LITTLEST
PET SHOP: A WORLD OF OUR OWN
MAIN
CAST:
Littlest Pet Shop: A World of Our
Own is the third animated series based on Hasbro’s
LPS toyline, the second
to air on Discovery Family,
and the first to be produced by Hasbro’s own Boulder Media Limited. While it may
share some visual similarities with the
previous series, it was completely unrelated. Instead, it was meant to
promote the 2017 revamp of the toys that featured new molds including rounder eyes
and three sizes: teensie, mini and classic.
The not-quite-a-pet-shop Littlest Pet Shop. |
A World of Our Own removed
the traditional pet shop element entirely and took place in a pocket dimension
that was completely run and inhabited by animals. Pets who made their humans
very happy were given a special
key that could open a portal to the land of Paw-Tucket (named after Pawtucket, RI where Hasbro is
headquartered), a place for pets made by pets where they could relax and be
themselves for a while. Time in the human world froze for the duration of their
stay, meaning their humans never knew they were gone. As for the Littlest Pet
Shop, it was the center of the town that served as both a general store and
information center run by Mister
Yut (Vincent Tong);
a Siamese fighting fish that lived in a water-filled ball and was incredibly
stubborn. Other businesses in town were the Pumpkin’ Paws Fitness Center,
Shake ‘n Dry
Salon, Chill-Out Inn,
Paw-Tucket Stadium, an amusement park, and
the LPS Cruise Ship.
Best friends: Trip, Quincy, Bev, Roxie, Jade and Edie. |
The show focused primarily on the adventures
of six characters: Roxie McTerrier (originally spelled “Roxy”, voiced by Diana
Kaarina), a hyper, optimistic and loyal Boston Terrier with a strong naïve streak
whose enthusiasm often caused some problems; Jade Catkin (Ingrid Nilson), a
gothic Bombay cat with a strong sarcastic and smug streak that liked to appear
more aloof than she actually was; Trip Hamston (originally “Hamsta”, voiced by
Travis Turner), a hamster that fancied himself both a daredevil and a rapper;
Quincy Goatee (Kyle Rideout), a fainting goat who was timid and easily
frightened, fainting whenever he got scared (although he’d recover quickly);
Edie Von Keet (Lili Beaudoin with Kaarina providing her singing voice), a
parakeet with a passion for performing with a drama queen personality to match;
and Bev Guiturtle (Rhona Rees), a box turtle with a peppy, friendly and
outgoing personality that loved trying out new activities and attempting to
entertain her friends. Roxie and Jade were roommates in the Pet-Ultimate Apartments
complex, as well as neighbors on the same street in the human world, so they
would often get on each other’s nerves (although they were really good
friends).
Petula and her gang of meanies: Gavin, Sweetie and Mitchell. |
Other characters included Petula
Woolwright (Kaarina), a pink sheep that liked to bully the other pets and
served as the primary antagonist of the series along with her crew: Sweetie Pom Pom (Brittney Wilson), a Pomeranian that
was sassy, snarky and very unfriendly, Gavin Chamelle (Alessandro Juliani), a chameleon
who was rude, sobby and liked calling other pets names, and Mitchell Snailford
(Ian Hanlin), a snail who
wasn’t too bright but enjoyed bullying others immensely; Savannah Cheetaby
(Bethany Brown), a cheetah
who was a very famous pop star; Scoot Raccoonerson
(Tong), a sneaky racoon with a strong affinity for trash; Austin Goldenpup (also
Tong), an obedient and very athletic Golden Retriever that Roxie had a crush
on; Mayor Perrito
(Juliani), a Chihuahua who became the self-appointed Mayor of Paw-Tucket since
that’s his name; Captain
Gilturtle (Brian Drummond),
Bev’s uncle who captained the LPS cruise ship; Carmilla Wingbat (Lanie McAuley), an incredibly
shy fruit bat with a tremendous singing voice and acting skills; The Scrappers, a rowdy
bunch of kids (two pups, two kittens, and a bunny) who tend to cause chaos and
destruction; Clicks
Monkeyford (Drummond), a monkey who served as Bev’s cameramonkey; Sultanna Siam (Tabitha St. Germain), a Siamese cat
who was a yoga instructor at the Fitness Center; Wisteria (Rebecca Shoichet), a Persian
cat who was a famous celebrity in the land; L.B Froglegs (Beaudoin), a DJ and
Savannah’s manager; Javier
Peacocken (Richard Ian Cox),
a conceited peacock that loved to look at himself; and Sasha Siberio (St.
