The Busy World of Richard Scarry is a Canadian/French animated children's television series, produced by CINAR Animation (now known as DHX Media, previously Cookie Jar Entertainment) and France Animation in association with Paramount Television, which aired from 1993 to 1997, first on Showtime, later on Nickelodeon, and ran for 65 episodes. The television series was based on the books drawn and written by Richard Scarry. Reruns of the show formerly aired in syndication as part of the Cookie Jar Kids Network block, but the show now continues to air on the Cookie Jar Toons block on ThisTV until October 26, 2013. Reruns of the show are currently being aired on Qubo.
Overview[]
The series takes place in the fictional city of Busytown and mainly stars Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm and many of the other residents of Busytown. Every "human" in the series is an anthropomorphic animal, most commonly pigs, foxes, breeds of dogs, mice, rabbits, goats, and cats. Each episode always features a conflict (which is eventually resolved in the end). However, episodes featuring other anthropomorphic animals, like Couscous catching Pépé le Gangstaire and his dirty rats, Sam and Dudley, Sneef, Cucumbers and Pickles, and etc. have taken place outside of Busytown in other places around the world.
DVD releases[]
On July 27, 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment released The Busy World of Richard Scarry: Every Day There's Something New on DVD in Region 1 (US only). This 3-disc set features the first 30 episodes of the series. On July 19, 2011, Mill Creek released The Busy World of Richard Scarry: Fun in Busytown!, a 4-disc set that features the remaining 35 episodes of the series.
Music[]
Most of the music was written by two composers. The theme song was written by Sara Zahn and composed by Milan Kymlicka, while the underscore was composed and conducted by Laurent Petitgirard. Several other composers contributed to several educational shorts in the series.