Little Miss (1983)

Little Miss (1983)
Running Time: 8 mins Release Date: 1983 Network(s): BBC 1 (14 February 1983 - 15 June 1987) BBC2 (27 January - 22 December 1988) Starring: John Alderton Pauline Collins Episodes: 13

Little Miss is a 1983 animated series of shorts based on the first 13 original books, albeit with minor changes and censorship to the series The shorts were produced by Mister Films Ltd, the same studio who produced the Mr. Men series in the 1970s.

Why it Rocks

1. This series is notable for being the first to include two voices instead of just one. John Alderton does the male characters and primary narration, while Pauline Collins does all of the female characters.
2. An improvement over the previous series, the music has various different melodies that fit the characters (for example, Little Miss Scatterbrain, Little Miss Greedy and Little Miss Shy).
   • Not only does it fit the characters, it also fills the dead space that the previous series originally had.
3. The stories now have minor changes and censorship for younger viewers, as opposed to the previous series' lack of minor changes and censorship.
4. Like the previous series, it still respects British culture.
5. Predating the 1990s series, this one is popular enough to get an American dub and it is the first Mr. Men-related series to do so.
6. The series was best known for originating the Texan accent of Miss Helpful, which carried onto the 2008 series.
7. Aside from the changes made to the stories, there were changes made to the visuals as well. The animation also got a slight upgrade (despite being dated and stitled).
8. The series also spawned a new version of the Mr. Men stories with additional music and sound effects to fill the dead space. Unfortunately, it is considered mostly lost media.
9. Unlike the previous series, this series survives with good audio quality and slightly vibrant visuals. The Mr. Men series survived with poor audio quality and occassionally faded visuals.

Bad Qualities

1. The animation is considered dated and stitled by today's standards, despite staying graphic to the books.
2. Some names are considered offensive in the UK nowadays, resulting in Miss Greedy's name change.
3. Unlike the Mr. Men series, it spawned only 13 episodes and was much shorter than the previous series' 28 episodes. Had the studio produced more adaptations of books after the first 13, it would've been more interesting.

Trivia

• As mentioned above, this series includes a version of the 1974 Mr. Men cartoon (with new music and additional sound effects). This version is now considered rare and hard to track down.
  • A version of "Mr. Forgetful" exists with the new music tracks, but suffers of low quality.
• This was the last time to have stories adapted from the original books. It is also the last to feature the Mr. Men and Little Miss characters in animation before an eight-year hiatus. In 1991, the characters returned in the special, "Mr. Men Christmas Rescue".

Comments

Loading comments...