Horrible Histories (2001 TV series)

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Horrible Histories
Title card
GenreAnimated children's television series
Comedy
Adventure
Developed byTamar Simon Hoffs
Gordon Langley
Andrew Young
Charlie Stickney.
Written byMartha Atwater
Terry Deary
Charlie Stickney
Andrew Young
Gordon Langley
William Forrest Cluverius
Directed byAndrew Young
Gordon Langley
Voices ofJess Harnell
Cree Summer
Billy West
Stephen Rea
Jo Young
Theme music composerDean Valentine
Opening themeHorrible Histories Theme
Ending themeHorrible Histories Theme
ComposersDean Valentine[1] and Rony Brack[2] (composer)
Country of originUnited States
United Kingdom
Ireland
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producersMike Young, Deborah Forte
ProducersMartha Atwater
Tamar Simon Hoffs
Michelle Conway
Paul Cummings
Deborah Forte
Mike Young
Mark Young
Beth Richman
Charlie Stickney
Running time22 minutes
Production companiesScholastic Entertainment
Mike Young Productions
Telegael
Original release
NetworkITV Network (CITV)
ReleaseDecember 19, 2000 (2000-12-19) –
November 14, 2001 (2001-11-14)
Related
Horrible Histories (2009 TV series)

Horrible Histories is an animated children's television series based on the Terry Deary book series of the same name. The series ran for 26 episodes that aired between December 19, 2000 and November 14, 2001.[3][4]

Synopsis[edit]

The series is based around the adventures of Stitch and Mo, two everyday kids who are transported to various historical eras with the help of a time portal. In each episode, their historical adventures help teach them a lesson or solve a problem in their everyday lives, often involving bully Darren Dongle. Animated sidebars explain the historical details, and clarify popular misconceptions.[5]

Characters[edit]

  • Stitch is one of the two main protagonists, he has black glasses and usually wears a huge dark-green T-shirt that has a rat on it and covers the rest of his body. He is shown to be lazy and loves food (especially doughnuts), and also considers himself quite a comedian. He is voiced by Billy West.
  • Mo is one of the two main protagonists, she wears a white T-shirt with a flower on it and green camouflage jeans. She is the brains of the pair. Mo is also shown to love animals. She is voiced by Cree Summer in the original American version and Jo Young when the show was dubbed and shown in the UK.
  • Darren Dongle is the main antagonist, a nerd who knows a lot about history but is shown to enjoy taunting Stitch and Mo. He is over-confident and hates it when he's wrong. He is voiced by Jess Harnell.
  • The Narrator is shown to be a good joker and zaps Stitch and Mo back in time to solve their situations. In Amazing Aussies, his name is revealed to be "Frank Synopsis." He is voiced by Billy West in the original American version and was dubbed by Stephen Rea when the show was dubbed and shown in the UK.

Production[edit]

Horrible Histories is based on Terry Deary's book series of the same name. Deary later said he had had a "terrible experience" with the show.[6]

The show is produced by California-based indie[4] Mike Young Productions (LA), Telegael Galway, and Scholastic Entertainment (NY).[7] It marked Young's and Telegael's first collaboration.[8] It is directed by Andrew Young (executive producer Mike Young's son[9]) and Gordon Langley. It is produced by Martha Atwater, Tamar Simon Hoffs, Michelle Conway, Paul Cummings, Deborah Forte, Mike Young, Mark Young, Beth Richman and Charlie Stickney, among others. It is animated by Glenn Jason Hanna. It is written by Martha Atwater, Terry Deary, Charlie Stickney, Andrew Young, Gordon Langley, William Forrest Cluverius. It has a running time of 25 minutes.[10]

On the British channel ITV, the show attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers each week.[11] Stephen Rea did his voice recording work in Dublin.[11]

In 2006, The Mirror held a promotion where readers had to collect 12 coupons and send them in to receive a free copy of the Horrible Histories DVD collection.[12]

Episodes[edit]

