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Peep and the Big Wide World

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Peep and the Big Wide World
Also known asPeep
GenreEducational
Adventure
Children's television series
Comedy
Created byKaj Pindal[1][2]
Directed byRick Marshall
Voices ofScott Beaudin (seasons 1–3)
Shawn Molko (season 4)
Maxwell Uretsky (season 5)
Jamie Watson
Amanda Soha
Narrated byJoan Cusack
Theme music composerSteve D'Angelo
Terry Tompkins
Opening theme"Peep and the Big Wide World" performed by Taj Mahal
Ending theme"Peep and the Big Wide World" (instrumental)
ComposersSteve D'Angelo
Terry Tompkins
Countries of originCanada
United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes60 (120 segments + 120 live-action segments)
Production
Executive producerKate Taylor
ProducersVince Commisso
Marisa Wolsky
Running time22–25 minutes
Production companiesWGBH Boston
9 Story Entertainment
Eggbox LLC
National Film Board of Canada
Original release
NetworkTVOKids (Canada)
Discovery Kids/TLC(seasons 1–3) (U.S.)
Public television syndication (seasons 4–5) (U.S.)
ReleaseApril 12, 2004 (2004-04-12) –
September 14, 2007 (2007-09-14) (seasons 1–3)
ReleaseFebruary 2, 2010 (2010-02-02) –
October 14, 2011 (2011-10-14) (seasons 4–5)

Peep and the Big Wide World is an animated preschool television series created by Danish-Canadian animator Kaj Pindal. It revolves around the lives of three anthropomorphic birds named Peep, Chirp, and Quack, as they discover, investigate, and explore the world around them.[3]

The show was based on the 1988 short film of the same name produced by the National Film Board of Canada,[4] which itself is based on the 1962 short film The Peep Show,[5] also produced by the National Film Board of Canada. The series premiered on April 12, 2004, on Discovery Kids and on TLC as part of their Ready Set Learn! children's block in the United States, and on TVOKids in Canada. It was produced by WGBH in Boston (through its kids division WGBH Kids), 9 Story Media Group (formerly 9 Story Entertainment; in its debut production), Eggbox LLC, the National Film Board of Canada, and Discovery Kids Studios (seasons 1–3), in association with TVOntario and Discovery Kids and is distributed by Alliance Atlantis (through AAC Kids for the first season).

Throughout its run, it was underwritten by the National Science Foundation,[6][7][8] with Northrop Grumman underwriting season four in 2010.

Each episode consists of two 9-minute stories, which are animated segments, and two 2-minute live-action segments, in which children explore and demonstrate the same topic presented in the animated segment. The show is narrated by Joan Cusack and the background music is produced by Steve D' Angelo and Terry Tompkins.[9]

Overview

[edit]

Viewers follow Peep, Chirp, and Quack as they investigate and explore the world around them. Following the 9-minute animated episode, there is a 2-minute live-action segment which features children exploring and demonstrating the same topic presented in the episode. The animation consists of bright colors, 2D, 3D and simple shapes, which simulates and reflects a youthful art style.

Characters

[edit]

Attributed to the following sources:[10][11][12][13][14][15]

Main

[edit]
  • Peep (voiced by Scott Beaudin in seasons 1–3, Shawn Molko in season 4 and Maxwell Uretsky in season 5) is a male, yellow chicken who is very curious. He is the youngest bird of the group. The show's title is derived from his name. However, Peep is female in the original short film.
  • Chirp (voiced by Amanda Soha) is a female, red robin who is also very curious, and attempts frequently to fly, with unsatisfying results, until "A Daring Duck", when she flies to the ground. In "Big Bird", she meets an adult robin for the first time. She is Peep and Quack's best friend. However, Chirp is male in the original short film.
  • Quack (voiced by Jamie Watson) is a male, eggplant purple duck who wears a white sailor's hat. He is older than Peep and Chirp, as they are still chicks. He frequently boasts about himself and ducks as a whole, and unwittingly makes many discoveries. Quack is purple in the original short film and is now referred to as blue, but is still quite indigo. He also seems to have a hoarding issue, as evidenced in the episode "An Inconvenient Tooth, Part 1".
  • The Narrator (voiced by Joan Cusack) is an omniscient voice who narrates each episode. She usually remains separate from the action, but occasionally, the characters are shown to be able to hear her and will interact with her.

