Peep and the Big Wide World

Last updated
Peep and the Big Wide World
Peep and the Big Wide World logo.png
Also known asPeep
Genre Educational
Children's television series
Comedy
Created by Kaj Pindal [1] [2]
Directed byRick Marshall
Voices ofScott Beaudin (1-3)
Shawn Molko (4)
Maxwell Uretsky (5)
Jamie Watson
Amanda Soha
Narrated by Joan 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)
Country 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 companies WGBH Boston
9 Story Entertainment
Eggbox LLC
National Film Board of Canada
Original release
Network TVOKids (Canada)
TLC (2004–08) and Discovery Kids (2004–10) (seasons 1-3) (U.S.)
PBS Kids Member Stations (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 children's television series created by Danish-Canadian animator Kaj Pindal. It revolves around the lives of Peep, Chirp, and Quack, as viewers discover, investigate, and explore the world around them. [3]

Contents

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 Boston (through its kids division WGBH Kids) and 9 Story Media Group (formerly 9 Story Entertainment; in its debut production), in association with TVOntario and Discovery Kids and is distributed by Alliance Atlantis (through AAC Kids).

Carriage on the Discovery children's networks ended on October 10, 2010 with the discontinuation of Ready Set Learn! and the replacement of Discovery Kids with The Hub, and now, Discovery Family. The series was offered to public television stations via independent public television distributor American Public Television from April 1, 2007, [6] [7] through January 3, 2018. [8] Beginning January 1, 2018, the series was distributed by PBS Kids. [9] U.S. broadcasts ended December 26, 2021.

Throughout its run, it has been underwritten by the National Science Foundation, [10] [11] [12] 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. [13]

Overview

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 and simple shapes, which simulates and reflects a youthful art style.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 26April 12, 2004 (2004-04-12)May 17, 2004 (2004-05-17)
2 13November 14, 2005 (2005-11-14)September 27, 2006 (2006-09-27)
3 10April 16, 2007 (2007-04-16)September 14, 2007 (2007-09-14)
4 6February 2, 2010 (2010-02-02)July 17, 2010 (2010-07-17)
5 5October 10, 2011 (2011-10-10)October 14, 2011 (2011-10-14)

Season 1 (2004)

Episode №Segment namesOriginal airdateProd code
TotalSeasonFirst segmentSecond segment
11Spring ThingSpringy Thingy12 April 2004110
22A Duck's TaleQuack's Tracks13 April 2004101
33Quack and the Very Big RockShadow Play14 April 2004102
44Current EventsQuack Loses His Hat15 April 2004103
55Night LightSounds Like...16 April 2004104
66The Windy DayPeep Feet19 April 2004105
77Newton's Big AdventurePeep Crosses the Road20 April 2004106
88Stormy WeatherPeep in Rabbitland21 April 2004107
99Quack's Stuck StickPeep's Can22 April 2004108
1010Under DuckAll Fall Down23 April 2004109
1111The Perils of Peep and ChirpHoop Tricks26 April 2004111
1212Save It For LaterThe Red Ballmoon27 April 2004112
1313Chirp Builds a NestStuck Duck28 April 2004113
1414The Real DecoyPeep's Lost Leaf29 April 2004114
1515Birds of a FeatherThe Incredible Shrinking Duck30 April 2004115
1616Go West Young PeepA Delicate Balance3 May 2004116
1717The Fish MuseumPeep's Night Out4 May 2004117
1818There's No Place Like HomeFlipping Newton5 May 2004118
1919Chirp's Flight ProgramMirror Mirror in the Dump6 May 2004119
2020Bridge the GapMeeting Half-Way7 May 2004120
2121Peep Plants a SeedThe Root Problem10 May 2004121
2222Hide and Go PeepA Peep of a Different Color11 May 2004122
2323That's a CatFaster than a Duck12 May 2004123
2424Quack Hatches an EggThe Whatchamacallit13 May 2004124
2525Wandering BeaverPeep's New Friend14 May 2004125
2626The Trip to Green IslandGive Me a Call17 May 2004126

Season 2 (2005-2006)

Episode №Segment namesOriginal airdateProd code
TotalSeasonFirst segmentSecond segment
271Finders KeepersQuack Quiets the Universe14 November 2005201
282Peep's Moon MissionThe Many Moons of Quack the Duck15 November 2005202
293The Mystery of the Thing That Went and Came BackPeep's Color Quest16 November 2005203
304Reflection AffectionPeep Deep in the Big Muddy17 November 2005204
315Chirp Sorts it Out (Sort Of)Hear Here!19 September 2006205
326Dry Duck18 November 2005206
337Snow DazeFlower Shower5 December 2005207
348Who Stole the Big Wide World?M-U-D Spells Trouble20 September 2006208
359Finding TimeSmaller than a Peep21 September 2006209
3610Quack QuackOne Duck Too Many18 September 2006210
3711Count Them OutPeep Prints25 September 2006212
3812Stick With MeTree Feller26 September 2006211
3913A Daring DuckThe Trouble With Bubbles27 September 2006213

Season 3 (2007)

Episode №Segment namesOriginal airdateProd code
TotalSeasonFirst segmentSecond segment
401The Tooth, the Whole Tooth, and Nothing but the ToothThe Winter of Quack's Discontent16 April 2007302
412Nosing AroundThe Last Straw17 April 2007303
423The Disappearing DrinkDoor Tour18 April 2007304
434In a BindStar Light, Star Bright19 April 2007305
445Bedtime StoryThe Deep Duck Woods20 April 2007306
456I Spy a SpiderRobin in the Bat Cave10 September 2007307
467Marble MoverFair Shares11 September 2007308
478The Feats of PeepQuack Goes Nuts12 September 2007309
489The Sounds of Silence13 September 2007301
4910Big BirdChirp Flies the Coop14 September 2007310

Season 4 (2010)

Episode №Segment namesOriginal airdateProd code
TotalSeasonFirst segmentSecond segment
501The Lurmies are ComingQuack's Square Deal2 February 2010406
512An Inconvenient Tooth1 May 2010401
523Bringing SpringQuack's Pond Party13 May 2010403
534You Can Count on BunniesFalling Feathers14 May 2010405
545Trading PlacesThe House of Sand and Frog26 June 2010402
556Magic Duck DancingChirp Chirp Tweet Tweet Chirp17 July 2010404

Season 5 (2011)

Episode №Segment namesOriginal airdateProd code
TotalSeasonFirst segmentSecond segment
561Two's a Crowd10 October 2011501
572The Road Not Taken11 October 2011502
583Soap OperaDiva Duck12 October 2011503
594Quack and the Amazing Sandy MagicDuckball13 October 2011504
605Things That Go Peep in the NightMud Muddle14 October 2011505

Characters

Main

Minor

Music composition

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 famous celebrity and musician Taj Mahal. [15]

Broadcast

United States

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. Reruns of the first three seasons continued to air until October 8, 2010 when Discovery Kids discontinued the block to make way for the new network to launch known as The Hub on October 10.

The last two seasons were broadcast exclusively on select local public television stations with episodes distributed by APT from January 4, 2010 [16] to October 14, 2011, though second-runs of previous episodes began as early as April 1, 2007. [6] [7] APT continued distributing reruns until January 3, 2018, [8] well after commercial networks dropped the program. A total of 60 episodes (120 segments) were broadcast.

On January 1, 2018, reruns of Peep and the Big Wide World began airing on the 24-hour PBS Kids channel, [9] 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". [17] (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 broadcast 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. [18]

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

Home video

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

In 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. [19]

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