Germain), a Siberian husky magician specializing in hypnotism, amongst others.
Roxie enters the portal to Paw-Tucket. |
Littlest Pet Shop: A World of Our
Own debuted on Discovery Family on April 14, 2018; although it debuted 5
days earlier in France on TiJi and several
episodes would make their international debuts before their American
broadcasts. Leading up to the series, Hasbro released two series of shorts starring
Bev that introduced
the world of Paw-Tucket under the premise of updating the original “welcome”
video for new arrivals, and her own talk show, Late Night with Bev. Each
episode was only 11-minutes in length, with two shown back-to-back to fill in a
whole half hour.
Bev and Click on the set of her talk show. |
The
show was developed by Tim Maile
and Douglas Tuber, who also
served as writers alongside Char
Easton, Maggie Parr, Rich Halke (as
Professor Rich), Nina Bargiel, Kelly D’Angelo, Nick Watson, Rachelle Romberg, Ralph Greene, Dave Polsky, Jordana Arkin, Whitney Ralls, Rick Williams, Heather Nuhfer, Kara Lee Burk, Steve Aranguren, Kate Leth, Julia Prescott, Jenna Martin, Sam Freiberger, Jim Martin and Greg Levine. The characters
were designed by Shane Cooney
and Mateo Dolset off of a
concept by Gillian Comerford,
who also directed the entire series. The theme was composed by Jess Furman, Ethan Roberts and Jessica Charlotte Vaughn and
performed by Brown. Furman, Roberts and Melissa Hammond composed the
rest of the series’ music.
Unlike
the previous LPS series, A World of Our Own only seemed to last a
singular season, with Boulder Media announcing no plans in place for a second.
Although not officially cancelled by Hasbro, it’s more than likely that the
series failed to achieve its primary goal: generate sales for the struggling toyline
at a time when Hasbro
was reeling from the closure of Toys R Us.
The series itself also generated lackluster ratings. It did walk away with two
award nominations, however: a Leo Award
for “Best Performance” and a Sovas
Award for “Best Voiceover”, both going to Rees.
Jade's toy. |
Most
of the main characters and some of the secondary ones appeared in the fall of
2017 as part of second wave of the revamped toyline.
To date, the series has been made available to view on streaming services like Netflix and Amazon
Prime Video, with the shorts and clips available on Hasbro’s
YouTube channel.
EPISODE
GUIDE:
“Pet,
Peeved” (4/14/18) – With their differences posing a problem, Roxie is
determined to become a better roommate for Jade.
“The
Wheel Deal” (4/14/18) – Jade ends up stuck on a Ferris wheel with Scoot while
Trip grows frustrated of his inability to go on rides due to his size.
“In
the Steal of the Night” (4/14/18) – Roxie and Jade must prove Austin isn’t
responsible for the thefts around town.
“Pitch
Im-Purr-Fect” (4/21/18) – Edie is determined to keep the lousy-voiced Quincy
from ruining her chances of winning the a capella competition.
“The
Big Sleep-Over” (4/21/18) – Roxie hosts a sleepover to convince Jade they’re
fun and it ends up being a disaster.
“Let
It Go (Not the Hit Song)” (4/28/18) – Roxie tries to get Jade’s favorite toy
back after she accidentally donates it to charity.
“The
Fast and the Fur-ious” (4/28/18) – Roxie and her friends bet Austin can beat
Petula’s speedy rabbit in an agility race, but Austin ends up in a no-chew cone
before the race.
“Show
Your Beau” (5/5/18) – Bev is excited that her friend, a big-shot producer on
her favorite show, is coming for a visit.
“A
Brave New Quincy” (5/5/18) – Trip takes advantage of Quincy’s amnesia to turn
him into a daredevil so that they could have more fun together.
