Lowly Worm

Last updated
Lowly Worm
Busytown character
Created by Richard Scarry
Voiced by
In-universe information
SpeciesEarthworm
GenderMale

Lowly Worm is a fictional character created by Richard Scarry; he frequently appears in children's books by Scarry, and is a main character in the animated series Richard Scarry Presents The Best Series Ever!, The Busy World of Richard Scarry and Busytown Mysteries . [1] [2] In The Busy World of Richard Scarry, he is voiced by Keith Knight. In Busytown Mysteries, he is voiced by Paul Wensley.

Lowly is an anthropomorphic earthworm. He usually wears a dark green Tyrolean hat on his head, similar to the hat which Richard Scarry purchased in St. Anton in 1950 and often wore during visits to his publishers in New York City. [3] Lowly also wears a shoe on the end of his tail, a blue and green tube on his body (intended to resemble a sleeveless shirt and one-legged trousers) over a singular "underpant," [4] and a red bow tie. His best friend is Huckle Cat, he lives in Busytown, and he drives an apple-shaped car since The Busy World of Richard Scarry. In various episodes of The Busy World of Richard Scarry and Busytown Mysteries and in the computer games Richard Scarry's Busytown and How Things Work in Busytown it is revealed that the car can also fly much like a helicopter.

Lowly attends school with Huckle and plays with him and his friends, but also takes part in more adult activities, such as driving a car. Hilda Hippo also has a crush on him, which he is reluctant to return, although he does consider Hilda a good friend.

A Variety reviewer of The Busy World of Richard Scarry describes Lowly as "the real star of the series, with his goofily deprecating name and natty ensemble that includes a bow tie and single sneaker". [5] According to Scarry's widow, Lowly was his favorite fictional creation. [6]

About 500,000 Lowly Worm and Huckle Cat finger puppets, distributed by American fast food chain Taco Bell in 1993, were voluntarily recalled by Taco Bell following complaints that the puppets had become stuck to children's tongues. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Scarry</span> American author and illustrator (1919–1994)

Richard McClure Scarry was an American children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of over 100 million worldwide. He is best known for his Best Ever book series that take place primarily in the fictional town of Busytown, "which is populated by friendly and helpful resident [animals...such as] Mr. Frumble, Huckle Cat, Mr. Fixit, Lowly Worm, and others..." The series spawned a media franchise.

Busytown is a fictional town depicted in several books by American children's author Richard Scarry. Busytown is inhabited by an assortment of anthropomorphic animals, including Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm, Mr. Frumble, police Sergeant Murphy, Mr. Fixit, Bananas Gorilla and Hilda Hippo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Stocker (voice actor)</span> Canadian voice actor

John Stocker is a Canadian voice actor. His career in voice acting began in the 1970s.

Julie Lemieux is a Canadian voice actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aron Tager</span> American actor and poet (1934–2019)

Aron Tager was an American actor, poet, artist and sculptor, he is best known for voicing Cranky Kong in the animated television series, Donkey Kong Country.

CBC Kids is a Canadian children's block on CBC Television. The block was launched as Hodge Podge Lodge in 1987 and contains programming targeted at children. The block airs on weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Saturdays from 6:00 a.m. to noon and Sundays from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.

<i>The Busy World of Richard Scarry</i> American/Canadian/French animated childrens television series

The Busy World of Richard Scarry is an animated children's television series, produced by CINAR Animation and France Animation in association with Paramount Television, which aired from 1994 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 This TV until October 26, 2013. Reruns of the show aired on Qubo from May 13, 2013, to September 25, 2016. However, it returned to Qubo on March 28, 2017, as part of the network's Night Owl block until May 26, 2018, and has also aired on Light TV, but has since left the network.

<i>Richard Scarrys Busytown</i> 1993 educational video game and its 1999 remake

Richard Scarry's Busytown is a 1993 educational video game that was developed by Novotrade for preschool gamers. It was released for DOS, Macintosh, and Sega Genesis. This game was based on the series of Best...Ever! series of VHSes distributed by Random House's home video division preceding the TV series' The Busy World of Richard Scarry that was produced by CINAR and Paramount Television. It was remade in 1999 by Pearson Software for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS, with the visuals and animation updated to resemble that of The Busy World of Richard Scarry, and the dialogue re-recorded with Boston actors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corinne Orr</span> Canadian actress

Corinne Orr is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her work on the English version of the anime series Speed Racer.

