Ruffus the Dog

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Ruffus the Dog
Ruffus The Dog in front of a globe, smiling.png
Genre Children's television series
Created byRobert Mills and Cheryl Wagner
Directed byRobert Mills
StarringRobert Mills
Bob Stutt
Gord Robertson
Fred Stinson
Karen Valleau
Ben Deutsch
Composer JP Houston
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producersRobert Mills
John Leitch
Producers Cheryl Wagner
Robert Mills
EditorFrank Moressa
Camera setup Multi-camera
Production companies Radical Sheep Productions
YTV
Original release
Network YTV
ReleaseSeptember 7 (1998-09-07) 
November 6, 1998 (1998-11-06)

Ruffus the Dog is a Canadian children's television series which aired on YTV from 1998; it was created by Robert Mills, who performs the title character, and developed with Cheryl Wagner. The show was produced through Radical Sheep Productions, a company founded by Mills in 1985 that also created The Big Comfy Couch . The Ruffus character had previously appeared in the educational video series The Adventures of Ruffus & Andy in the early 1990s, as produced by the Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga, Ontario, where Ruffus and his owner Andy learned medical lessons.

Contents

When Robert Mills left Radical Sheep in 2002, ownership and rights to the award-winning series were transferred to his new company, Hunky Dorey Entertainment. In 2010 Mills announced all of the original shows would be posted online under a Creative Commons license, and that they want to produce new episodes for online release. The first major production was a re-telling of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol with Ruffus playing Ebenezer Scrooge. Six of the show's original puppeteers, Robert Mills, Bob Stutt, Gord Robertson, Fred Stinson, Karen Valleau, and Ben Deutsch, returned for the project, as did songwriter JP Houston. Alyson Court, who played Loonette the Clown on The Big Comfy Couch, voiced the Ghost of Christmas Past.

In 2013, the Ruffus Project planned to develop a web series entitled: Ruffus The Dog's Steampunk Adventure. However, the project, appears to have been scrapped as the official website has since went defunct.

Also in the works were a series of illustrated book titles and a pre-school web series entitled: Ruffus Rhymes.

Synopsis

Ruffus the Dog runs a bookshop in a small town. There, he reads a famous fairy tale to the viewers. In the story, Ruffus and several other characters portray different characters in the tale. At the end, he talks about the moral of the story to the viewers.

Episodes

TitleCC BY-NC-SA-2.5 original date
RapunzelSeptember 7, 1998
Robin HoodSeptember 9, 1998
Jack & The BeanstalkSeptember 11, 1998
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. HydeSeptember 14, 1998
The Frog PrinceSeptember 16, 1998
The Brave Little TailorSeptember 18, 1998
Around The World In 80 DaysSeptember 21, 1998
The Three Little PigsSeptember 23, 1998
Little Red Riding HoodSeptember 25, 1998
Little Bo PeepSeptember 28, 1998
Sinbad The SailorSeptember 30, 1998
Aladdin & The Magic LampOctober 2, 1998
Tom ThumbOctober 5, 1998
Robinson CrusoeOctober 7, 1998
20,000 Leagues Under The SeaOctober 9, 1998
The Three BearsOctober 12, 1998
The Emperor’s New ClothesOctober 14, 1998
The Three MusketeersOctober 16, 1998
The Troll Under The BridgeOctober 19, 1998
The Pied PiperOctober 21, 1998
The Second Voyage Of SinbadOctober 23, 1998
Rip Van WinkleOctober 25, 1998
Gulliver’s TravelsOctober 28, 1998
Hansel & GretelOctober 30, 1998
King MidasNovember 1, 1998
CinderellaNovember 4, 1998
Ruffus The Dog’s Christmas CarolNovember 6, 1998