coffee table. Bottlecaps for bicycle wheels. A sardine can for a bed. But don't go calling the exterminator just yet. These are the Littles, tiny humanoids with elf-like ears and tails who want to peacefully coexist with humans in The Littles: The Complete Series.
Only one human knows of their existence so far. Sibling Littles Tom and Lucy befriended Henry Bigg, a preteen resident of Grand Valley. Henry also becomes pals with clumsy aviator Dinky and wise old Grandpa. They play together, discuss morals, and help each other out of scrapes.
And boy, do the Littles need help! They are being chased by Dr. Hunter, a researcher who has no solid proof that Littles exist but is extremely close to finding it.
The series explores a variety of subjects relevant to kids: respecting the elderly, drug abuse, ingenuity, taking responsibility for your actions, the power of voting, overcoming disabilities, and the perils of alcohol. Some of these lessons are learned through globetrotting adventures when the Littles and Henry hit the road in the final third of the series and the show takes on a distinctively Young Indiana Jones feel. These episodes have a totally different tone than the earlier ones, combining the exotic locales of Jonny Quest with the hammy preachiness of an After School Special.
Sometimes shows that seemed like classics when we were kids lose their luster when viewed through adult eyes. In many ways, The Littles falls into this category. Yet it still has its charms, especially in this set put together by S'more Entertainment. With its neat collection of extras, this set is almost on par with such Ink & Paint releases as Dungeons & Dragons and Groovie Goolies.
The Littles is loosely based on a series of novels by John Peterson.
The twenty-nine episodes that make up The Littles: The Complete Series are housed on five discs. The menus are simple but functional. Viewers can choose an individual episode or use the "play all" feature. The main flaw on the men is the incessant loop of a portion of the first season's theme song.
Video and Audio
The Littles looks about how you'd expect a cheaply produced cartoon from the early '80s to look. Scratches, pops, and flaws are evident, but they aren't too distracting.
There are no subtitles or captions.
Extras
Disc one presents a side-by-side comparison between an animatic (rough animation employing storyboard art) and an actual episode.
On disc two, fans can play the "How Would the Littles Use...? Trivia Game." Winning this relatively simple quiz rewards viewers with "The Big/Little Scrounge List," a pre-production document that discusses how items from the big world can be used in the little world. Or you can cheat and check out the PDF version on your DVD Rom drive.
Disc three includes a pair of bonus features. First up is "Little Ideas for Big People," which presents eight of the series' closing segments suggesting craft projects for home viewers.
"Show Writer Marc Scott Zicree Interview" (22:19) is, well, an interview with...you guessed it...show writer Marc Scott Zicree. Zicree (who also wrote "The Twilight Zone" Companion and went on to write for primetime series like Star Trek: The Next Generation and Sliders) is extremely engaging. He also tells a fun tale of Gumby visiting the Statue of Liberty.
Disc four contains three extras. Fans will get a kick out of "Liberty and the Littles Motion Picture" (1:05:23). As Zicree explains in his interview on disc three, Liberty was originally meant to be released in theaters. A change in management scuttled the plan, and the movie aired as a TV special. The cartoon follows the Littles as their New York vacation finds them stranded on Liberty Island (which was soon to reopen after a complete refurbishment). There they encounter a group of Littles who help take care of Lady Liberty, but have no freedom of their own.
"Show Bumpers" (:14) presents two examples of the title cards used when the show went to commercial.
Use your DVD Rom drive to access a PDF of the series' "Bible," the book drawn up to contain all of the information needed to produce the series.
You can also use your DVD Rom to access an outline of the pilot episode on disc five.
Finally, there is disc five's "Visual History of the DIC Logo" (:47). DIC produced The Littles and other animated hits like Inspector Gadget. This compilation reel shows how the company's logo changed over the years.
Summary
The Littles: The Complete Series might not be quite as great as you remember, but this well-produced set will definitely keep fans watching.
12/1/07
