I’m back with another installment of Satur'toons. I talked about The Popples in last weeks column, if you read it you may remember me mentioning The Wuzzles. I use to watch this show all the time during the Disney cartoon block back in the day. So what are the Wuzzles?
Well as mentioned The Wuzzles is an animated series created by Disney for the new Disney Television Animation Studios. Only 13 episodes were produced making The Wuzzles one of the shortest running animated series produced by Disney. A second season was planned but never was aired due to the death of voice actor Bill Scott who voiced several characters on the show, but was most known for bringing the character Moosel to life.
Did you know that the word Wuzzle means to mix up? I didn’t until doing the research I did for this article. I thought that was quite interesting seeing as The Wuzzles where exactly that. A round, short, colorful, even mix of two different animals (ex. half bird, half lizard). All of the Wuzzles live on the Isle of Wuz where everything is as mixed up as they are for example they live in luxury homes called Castlescrapers and eat appleberries.
The Wuzzles characters were heavily marketed being featured in countless children’s books, as articulated figures, plush toys (similar to Care Bears), and a board game. Disney premiered bothThe Adventures of the Gummi Bears and The Wuzzles on the same day but on different networks. The Gummi Bears were on NBC and The Wuzzles were on CBS. The Gummi Bears was the more successful of the two with The Wuzzles being sold to ABC for reruns and disappearing from US network television all together.
Although The Wuzzles were not much of a big hit in the US, it did considerably better in the UK. Both The Adventures of the Gummi Bears and The Wuzzles were premiered on the same channel (ITV) in 1985 through 1986. The Wuzzles was also re-aired by the BBC in 1987 and was also aired on both the Disney Channel and Toon Disney.
The show consisted of seven Wuzzles characters included, they were :
· Bumblelion-Half Lion & Half Bumblebee
· ButterBear- Half Butterfly & Half Bear
· Eleroo- Half Elephant & Half Kangaroo
· Moosel- Half Moose & Half Seal
· Hoppopotamus- Half Rabbit & Half Hippopotamus
· Rhinokey- Half Rhino & Half Monkey
· Tycoon-Half Tiger & Half Raccoon
These Wuzzles were featured in the children’s books and plush toy line, but not in the TV series.
· Piggypine- Half Porcupine & Half Pig
· Koalakeet- Half Koala & Half Parakeet
· Pandeaver- Half Panda & Half Beaver
· Woolrus- Half Lamb & Half Walrus
· Skowl- Half Skunk & Half Owl
The main villain of the show was the half Crocodile and half Dinosaur Crocosaurus (or Crock). He was accompanied by his numbskull sidekicks Brat (Half Wild Boar and Half Dragon) and Flizard (Half Frog and Half Lizard). They are mostly lazy and always want to get the best of what the Wuzzles have without working for it, so they do what ever it takes to get there way.
There have been many DVD releases of The Wuzzles but none of them are official. It is not known if Disney will ever release an official Wuzzles collection. The Wuzzles have appeared in numerous movies, TV shows, and music videos after the “Walk Around” costumes used at Disney theme parks were accidently sold.
I would love to see The Wuzzles make a comeback like some of the other 80’s toons that are being revamped. My favorite Wuzzle was Moosel he reminded me a little of myself with his big imagination and belief in monsters. You can find Wuzzles toys and books online at places like Etsy, Amazon, and eBay, as well as private sellers. Well I’m going to have some breakfast, do a little hunting at the flea market you guys enjoy some toons and join me here next week for another installment of Satur'toons. Take a minute to show us some social media love on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Until next time: Go Hard! Go Fast! Go Figure!
Lennon "LJ The ToyAddict" George is the Owner/Creator of the popular Skylander Addicts website. He is also a Songwriter & Producer with Billboard credits. Avid toy collector and father of 3.
Sources:
Disney Wiki (1), Disney Wiki (2), Orlando Sentinel