“All
Decked Out” (5/12/18) – Bev tries to make her friends classy and fancy when
they’re invited to attend a dinner cruise for a visiting royal Corgi.
“Bev
on the Edge” (5/12/18) – Bev’s friends work on a plan to ensure she survives
her desire to cliff-dive off the tallest summit in Paw-Tucket.
“The
Call of the Mild” (5/19/18) – Roxie convinces the others to attend a seminar to
get in touch with their inner animal, but their instructor goes into
hibernation leaving them on their own.
“Four
Left Feet” (5/19/18) – Roxie accidentally reveals Jade’s most embarrassing
secret: that she can’t land on her feet.
“Copycats,
Copy-Dogs & Copy-Iguanas” (5/26/18) – Jade’s new scarf turns her into a
fashion icon and her friends try to help her get rid of all that unwanted
attention.
“The
Imitation Game” (5/26/18) – Quincy’s impressions make him popular, but his best
one of Edie makes her feel self-conscious.
“The
Purr-fect Storm” (6/2/18) – Bev recruits her friends to keep the cruise ship
running, but she takes being in charge a bit too far.
“Spooky
Tails” (6/2/18) – The pets have a contest to see who can tell the scariest
campfire story.
“Crystal
Fever” (6/9/18) – Jade tries to hide her enthusiasm when a crystal convention
comes to town.
“So
Trip Thinks He Can Dance” (6/9/18) – When Petula posts a video of Trip dancing
that goes viral, he decides to become a hip-hop star.
“Fine,
Feathered Fortune Teller” (6/16/18) – Playing a fortune teller in a play has
Edie believing she may actually have psychic powers.
“Scrappers
Keepers” (6/16/18) – Mayor recruits Roxie, Jade and Edie to keep the Scrappers
from ruining a parade.
“Bev
Rolls with It” (6/23/18) – Bev’s enthusiasm could see the town’s roller derby
team finally win a game but may end up costing her in the end.
“CEO
Trip” (6/23/18) – Trip goes on a reality show to pitch his invention and ends
up the head of his own company.
“The
Incredible Roman and Ray” (6/30/18) – Bev auditions to become an assistant to a
popular magic act and ends up causing the duo to split.
“Paw
it Forward” (6/30/18) – Roxie and Jade invite an inured sheepdog to recuperate
at their place and quickly come to regret that decision.
“Mayor
May Not” (7/13/18) – Tired of being taken for granted, Mayor quits and goes off
to relax.
“The
Scratch Tree Society” (7/13/18) – Bev is eager to join a prestigious social
club that does good work around town until she learns the membership test is
designed only for cats.
“Clear
the Fear (aka Fear Factor)” (10/6/18) – Quincy signs up for a seminar on conquering
fears.
“The
Jade Luck Club (aka Good Luck Jade)” (10/6/18) – Roxie notices that Jade has
really good luck at the same time that Edie is struck with a run of very bad
luck.
“Double
Booked Bev” (10/6/18) – Bev tries to prove she can handle a lot by taking on
more than realistically possible.
“Nine
Lives to Live (aka As the Hamster Wheel Turns)” (10/6/18) – A soap opera
binging session has Edie believing she’s living in one.
“Homesick
as a Dog” (10/13/18) – Roxie needs to visit home frequently to avoid
homesickness but ends up losing her key to the portal.
“Sleepless
in Paw-Tucket (aka Never to Bed)” (10/13/18) – Jade tries to demonstrate her
willpower by skipping on her naps for an entire day.
“Biggest
Fan (aka Nightmare at 30,000 Bleats)” (10/27/18) – Quincy wins dinner for him
and a friend with Savannah on her hot-air balloon.
“Pet
Side Story” (10/27/18) – Setting up a play brings Edie in contact with a shy
fruit bat named Carmilla.
“Seeing
Double” (11/3/18) – Needing to clear some room in her schedule to write a play,
Edie convinces her doppelganger Didi to switch places with her.
“The
Ancient Art of Clean Fu (aka Trip Kwan Do)” (11/3/18) – Trip is invited by a
visiting martial arts team to join in their performance—now all he needs to do
is learn martial arts.
“Hidden
Treasures & Guilty Pleasures (aka With Friends Like These)” (11/10/18) – Edie
and Gavin discover they have a lot in common and become friends, but decide to
keep it a secret from everyone else.
