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 (half-hour re-cut)
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	Found
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

The Season 1 Big Bag intro.

The "Big Bag Beat" segments.

A promo for the show's premiere in 1996.

Elmo's visit on the show.

See Also

Anthology Series

• Cartoon Network "Cartoon Network Responds!" (partially lost interstitials from TV channel; 1997-1999)
• The Moxy Show (partially found Cartoon Network CGI animated anthology series; 1993-1995)
• Sunday Pants (partially lost Cartoon Network animated anthology series; 2005)
• ToonHeads (partially lost Cartoon Network animation anthology series; 1992-2003)
• ToonHeads "A Night of Independent Animation" (partially lost special of Cartoon Network animation anthology series; 1996)
• Villainous (partially found Cartoon Network Mexico online animated short series; 2012-2013)
• What a Cartoon! (found Cartoon Network animated anthology series; 1995-1997)
• Youri, the Spaceman (found Cartoon Network France CGI animated series; 2002)

Audio

• Adventure Time (lost uncensored episode commentaries from Cartoon Network animated series DVDs; 2012-2014)
• Akazukin Chacha (partially found Cartoon Network Asia English dub of anime; 1998)
• Ani-Yoko: My Next Door Neighbor (lost Cartoon Network Philippines English dub of anime; 2008)
• Class of 3000 (found original English audio of Cartoon Network animated musical series; 2006-2008)
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy "Matinee Mandy" (lost original English audio of Cartoon Network animated short; 2007)
• Heidi, Girl of the Alps (partially found Cartoon Network India English dub of anime; 2001)
• Mojacko (lost Cartoon Network Asia English dub of anime; 2013)
• My Melody's Magical Adventure (lost Cartoon Network Asia English dub of anime; mid-2000s)
• Out of Jimmy's Head (partially lost original English audio of Cartoon Network teen sitcom; 2007-2008)
• Sugar Sugar Rune (lost Cartoon Network Philippines English dub of anime; 2011)
• Uncle Gus (partially found original English audio of Cartoon Network animated pilots; 2000-2001)
• Yatterman (lost Cartoon Network Asia English dub of anime; 2011)
• Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? (partially lost unreleased original voice audio and unfinished/unknown Cartoon Network animated series episodes; 2002-2003)
• Zoids Genesis (partially found Cartoon Network Asia English dub of anime; 2007)

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 (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)
• Ice King Steals Christmas (partially found Cartoon Network UK Christmas themed bumpers starring "Adventure Time" character; 2015-2018)
• 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)
• VBirds: Perfect (lost Cartoon Network UK interstitial series of British virtual girl group; 2003)

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 pilots; 2001)
• Cartoon Network Development Studio Europe (partially lost pitch pilots from British animation studio; 2008-2011)
• Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (found unaired pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; 2003)
• Imp Inc. (found Cartoon Network animated pilot; 2001)
• Jeffrey Cat: Claw and Order "All Dogs Don't Go to Heaven" (found Cartoon Network animated pilot; 2002)
• 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)
• The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack (partially lost unaired "Wedgies" pilot and short of Cartoon Network animated series; 2007)
• 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)
• The Powerpuff Girls (lost unaired pilot of Cartoon Network animated series reboot; early-mid 2010s)
• Project Gilroy (lost Cartoon Network animated pilot; 2007)
• Regular Show (non-existent Flash pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; late 2000s-2010)
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast (partially found pilots of Cartoon Network adult animated comedy series; 1993)
• Squirrel Boy "Kite Makes Right" (lost unaired pilot of Cartoon Network animated series; 2004)
• What's Wrong With Ruth? (found Cartoon Network animated pilot; 2007)

Live-Action

• Bobb'e Says (partially found Cartoon Network live-action clip series; 2009)
• BrainRush (partially lost 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)

Other Cartoon Network Series

• The Amazing World of Gumball (partially lost deleted scenes of Cartoon Network animated series; 2011-2019)
• The Amazing World of Gumball "The Downer" (lost original draft of Cartoon Network animated series episode; existence unconfirmed; 2012-2014)
• The Amazing World of Gumball "The Rex" (partially found production material of cancelled Cartoon Network animated series episode; 2012)
• Ben 10 (partially found pop-up trivia version of Cartoon Network animated series episodes; 2008)
• Chowder (lost pop-up trivia version of Cartoon Network animated series episodes; 2010)
• Chowder (lost production material of cancelled Cartoon Network TV film; 2009)
• Codename: Kids Next Door (lost production material of cancelled Cartoon Network animated series episodes; 2002-2008)
• Dexter's Laboratory "Rude Removal" (found unaired Cartoon Network animated series episode; 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 Cartoon Network animated series episodes; existence unconfirmed; 2005)
• Ed, Edd n Eddy "Special Ed" (non-existent unproduced Cartoon Network animated series episode; late 1990s/early 2000s)
• Hall of Game Awards (partially found Cartoon Network award show; 2011-2014)
• 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)
• Mixels (partially found unaired/unproduced episodes of Cartoon Network animated comedy series based on LEGO toy line; 2014-2016)
• 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)
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast (partially lost Gametap episodes of Cartoon Network adult animated comedy series; 2006-2008)
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast "Snatch" (lost script of ending of Cartoon Network adult animated comedy series episode; 1999)

External Links

• BigBag9's YouTube channel.
• Koki's Fun Club YouTube channel.
• The Tobias Totz shorts on YouTube.
• The official Big Bag site (archived).