Peter Wildman is a Canadian actor, voice actor, musician, writer and member of the Frantics comedy troupe. He appeared as Buzz Sherwood on The Red Green Show, and voiced Mojo in X-Men: The Animated Series and Mr. Fixit in the series The Busy World of Richard Scarry. He was also a writer on The Red Green Show from 1994 until 1998.

<i>The Busy Little Engine</i> 2005 film by Desmond Mullen

The Busy Little Engine is a 2005 direct-to-video children's film written and directed by Desmond Mullen. It was selected for the 2006 San Diego International Children's Film Festival and reviewed in the professional library journals Booklist, School Library Journal, and Video Librarian. The Busy Little Engine was picked Best DVD by Parenting Magazine in July 2006.

<i>Best Word Book Ever</i> Book by Richard Scarry

Best Word Book Ever by Richard Scarry was published in 1963 and became a best-selling children's book. Scarry had been illustrating children's books since 1950, but this was his first as both author and illustrator. The book also marked the beginning of the author's work on the "Best Ever" series. The original edition contains over 1,400 labelled pictures and the book sold over seven million copies in 12 years. The word book is designed to entertain children while teaching them words and numbers. It is divided into subjects on each pair of pages. Subjects range from sports to houses, with examples from all over the world. The pages have a small amount of text, which often challenge the reader to find something on the page. The characters are all anthropomorphic animals, often cats, bears, rabbits and mice, but many other animals are also used. The art for Best Word Book Ever was first drawn in, then painted in, which was by that time Scarry's normal method.

The Legend of White Fang is an animated television series based on the 1906 novel White Fang by Jack London. The show focuses on the main dog protagonist and a young human companion, 12-year-old female Wendy Scott, in the place of the novel's male trail guide, Weedon Scott. Spanning 26 episodes for one season.

<i>Busytown Mysteries</i> Canadian animated television series

Busytown Mysteries, also known as Hurray for Huckle!, is a Canadian animated television series created by Cookie Jar Entertainment. Currently, the series airs in Canada as part of the Kids' CBC block and on the Tiny Pop channel in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the show was scheduled to debut on Qubo, but it aired as part of the Cookie Jar TV block on CBS instead, and then returned to the United States on Starz.

Keith Knight was a Canadian film, television and voice actor. He made his screen debut as Larry "Fink" Finkelstein in the 1979 comedy Meatballs, voiced the White Rabbit in The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland, and voiced Pigface in the BBC drama Ace Lightning. Knight was also known for voicing Lowly Worm in The Busy World of Richard Scarry. He was also the voice of Moldy Van Oldy in the hit series Erky Perky.

Luca Bottale is an Italian voice actor who contributes to voicing characters in movies, cartoons, anime, video games, and more. He is well known for voicing characters from popular TV programs such as Usopp from One Piece, Zane Truesdale from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, and more. Bottale is also known for voicing Sly Cooper in the 1st three games of the Sly Cooper video game series.

Thor Bishopric is a Canadian actor and writer. He is a prominent member of ACTRA.

Khanh Doan is a stage and screen actress from Seattle, Washington.

References

  1. Browne, Pat (2001). The guide to United States popular culture. ISBN   9780879728212.
  2. "Remember the Lowly Worm?". Hartford Courant . May 11, 1994.
  3. "Have A Very Scarry Summer!". Sterling Publishing. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  4. "Lowly Worm Is Back! Richard Scarry Jr. Brings Dad's Manuscript To Life". NPR. 2014-08-23. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  5. Bierbaum, Tom (1994-03-08). "The Busy World of Richard Scarry". Variety . Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  6. "Richard Scarry, Author Of Books For Children, Dies". Seattle Times . Retrieved 2010-07-03. "The Lowly worm was his very favorite character for all the children," she said.
  7. "Taco Bell Corp. Announces Voluntary Recall Of Promotional Items". U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Archived from the original on 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2010-07-03.