Release Date: 11/13/07

The Show

Based on the series of children’s novels by John Peterson, The Littles was an animated series that offered children a different perspective on everyday life and items. The plots of each episode were very similar to any other cartoon on the tube at the time, however, what set it apart from the rest was the fact that it put children in someone else’s shoes so effectively. While I haven’t seen a full episode of The Littles in years, my return to The Complete Series was met with a mixed bag of emotions.

Living within the walls of a house owned by the Bigg family, The Littles were a family of tight knit little elf/human/mouse-like creatures seldom seen by humans. However, one inhabitant of the house, Henry Bigg sees the creatures, changing his life forever. Together, Henry and The Littles face various real life issues from episode to episode like friendship, jealousy, honesty, and prejudice, all the while dealing with the evil Dr. Hunter that. It’s a good wholesome series that wraps up each episode nicely with a moral.

The 5-disc set includes 29 episodes with a Play All option available on each disc.
Disc 1
1. Beware of Hunter!
2. Lost City of The Littles
3. The Big Scare
4. Lights, Camera, Littles
5. The Spirits of the Night
6. The Little Winner
7. A Big Cure for a Little Illness
8. The Rats are Coming, The Rats are Coming
Disc 2
1. The Little Fairy Tale
2. Prescription for Disaster
3. The Little Scouts
4. A Little Gold, A Lot of Trouble
5. Dinky’s Doomsday Pizza
6. Looking for Grandma Little
7. Every Little Vote Counts
8. The Forest Littles
Disc 3
1. The Littles’ Halloween
2. The Little Babysitters
3. A Little Rock and Roll
4. The Little Amazon Queen
Disc 4
1. The Little Girl Who Could
2. Deadly Jewels
3. The Wrong Stuff
4. When Irish Eyes are Smiling
Disc 5
1. Ben Dinky
2. For the Birds
3. Twins
4. Tut the Second
5. A Little Drunk

THE DVD

The main menu comes with an introduction, animated backgrounds, and music. Submenus include static backgrounds with music.

The video transfer is offered in 1.33:1 Fullscreen Format. The picture hasn’t been cleaned up at all and it definitely shows. Definition and black lines hold no strength at all and colors appear drab and washed out. However, it probably won’t get much better than this as the studios probably will not go out of its way to remaster this picture anytime soon.

The audio is offered in English Dolby Digital Stereo. Like the video transfer, the audio doesn’t hold up well either. At times, the soundtrack is weak with lower than usual volume and a general hollow sound throughout. It’s certainly serviceable, but it’s not sweet music to my ears.

The Extras

The 5-disc set comes in 3 slimline cases enclosed within a cardboard box. The episode guide is found on the backs of each case. It’s all presented in a standard fashion, however, one small quirk is the lack of a guide detailing where to find the bonus options.

One of the more substantial bonus options is the Bonus Animated Movie, Liberty and The Littles, which runs a little over an hour long. It’s great to see the complete series on DVD include a movie as well.

Also offered is a 22-minute Interview with show writer Marc Scott Zicree.

Little Ideas for Big People Short Videos offers 8 options that showcase The Littles using everyday big people items for their own uses.

Visual History of the DIC logo is an interesting 45-second piece that goes through the various iterations of the logo throughout the years.

The bonus options round out with a Storyboard to Episode Comparison, a Trivia Game entitled How Would The Littles Use?, Printable Writer’s Bible, Pilot Episode Outline, and Storyboard.

Final Thoughts

The Littles – The Complete Series will most definitely have fans of the series happy to have all the episodes in one place. The number of bonus options should also keep you coming back time and time again.

- Morris Tang