Minor

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  • Ant (voiced by Rob Tinkler) is a very busy male ant who is leader of the ants.
  • Bat (voiced by Ron Rubin in season 1 and Ron Pardo in season 2) is a very shy bat.
  • Beaver Boy (voiced by Tessa Marshall in seasons 1–3 and Amanda Gryniewski in seasons 4–5) is a young naïve male beaver who lives in an adjoining pond to Quack's pond. He appears in several episodes. His desire to please his mom and dad often results in him chewing down too many trees. He often calls Quack "Blue Sailor", Peep "Yellow Guy", and Chirp "Red Round".
  • Beaver Dad (voiced by Phillip Williams) is Beaver Boy's businesslike father.
  • Beaver Mom (voiced by Kathleen Laskey in season 1 and Debra McGrath seasons 2–3) is Beaver Boy's workaholic mother.
  • Blue Jays (voiced by David Huband and Kathleen Laskey for male and female, resp.) are very silly blue and white birds who love to cause lots of trouble when they see stuff.
  • Bunnies (voiced by Melanie Tonello, Raquel Cadilha, Alexander Conti, resp. in seasons 1–2; Avigail Humphreys and Riele Downs in seasons 4–5) are inhabitants who live in rabbit holes. In season 1, three bunnies who lived in a rabbit hole became Peep's friends in "Peep in Rabbitland". In season 4, five bunnies are aided by Peep and Quack to find their bunnysitter in "You Can Count on Bunnies".
  • Bunnysitter (voiced by Jake Sim) is a bunny who babysits the 5 bunnies.
  • Dragonfly (voiced by Catherine Disher) is a quiet dragonfly.
  • Fish (voiced by John McGrath in season 1 and Robert Tinkler in season 2) are cohabitations of Quack's pond.
  • Fish Jr. (voiced by Phoebe McAuley in seasons 1–2 and Sarah Commisso in season 3) is the youngest fish in the pond and Quack's best fish friend.
  • Frog (voiced by Rob Tinkler) is a frog who lives in Quack's pond. He mostly just says "ribbit" but in episodes such as "Sounds Like..." and "Hide and Go Peep", he is heard talking. He is light green in early episodes, but in later episodes, he is a more darker green. Frog is frequently seen sitting on a lily pad in the pond.
  • Groundhog (voiced by Rachel Marcus) is a young groundhog destined to find her shadow.
  • Old Groundhog (voiced by Adrian Truss) is the oldest of all groundhogs.
  • Hoot (voiced by Corinne Conley) is a menacing, but kind purple female owl who lives in the Deep Dark Woods.
  • "Me" Tiny Ant[13] (voiced by Erica Commisso) is the tiniest ant in the anthill. "Me" was named after a misinterpretation from Peep.
  • Nellie (voiced by Marium Carvell) is a red female dog who acts as a seemingly maternal figure for the birds.
  • Newton (voiced by Colin Fox) is an old, male, dark-green turtle who lives under an apple tree. He is a friend to Peep, Chirp, and Quack.
  • Quack #2 (voiced by Megan Mullally) is a female duck who has her own pond, built by Quack, Peep, Chirp, Beaver Boy and his parents, and Quack's pink doppelgänger. Like Quack, Quack #2 is boastful and narcissistic, but unlike Quack, Quack #2 is annoying, cruel, and bad-intentioned.
  • Rabbit (voiced by Jayne Eastwood) is an excitable and somewhat distracted rabbit.
  • Raccoon (voiced by Jeff Lumby) is a gobbo, male brown & black raccoon who has lots of rubbish.
  • Robins (voiced by Kathleen Laskey and Holly Hunter respectively) are two individual robins with differentiating personalities. One is a blue robin who flies around giving Chirp pep talks and comes from "Chirp Builds a Nest". Another is an adult robin who appears in "Big Bird" and "Chirp Flies the Coop".
  • Skunk (voiced by Adrian Truss) is a rather deadpan skunk who lives near Quack's pond.
  • Snail (voiced by Laura Lynn) is a pondweller in Quack's pond.
  • Spider (voiced by Marium Carvell) is a smart and sneaky spider.
  • Splendid Bird from Paradise (voiced by Jabella A. Urrejola-Lugo) is a green bird who was captured from the jungle, adopted by a little girl and found her way in the Big Wide World.
  • Squeak (voiced by Kathleen Laskey) is an anxious pink, female mouse who lives under a brick and always worries a lot about what could go wrong.
  • Squirrel (voiced by Peter Wildman) is a brown squirrel with a long tail who favors acorns.
  • Tom (voiced by Alex Hood in season 1 and Matthew Knight in season 2) is a sly, male blue cat with black stripes who often tries to eat Peep, Chirp, and Quack. He is the sole antagonist.

