Big Bag (partially found Cartoon Network live-action animated puppet series; 1996-1998)
Title card.
Status: Partially Found
Big Bag was a relatively short-lived preschool TV series that aired on Cartoon Network from 1996 to 1998, co-produced by Turner and the Children's Television Workshop, and created by Nina Elias-Bamberger. Notable for being Cartoon Network's first live-action series (preceding its infamous CN Real block that would debut on the channel over a decade later), the series combined live-action stories featuring humans and Muppet characters with various animated cartoons (very similar to CTW's flagship series Sesame Street.) Also unique for Cartoon Network, it originally was aired as an hour-long program without commercial breaks during its' first season. For the second season, it was reduced to a half-hour program (but still without commercials.) The show was taped at the Disney-MGM Studios Park in Orlando, Florida.
Premise/Development
The premise of the show featured human cast member Molly and her Muppet friends Chelli (a patchwork dog performed by Joey Mazzarino) and Bag (a sentient cloth tote bag whose gender is inconsistent, performed by Rickey Boyd) who own and live in a general store. Working with them are two anthropomorphic socks, Lyle (also performed by Mazzarino) and Argyle (also performed by Boyd), who usually work in the store's stockroom and hang out in the sock bin, with Lyle often telling Argyle knock-knock jokes (substituting "knock-knock" with "sock-sock.") In the first season, local residents that often appeared included Chelli's human kid friends Kim and Joey, and a group of adult villagers including the shy Martha, mail carrier Josie, exercise instructor Trudy, wacky inventor Waldo, crossing guard Bernard, and veterinarian Dr. Furrball. All of these supporting characters were dropped after the first season, and the show's second season introduced a new humanoid Muppet girl, Sofie. Various cartoon short series (referred to as "shorties") were presented on the program, often coming from different parts of the world, including some co-produced with CTW for the series. Animated segments included Troubles the Cat, Koki, Willam's Wish Wellingtons, Slim Pig, Tobias Totz and His Lion, Samuel and Nina (the latter four only appearing in the first season) and Ace and Avery (this one exclusive to the second season.) Also in the first season, a "Big Bag Beat" music video would play halfway through the episode, which would encourage kids to get up and dance or play along.
The show was also noted for its' intended interactivity with viewing children. Kids watching the series were encouraged to watch it with a bag containing a pair of socks, two spoons, a hat, and a cardboard tube. The characters in the live-action portions and Troubles the Cat would cue the viewing audience to take one of the items from the bag and use it (such as using the cardboard tube as a "Troublescope" in the Troubles cartoons.) It would also teach important life lessons such as cooperation, honesty, sharing, respect, persistence, use of imagination, and friendship. The show also won the Parent's Choice Silver Medal after its' first season.
One famous episode was in the second season when Elmo of Sesame Street came to visit Chelli, revealing they were pen-pals.
Availability
The show originally aired on Cartoon Network on Sunday mornings beginning in June 1996. In early 1998, the second season began, when the show was cut down to a half-hour and aired on weekday mornings (reruns of first season episodes were also edited down to a half-hour), before finally being cancelled in September 1998, and ended up in reruns on very early Sunday mornings (usually at 5:30 or 6:00 AM Eastern) until late 2000, and has never been rerun since. Only five episodes (three from the first season, and two from the second season) were officially released on VHS during the show's run, along with an additional video, "Sing With Us," which compiled all of the "Big Bag Beat" musical segments. These videos have since gone out of print.
A couple of international co-productions were also produced, such as the French Sacatruc, and a UK version.
In 2009, the Big Bag episodes were released on home video, which were uploaded on YouTube in their entirety by a YouTube user known as "BigBag9". Later on, all the "Big Bag Beat" segments were uploaded (in the form of the "Sing With Us" video) and any known footage of the show the owner could obtain, including partial episodes. Additionally, on YouTube, all of the individual Koki and Tobias Totz and His Lion segments were uploaded, along with several Troubles the Cat shorts. The rest of the show is currently considered lost.