“Take
This Suggestion (aka Take This Suggestion And…)” (11/10/18) – Mister Yut puts
in a suggestion box and drives himself crazy trying to address every issue he
comes across.
“Surf
and Turf Shindig” (11/17/18) – Bev tries to introduce her aquatic friends to
her land friends and it ends up being an awkward situation.
“Austin
La Vista” (11/17/18) – Austin ends up being so good at a game that he takes all
the fun out of it.
“Big
Sis, Lil Pup” (12/1/18) – Roxie volunteers to be a mentor to a newcomer to the
town.
“Trip
for the Record” (12/1/18) – Feeling he’s the only one without an
accomplishment, Trip sets out to break a town record.
“The
Couch is Always Greener…” (12/8/18) – Jade and Roxie have a fight that drives
them to move out and search for a new roommate.
“Model
Behavior” (12/8/18) – Roxie and Bev help with an annual fashion show and
discover “helping out” means “do all the work”.
“Surprise!
Paw-Zombies!” (12/15/18) – Roxie decides to throw Jade a surprise birthday
party based on her favorite zombie movie.
“Curiosity
and Cats” (12/22/18) – Jade tries to avoid going to a mystery costume party at
the LPS as she knows her curiosity will spike out of control.
“Fetch
the Story Stick” (12/22/18) – When their limo breaks down on the way to a show,
the pets try to cheer up a distraught Edie with stories about adventures.
“Eyes
and Ears of Paw-Tucket” (1/26/19) – Roxie is invited to submit a news story
centered on a scandal.
“Get
Her to the LPS” (1/26/19) – Bev and Roxie pull some strings to get Savannah to
perform at Mister Yut’s birthday party.
“Littlest
Pet Shop” Shorts:
“Welcome
to the Cruise Ship” (10/11/17) – Bev is excited for her first cruise but has
trouble finding her sea legs.
“Welcome
to the PetUltimate Apartments” (10/18/17) – Bev attempts to show off all the
apartments in the complex but discovers there are far too many for a short
video.
“Welcome
to the Fitness Center” (10/25/17) – Bev tries out yoga and has trouble finding
her zen.
“Welcome
to the Shake ‘n Dry Salon” (11/1/17) – Bev discovers sometimes the path to
beauty can be a bit scary.
“Welcome
to Paw-Tucket Stadium” (11/8/17) – Bev tries to convince her favorite band to
use her as a replacement when their lead singer loses her voice.
“Welcome
to Spin Class” (11/15/17) – Bev feels the burn when she attends the Fitness
Center spin class.
“Welcome
to Chill-Out Inn” (11/22/17) – Showing off the inn lands Bev in a ski race with
a snow bunny.
“Welcome
to Paw-Tucket Park” (11/29/17) – Bev invites herself to a bunch of parties,
almost missing her own.
“Welcome
to the Amusement Park” (12/6/17) – Bev faces her fears and goes on a ride that
terrifies her.
“Late
Night Bev” Shorts:
“Unboxing
Live!” (2/27/18) – Bev invites a famous internet unboxer to do an unboxing on
her show.
“Hip-Hop
Dance-Off!” (3/6/18) – Bev gets her crew to help her in her dance-off against
professional hip-hop dancers.
“Interview
w/ Mac Hedgyhog” (3/13/18) – Bev tries to get to the bottom of why humans find
a hedgehog adorable in tiny costumes.
“Bollywood
Dance-Off!” (3/20/18) – Bev goes up against a peacock with amazing costume
changes.
“Manny
About Town” (3/27/18) – Bev’s “mouse on the street” segment goes way off
script.
“Ballet
Dance-Off!” (4/3/18) – Bev thinks she can cinch it against a ballet-dancing
flamingo’s long legs.
“Ice
Dance-Off!” (4/10/18) – Bev lets Clicks fulfill his dream of being a figure
skater.
“Interview
w/ Savannah Cheetaby” (4/17/18) – Bev loses her cool when she lands an
interview with Savannah.
“Modern
Dance-Off!” (4/24/18) – Bev gets a lesson in shadow dancing.
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