Episodes

[edit]
SeasonEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast released
126April 12, 2004 (2004-04-12)May 17, 2004 (2004-05-17)
213May 2, 2005 (2005-05-02)September 27, 2006 (2006-09-27)
310April 16, 2007 (2007-04-16)September 14, 2007 (2007-09-14)
46February 2, 2010 (2010-02-02)July 17, 2010 (2010-07-17)
55October 10, 2011 (2011-10-10)October 14, 2011 (2011-10-14)

Season 1 (2004)

[edit]
No.
overall		No. in
season		Segment namesOriginal release dateProd.
code
11"Spring Thing"April 12, 2004 (2004-04-12)110
"Springy Thingy"
22"A Duck's Tale"April 13, 2004 (2004-04-13)101
"Quack's Tracks"
33"Quack and the Very Big Rock"April 14, 2004 (2004-04-14)102
"Shadow Play"
44"Current Events"April 15, 2004 (2004-04-15)103
"Quack Loses His Hat"
55"Night Light"April 16, 2004 (2004-04-16)104
"Sounds Like..."
66"The Windy Day"April 19, 2004 (2004-04-19)105
"Peep Feet"
77"Newton's Big Adventure"April 20, 2004 (2004-04-20)106
"Peep Crosses the Road"
88"Stormy Weather"April 21, 2004 (2004-04-21)107
"Peep in Rabbitland"
99"Quack's Stuck Stick"April 22, 2004 (2004-04-22)108
"Peep's Can"
1010"Under Duck"April 23, 2004 (2004-04-23)109
"All Fall Down"
1111"The Perils of Peep and Chirp"April 26, 2004 (2004-04-26)111
"Hoop Tricks"
1212"Save It for Later"April 27, 2004 (2004-04-27)112
"The Red Ballmoon"
1313"Chirp Builds a Nest"April 28, 2004 (2004-04-28)113
"Stuck Duck"
1414"The Real Decoy"April 29, 2004 (2004-04-29)114
"Peep's Lost Leaf"
1515"Birds of a Feather"April 30, 2004 (2004-04-30)115
"The Incredible Shrinking Duck"
1616"Go West Young Peep"May 3, 2004 (2004-05-03)116
"A Delicate Balance"
1717"The Fish Museum"May 4, 2004 (2004-05-04)117
"Peep's Night Out"
1818"There's No Place Like Home"May 5, 2004 (2004-05-05)118
"Flipping Newton"
1919"Chirp's Flight Program"May 6, 2004 (2004-05-06)119
"Mirror Mirror in the Dump"
2020"Bridge the Gap"May 7, 2004 (2004-05-07)120
"Meeting Half-Way"
2121"Peep Plants a Seed"May 10, 2004 (2004-05-10)121
"The Root Problem"
2222"Hide and Go Peep"May 11, 2004 (2004-05-11)122
"A Peep of a Different Color"
2323"That's a Cat"May 12, 2004 (2004-05-12)123
"Faster Than a Duck"
2424"Quack Hatches an Egg"May 13, 2004 (2004-05-13)124
"The Whatchamacallit"
2525"Wandering Beaver"May 14, 2004 (2004-05-14)125
"Peep's New Friend"
2626"The Trip to Green Island"May 17, 2004 (2004-05-17)126
"Give Me a Call"

Season 2 (2005–06)

[edit]
No.
overall		No. in
season		Segment namesOriginal release dateProd.
code
271"Finders Keepers"May 2, 2005 (2005-05-02)201
"Quack Quiets the Universe"
282"Peep's Moon Mission"May 3, 2005 (2005-05-03)202
"The Many Moons of Quack the Duck"
293"The Mystery of the Thing That Went and Came Back"May 4, 2005 (2005-05-04)203
"Peep's Color Quest"
304"Reflection Affection"May 5, 2005 (2005-05-05)204
"Peep Deep in the Big Muddy"
315"Chirp Sorts It Out (Sort Of)"May 6, 2005 (2005-05-06)205
"Hear Here!"
326"Dry Duck"May 9, 2005 (2005-05-09)206
337"Snow Daze"May 10, 2005 (2005-05-10)207
"Flower Shower"
348"Who Stole the Big Wide World?"May 11, 2005 (2005-05-11)208
"M-U-D Spells Trouble"
359"Finding Time"May 12, 2005 (2005-05-12)209
"Smaller Than a Peep"
3610"Quack Quack"May 13, 2005 (2005-05-13)210
"One Duck Two Many"
3711"Count Them Out"September 25, 2005 (2005-09-25)212
"Peep Prints"
3812"Stick with Me"September 26, 2005 (2005-09-26)211
"Tree Feller"
3913"A Daring Duck"September 27, 2005 (2005-09-27)213
"The Trouble with Bubbles"