No. Title Original air date
1"Vicious Vikings"January 15, 2001 (2001-01-15)[13]
Stitch, Mo, and Darren have the same report in history class: Vikings, and Darren thinks that he will beat Stitch and Mo. The narrator then zaps Stitch and Mo to Brattahilid, Greenland in 1000 where they meet Erik the Red, and his ignored son Leif Eriksson and learn about the true histories of the famed seamen.
2"Measly Middle Ages"December 19, 2000 (2000-12-19)[14]
Mo ends up being grounded after she refuses to clean her room. So, the narrator zaps Stitch and Mo back in time to 1215 to see how dirty the serfs and British of Middle Age England are for Mo to learn her lesson.
3"Rotten Romans"December 19, 2000 (2000-12-19)[14]
A student couldn't make it for the teacher conference, so Darren came to take his place. While he was making his speech, he was wearing red boots. Stitch and Mo wonder why, so the narrator zaps them to Ancient Rome, 44 BCE where they meet Julius Caesar.
4"Angry Aztecs"January 16, 2001 (2001-01-16)[15]
Stitch and Mo think they have found good luck. They are zapped back to 1520, Mexico during the Aztec period. They find out that the Aztecs were some of the most superstitious people in history.
5"Terrible Tudors"December 27, 2000 (2000-12-27)[16]
Mo is about to lose her soccer team to Darren, much to her dismay. The narrator zaps Stitch and Mo back into the tudor times of England and Mo learns how to coach her soccer team by watching how Queen Elizabeth ruled her kingdom in 1588.
6"Groovy Greeks"January 15, 2001 (2001-01-15)[17]
Stitch and Mo get into an argument after they're late for gym class. Darren challenges the two to the art of wrestling, making one of them face him. The narrator then zaps Stitch and Mo to Ancient Greece, 403 BCE where wrestling was a popular sport in the Olympics.
7"Wild West"January 29, 2001 (2001-01-29)[18]
Darren forces Stitch and Mo to go down a scary-looking snowboarding course. Stitch and Mo think they should just give up but the narrator zaps them to the Wild West in 1849 where they meet a blacksmith named Sam and learn that there's always an opportunity.
8"Revolting Revolution"February 12, 2001 (2001-02-12)[19]
Darren is being unfair to everyone when he took his uncle's job as keeper of a paintball court, where he charges for everything. The narrator then zaps Stitch and Mo to the American Revolution of 1773 where they get separated and learn more from the two sides: the Americans and the British.
9"Royal Pain"March 14, 2001 (2001-03-14)[20]
Stitch has to do his genealogy project for school. Stitch thinks that his relatives are royalty and wishes to be "King of Donuts" and build a magnificent donut castle. The narrator then zaps Stitch and Mo to see three of the world's most famous kings: Louis XIV who built the Palace of Versailles, Peter the Great who built St. Petersburg and Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal.
10"Ingenious Industrialists"February 23, 2001 (2001-02-23)[21]
Stitch and Mo want their own jobs, so the narrator zaps them to the Industrial Revolution of 1840 where children are bound to have jobs.
11"Trading Timbuktu"March 10, 2001 (2001-03-10)[22]
Mo trades her brand new comic book for a trashy, old one. She becomes upset by her trade, so the narrator zaps her and Stitch to the Mali Empire where common items were made their weight in gold. They also meet a man who wishes to be a magician.
12"Amazing Aussies"March 22, 2001 (2001-03-22)[23]
Stitch and Mo are sent to detention after Mo put her cousin's lizard Slimeball into Darren's locker. The narrator then zaps Stitch and Mo to Australia when people were being taken as prisoners.
13"Savage Stone Age"April 25, 2001 (2001-04-25)[24]
Darren calls the Stitch and Mo neanderthals, which upsets them. The Narrator zaps them back to the stone age of 38000 BC, to show them what neanderthals were capable of doing.
14"Battlin' Bolivar"April 25, 2001 (2001-04-25)[25]
Stitch and Mo fail at building a dung-powered donut-making machine for a science fair. The narrator zaps them to South America where they meet Simón Bolívar.
15"Marvelous Marco Polo"May 31, 2001 (2001-05-31)[26]
The narrator zaps Stitch and Mo to Mongolia in 1292 where they meet Marco Polo.
16"Challenging China"May 31, 2001 (2001-05-31)[27]
Stitch and Mo are terrified to find out that Darren Dongle is moving into Mo's neighborhood. Stitch thinks about building a wall so Darren doesn't annoy them. The narrator then zaps Stitch and Mo to Ancient China to learn about how The Great Wall Of China was built.
17"Awesome Egyptians"July 2, 2001 (2001-07-02)[28]
Stitch and Mo have to find a way to defeat Darren and his snowball launcher in the simplest of ways. The narrator zaps Stitch and Mo to Ancient Egypt where they meet Tutankhamen. King Tut orders them to find a place for the party of the great flood.
18"Stormin' Scots"August 20, 2001 (2001-08-20)[29]
The terrier mascot of Stitch and Mo's basketball team has disappeared, and the team is desperate without it. The narrator zaps Stitch and Mo to Scotland where they meet King Robert the Bruce.
19"Surprising Samurai"August 23, 2001 (2001-08-23)[30]
Mo doesn't want to waste her time with the old fashioned way of her grandma Grannykins. Instead, she wants to play her new samurai video game. The narrator then zaps her and Stitch to Heian era Japan where they learn what being a samurai is like.
20"Gnarly North Pole"August 23, 2001 (2001-08-23)[31]
Stitch and Mo are supposed to compete against Darren in an obstacle course. When Stitch and Mo think they're going to lose, the narrator zaps them to the Arctic Circle where they find Robert Edwin Peary, the first man ever to make it to the North Pole.
21"Rockin' Renaissance"August 31, 2001 (2001-08-31)[32]
Stitch and Mo are searching for inspiration for an art show, so the narrator zaps them to the Renaissance where they meet Michelangelo.
22"Magnificent Mounties"October 24, 2001 (2001-10-24)[33]
The narrator zaps Stitch and Mo to Canada where Stitch gets captured by a criminal and Mo teams up with the Royal Canadian Mounty Police to rescue him.
23"Perilous Plagues"October 26, 2001 (2001-10-26)[34]
Stitch is afraid to get his shot, so he and Mo are zapped to Italy where the Bubonic Plague is spreading.
24"Extraordinary Explorers"October 26, 2001 (2001-10-26)[35]
The narrator zaps Stitch and Mo to the Rocky Mountains where they meet Lewis and Clark.
25"Highly Hawaiian"November 14, 2001 (2001-11-14)[36]
The narrator zaps Stitch and Mo to ancient Hawaii.
26"Captivating Columbus"November 14, 2001 (2001-11-14)[37]
Darren Dongle is the substitute teacher and challenges Stitch and Mo to a true-or-false quiz about Christopher Columbus. Zapping Stitch and Mo back in time won't help them, so they're on their own.