Episode List
Season 1
| # | Episode Title | Air Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Let's Work Together | Jun 2nd, 1996 | Lost |
| 2 | One Little Lie | Jun 9th, 1996 | Partially Lost |
| 3 | Bag O' Tricks | Jun 16th, 1996 | Found |
| 4 | Good-Bye to Feeling Shy | Jun 23rd, 1996 | Partially Found |
| 5 | Birthday Bash | Jun 30th, 1996 | Lost |
| 6 | Key, Key, Where Can You Be? | Jul 7th, 1996 | Found |
| 7 | The Apple Corps | Jul 14th, 1996 | Lost |
| 8 | Win, Lose or Draw | Jul 21st, 1996 | Partially Found |
| 9 | The Imaginary Treasure | Jul 28th, 1996 | Found |
| 10 | My Crayons, My Crayons | Aug 4th, 1996 | Found |
| 11 | Practice, Practice | Aug 11th, 1996 | Lost |
| 12 | Piano Roll Blues | Aug 18th, 1996 | Lost |
| 13 | Bringing Up Puppy | Aug 25th, 1996 | Lost |
Season 2
| # | Episode Title | Air Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Join the Club! | Mar 2nd, 1998 | Lost |
| 2 | The Sock Hop | Mar 3th, 1998 | Found |
| 3 | Birthday Blahs | Mar 4th, 1998 | Found |
| 4 | Zoom to the Zoo | Mar 5th, 1998 | Lost |
| 5 | The Showdown | Mar 6th, 1998 | Lost |
| 6 | Elmo's Visit | Mar 9th, 1998 | Found |
| 7 | Afraid of the Dark | Mar 10th, 1998 | Lost |
| 8 | Presto Change-O | Mar 11th, 1998 | Lost |
| 9 | To See or Not to See | Mar 12th, 1998 | Lost |
| 10 | Giggle Cookies | Mar 13th, 1998 | Lost |
| 11 | Royal Bag | Mar 16th, 1998 | Lost |
| 12 | It's Showtime | Mar 17th, 1998 | Lost |
| 13 | Case of the Missing Sock | Mar 18th, 1998 | Lost |
| 14 | Chelli's in Charge | Mar 19th, 1998 | Partially Found |
| 15 | Fair Play at the Country Fair | Mar 20th, 1998 | Lost |
| 16 | Bathtub Blues | Mar 23rd, 1998 | Lost |
| 17 | Parrot Patrol | Mar 24th, 1998 | Lost |
| 18 | Where's Harriet? | Mar 25th, 1998 | Lost |
| 19 | Oatmeal Man | Mar 26th, 1998 | Lost |
| 20 | You Don't Look Bluish | Mar 27th, 1998 | Lost |
| 21 | Mrs. Everard Returns | Mar 30th, 1998 | Lost |
| 22 | Attention Shoppers | Mar 31st, 1998 | Lost |
| 23 | Sofie the Champ | Apr 1st, 1998 | Lost |
| 24 | Dr. Bag | Apr 2nd, 1998 | Lost |
| 25 | Doing My Share | Apr 3rd, 1998 | Lost |
| 26 | I Ought to be in Pictures | Apr 6th, 1998 | Lost |
Gallery
See Also
Anthology Series
- Cartoon Network "Cartoon Network Responds!" (partially found interstitials from TV channel; 1997-1999)
- The Moxy Show (partially found episodes of Cartoon Network CGI animated anthology series; 1993-2000)
- Sunday Pants (partially lost Cartoon Network animated anthology series; 2005)
- ToonHeads (partially lost Cartoon Network animation anthology series; 1996-2003)
- ToonHeads "A Night of Independent Animation" (partially lost special of Cartoon Network animation anthology series; 1996)
- What A Cartoon! (found Cartoon Network animated anthology series; 1995-1997)
Bumpers and Interstitials
- The Big Game XXVI: Tom vs. Jerry (found Cartoon Network marathon special; 1998)
- Cartoon Network (partially found "High Noon Toons" bumpers from TV channel block; 1994-1996)
- Cartoon Network (partially lost "Nood" bumpers from TV channel; 2008-2010)
- Cartoon Network NBA All-Star Slam (partially found interviews of marathon; 2003)
- Cartoon Planet (partially found bumpers of revival block of Cartoon Network animated variety series; 2012)
- Codename: Kids Next Door Mission Weekend (partially found marathon bumpers for Cartoon Network animated series; 2003)
- Fridays aka "Cartoon Cartoon Fridays" (partially found interstitials from Cartoon Network channel block; 1999–2007)
- Hotdog TV (partially found Cartoon Network interstitial series; 2010)