Season 3 (2007)

[edit]
No.
overall		No. in
season		Segment namesOriginal release dateProd.
code
401"The Tooth, the Whole Tooth, and Nothing But the Tooth"April 17, 2007 (2007-04-17)302
"The Winter of Quack's Discontent"
412"Nosing Around"April 18, 2007 (2007-04-18)303
"The Last Straw"
423"The Disappearing Drink"April 19, 2007 (2007-04-19)304
"Door Tour"
434"In a Bind"April 20, 2007 (2007-04-20)305
"Star Light, Star Bright"
445"Bedtime Story"September 11, 2007 (2007-09-11)306
"The Deep Duck Woods"
456"I Spy a Spider"September 12, 2007 (2007-09-12)307
"Robin in the Bat Cave"
467"Marble Mover"September 13, 2007 (2007-09-13)308
"Fair Shares"
478"The Feats of Peep"September 14, 2007 (2007-09-14)309
"Quack Goes Nuts"
489"The Sounds of Silence"September 16, 2007 (2007-09-16)301
4910"Big Bird"September 10, 2007 (2007-09-10)310
"Chirp Flies the Coop"

Season 4 (2010)

[edit]
No.
overall		No. in
season		Segment namesOriginal release dateProd.
code
501"The Lurmies are Coming"February 2, 2010 (2010-02-02)406
"Quack's Square Deal"
512"An Inconvenient Tooth"May 1, 2010 (2010-05-01)401
523"Bringing Spring"May 13, 2010 (2010-05-13)403
"Quack's Pond Party"
534"You Can Count on Bunnies"May 14, 2010 (2010-05-14)405
"Falling Feathers"
545"Trading Places"June 26, 2010 (2010-06-26)402
"House of Sand and Frog"
556"Magic Duck Dancing"July 17, 2010 (2010-07-17)404
"Chirp Chirp Tweet Tweet Chirp"

Season 5 (2011)

[edit]
No.
overall		No. in
season		Segment namesOriginal release dateProd.
code
561"Two's a Crowd"October 10, 2011 (2011-10-10)501
572"The Road Not Taken"October 11, 2011 (2011-10-11)502
583"Soap Opera"October 12, 2011 (2011-10-12)503
"Diva Duck"
594"Quack and the Amazing Sandy Magic"October 13, 2011 (2011-10-13)504
"Duckball"
605"Things That Go Peep in the Night"October 14, 2011 (2011-10-14)505
"Mud Muddle"

Music composition

[edit]

Music for Peep and the Big Wide World is composed by Terry Tompkins and Steve D'Angelo, from Eggplant. The opening theme is performed by blues musician Taj Mahal.[16]

Broadcast

[edit]

United States

[edit]

Peep and the Big Wide World was originally broadcast on TLC and Discovery Kids — the latter as part of the Ready Set Learn! preschool block — from April 12, 2004, to September 14, 2007. Carriage on the Discovery children's networks ended on October 8, 2010, when Discovery Kids discontinued the block and reruns of the first three seasons to make way for the new network to launch known as The Hub on October 10. WGBH began airing the series on August 1, 2004,[17] and it was later offered to public television stations via independent public television distributor American Public Television from April 1, 2007,[18][19] to January 3, 2018.[20]

The last two seasons were broadcast exclusively on select local public television stations with episodes distributed by APT from January 4, 2010[21] to October 14, 2011, though second-runs of previous episodes began as early as April 1, 2007.[18][19] APT continued distributing reruns until January 3, 2018,[20] well after commercial networks dropped the program. A total of 60 episodes (120 segments) were broadcast.

Beginning on January 1, 2018, distribution and reruns of Peep and the Big Wide World began airing on the 24-hour PBS Kids channel,[22] marking the first time the series aired nationally on PBS Kids. Despite being a production of PBS station WGBH, Peep and the Big Wide World was turned down by PBS in 2003 in favor of developing programming directed at "slightly older children".[23] (The series was geared toward preschool children ages 3–5; meanwhile, PBS eventually launched the PBS Kids Go! block in 2004 which was intended for children above the preschool level.) The U.S. broadcasts of the series ended on December 26, 2021, when it was replaced with reruns of Dinosaur Train to the 7:30 a.m. weekend morning timeslot.[24]

APT and PBS Kids broadcasts of Peep and the Big Wide World were paired with a short episode from Pocoyo, which aired immediately after each show from 2010 to 2021.