Historical inaccuracies:

  • "Rotten Romans" – Julius Caesar did not build the Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum). It was built by Vespasian.
  • "Revolting Revolution" – When the episode was dubbed in the UK, the narrator says at one point that George Washington died in 1793. However, the original version from the USA correctly said that George Washington died in 1799.
  • "Amazing Aussies" – Sheep are not native to Australia, Europeans brought them over.

DVD release[edit]

The DVD cover of the episode pack "Groovy Greeks", "Extraordinary Explorers" and Battlin' Bolivar".

The show's episodes have been released as single episodes, as 3-in-1 packs, or as one whole series.[38] The series was released as a 3-disc DVD box set in 2005.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Composers. "SMA Talent Ltd » VALENTINE, Dean". Smatalent.com. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  2. ^ "Rony Brack". Rony Brack. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  3. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=https://cocatalog.loc.gov|access-date=2024-01-23
  4. ^ a b Rushton, Katherine (18 March 2008). "CBBC to remake Horrible Histories with live action". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  5. ^ Horrible Histories - Simon Farnaby's Best Bits | Compilation, retrieved 10 September 2023
  6. ^ Leo Hickman. "How Horrible Histories became a huge hit | Culture". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  7. ^ "The success of the Irish film industry depends on innovative financing and improving services". Finance-Magazine.com. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Mike Young and Telegael ink second toon copro | News". C21Media. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  9. ^ "Mike Young & Scholastic animate Horrible Histories | News". C21Media. 20 July 2001. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  10. ^ Horrible Histories Cartoon Series (2001)|Big Cartoon DataBase
  11. ^ a b "Horrible Times Ahead for Irish Actor Stephen". 28 July 2002. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. ^ "FREE DVDs. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  13. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  14. ^ a b U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  15. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  16. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  17. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  18. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  19. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  20. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  21. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  22. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  23. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  24. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  25. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  26. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  27. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  28. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  29. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  30. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  31. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  32. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  33. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  34. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  35. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  36. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  37. ^ U.S. Copyright Database|publisher=Iftn.ie|access-date=2024-01-23
  38. ^ Shopping, best shop, Price comparison, Product review at dooyoo.co.uk

External links[edit]

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