- JBVO, Toon FM & Viva Las Bravo (partially found interstitials from Cartoon Network channel blocks; early-mid 2000s)
- Tickle-U (partially found Cartoon Network preschool block; 2005-2006)
Pilots
- Ben 10 (partially found unaired pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; early-mid 2000s)
- Billy and Mandy in Trepanation of the Skull and You (found prototype short of "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy" Cartoon Network animated series; 1995)
- Camp Lazlo "Monkey See, Camping Doo" (lost unaired pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; 2004)
- Captain Sturdy (found Cartoon Network animated pilot; 2001)
- Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (found unaired pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; 2003)
- IMP, Inc. (found Cartoon Network animated pilot; 2001)
- A Kitty Bobo Show (found storyboard of cancelled second animated pilot for Cartoon Network; 2002)
- Major Flake in "Soggy Sales" (found Cartoon Network animated pilot; 2001)
- Mess O' Blues (partially found prototype short of "Johnny Bravo" Cartoon Network animated series; 1993)
- My Gym Partner's a Monkey (lost unaired pilots of Cartoon Network animated series; 2003/2004)
- Project Gilroy (lost Cartoon Network animated pilot; 2007)
- Regular Show (non-existent Flash pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; late 2000s-2010)
- Squirrel Boy "Kite Makes Right" (lost unaired pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; 2004)
- Uncle Gus (partially found original English audio of Cartoon Network animated pilots; 2000-2001)
Live-Action
- Bobb'e Says (partially found Cartoon Network live-action clip series; 2009)
- BrainRush (partially found Cartoon Network live-action game show; 2009)
- Track Rats (partially found Cartoon Network reality short series; 2010)
- The Othersiders (found Cartoon Network paranormal reality series; 2009)
- Out of Jimmy's Head (partially lost original English dub of Cartoon Network teen sitcom; 2007-2008)
Other Cartoon Network Series
- Ben 10 (partially found pop-up trivia version of episodes of Cartoon Network animated series; 2008)
- Chowder (lost production material of cancelled Cartoon Network TV film; 2009)
- Class of 3000 (found original English dub of Cartoon Network animated musical series; 2006-2008)
- Codename: Kids Next Door (lost production material of cancelled episodes of Cartoon Network animated series; 2002-2008)
- Dexter's Laboratory "Rude Removal" (found unaired episode of Cartoon Network animated series; 1997)
- Droopy's Guide to the Cartoon Network (found launch preview of TV channel special; 1992)
- Ed, Edd n Eddy "Luck Be an Ed Tonight"/"A Room with an Ed" (rumored/lost unfinished episodes of Cartoon Network animated series; existence unconfirmed; 2005)
- Ed, Edd n Eddy "Special Ed" (non-existent unproduced episode of Cartoon Network animated series; late 1990s/early 2000s)
- I Heart Tuesdays (lost production material of cancelled Cartoon Network animated series; 2011-2012)
- I-10: The Ben 10 User Generated Experience (found Cartoon Network TV special; 2008)
- OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes "Crossover Nexus" (partially found original 22-minute version of Cartoon Network animated series episode; 2010s)
- Skatoony (found original British version of Cartoon Network quiz show; 2006-2008)
- Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? (partially lost unreleased original voice audio and unfinished/unknown episodes of Cartoon Network animated series; 2002-2003)