Media

[edit]

Home video

[edit]

WGBH Boston Video released the episodes of the first season on DVD in 2005. The 2005 DVD releases each contained six segments of the specified subject; Peep Explores, Peep Finds, Peep Floats, Peep's New Friends, Chirp Flies, and Quack Knows It All. The 2007 DVD release, Peep Figures It Out contained six segments as usual, plus two bonus segments. In 2011, PBS Kids Video released two DVDs; Seasons of Adventure, and Star Light, Star Bright, which contains episodes from seasons two and three respectively. In 2012, PBS Kids Video released two more DVDs; Finders Keepers and Bringing Spring. In 2014, PBS Kids Video released two more DVDs; Diva Duck, and Peep Discovers (which was once available as a limited release to retail stores). As of 2024, all of these DVDs are now out of print and very hard to find, but commonly found at public libraries. In Canada, Entertainment One released four DVDs in both English and French languages; Quack Quack, Peep's Moon Mission, Stick With Me, and Flower Shower.

PBS LearningMedia shorts

[edit]

On July 26, 2017, WGBH released PEEP and the Big Wide World: Weather Factors, a media gallery in PBS LearningMedia's Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms project. Weather Factors contains 4 animated shorts: "Peep and the Too Windy Day", "Peep and the Chilly Dam", "Peep and the Changing Sky", and "Peep and the Rainy, Snowy Day".[25]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Peep and the Big Wide World". National Film Board of Canada. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2014.
  2. ↑ Lerner, Loren Ruth (1997). Canadian Film and Video: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature, Volume 1. University of Toronto Press. p. 218. ISBN 0802029884.
  3. ↑ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 447–448. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  4. ↑ "Peep and the Big Wide World". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada.
  5. ↑ "The Peep Show". National Film Board of Canada. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  6. ↑ "NSF Award Search: Award # 0104700 - "Peep and the Big Wide World:" A Television Science Series for Three to Five Year Olds". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  7. ↑ "NSF Award Search: Award # 0540273 - Peep and the Big Wide World (Season 3)". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  8. ↑ "NSF Award Search: Award # 0741644 - Peep and The Big Wide World 'Anywhere Math' Initiative, Season 4". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Learn about teaching science and math to Preschoolers with PEEP | Peep". May 29, 2023. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  10. ↑ "PEEP and the Big Wide World: Broadcast Credits". Archived from the original on April 30, 2007. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
  11. ↑ Peep and the Big Wide World - Ending Credits (HD Version). CANAL F. May 11, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2025 – via YouTube.
  12. ↑ Peep and the big wide world credits 2010 on pbs kids. Ni Ki. September 18, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2025 – via YouTube.
  13. 1 2 4 Peep and the Big Wide World credits. MUFEU. May 16, 2024. Retrieved March 16, 2025 – via YouTube.
  14. ↑ Peep & the Big Wide World ending. Becky Saenz. June 2, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2025 – via YouTube.
  15. ↑ Peep and the Big Wide World S4E01. Peep and the Big Wide World. Retrieved March 16, 2025 – via Dailymotion.
  16. ↑ "Opening video, with lyrics and credits on official page". Archived from the original on November 20, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Peep and the Big Wide World WGBH Premiere". The Boston Globe. August 1, 2004. p. 319. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  18. 1 2 "PEEP AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD - American Public Television". www.aptonline.org. Archived from the original on November 6, 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  19. 1 2 "PEEP and the Big Wide World: FAQ". www.peepandthebigwideworld.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2024. And, starting in April 2007, look for PEEP on your local public television station.
  20. 1 2 "PEEP AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD II/POCOYO | American Public Television". www.aptonline.org. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Entry not found in index season NOT FOUND". Archived from the original on September 10, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine". issuu.com (January 2018): 22. December 15, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  23. ↑ Finucane, Martin (May 27, 2003). "WGBH to Produce Commercial Show for Kids". Edwardsville Publishing Company. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  24. ↑ "TV Schedules - AZPM". tv.azpm.org. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  25. ↑ "PEEP and the Big Wide World: Weather Factors". PBS LearningMedia. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
[edit]
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