''Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks'' (or simply ''Jakers'' in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

) is a

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refer ...

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

. The series was broadcast on

PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Inste ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and on

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 7–16 ...

and CBeebies in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. It was also broadcast in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

on ABC Kids. The series ran for 3 seasons and 52 episodes total from September 7, 2003 to January 24, 2007, with reruns airing through August 31, 2008. Reruns aired on the

Qubo Qubo ( ; stylized as qubo) was an American television network for children between the ages of 5 and 14. Owned by Ion Media, it consisted of a 24-hour free-to-air television network often mentioned as the "Qubo channel" (available as a digital ...

television network from June 30, 2012 (alongside ''

Taste Buds Taste buds contain the taste receptor cells, which are also known as gustatory cells. The taste receptors are located around the small structures known as papillae found on the upper surface of the tongue, soft palate, upper esophagus, the che ...

'', '' Artzooka!'' and ''

Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs ''Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs'' is a series of children's books written and drawn by Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds. The series is about a five-year-old boy named Harry, who has a bucket full of six dinosaurs named Taury, Trike, Pats ...

'') to March 26, 2017. The show chronicles the boyhood adventures of Piggley Winks, an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

pig from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, and how he relates these stories to his grandchildren as a grandfather in the modern day. Many of the stories takes place on the Winks family's farm, Raloo Farm, located in the village of Tara. The word "jakers" was originally a euphemism for "Jesus" in much of Ireland during the 1950s and 1960s, and was an exclamation of surprise, delight, dismay, or alarm. Piggley and his father exclusively use it to express their delight when they discover something on their adventures. Notably, the show contains voiceover work by the actors

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...

and

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...

Plot

''Jakers!'' takes place in two different settings, in two different time periods. In the present time (the

frame story A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (co ...

), Piggley Winks lives in the United States (or

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

, according to different versions) and tells stories of his childhood in a rural area in the south of Ireland to his three grandchildren. In flashbacks, he is seen as a child, playing with his friends and going to school in rural Ireland in the mid-1950s. Most of the main characters are

animals—including Piggley and his family, who are all pigs. However, there are normal, non-anthropomorphic animals in the show as well.

Past

Piggley Winks lived with his parents Pádraig and Elly and his younger sister Molly at Raloo Farm in Ireland during the 1950s. His best friends are Dannan O'Mallard, a duck who lives in a hut by a pond with her rarely seen grandmother, and Fernando "Ferny" Toro, a young bull who lives with his widowed father, the Spanish blacksmith Don Toro in the village of Tara. Piggley's rival is the main antagonist, Hector McBadger. Piggley lives his everyday life on the farm as a normal child, going to school, helping his parents, taking care of his sister, and having adventures, almost always followed by his friends. He has always been interested in stories and legends, and his fertile mind and mischievous spirit put him in many unpredictable situations, like believing fairies turned Ferny into a bug, trying to hatch a supposed dragon's egg, using the Salmon of Knowledge to pass the school exam, and even trying to capture the legendary Fir Darrig. Each story also features a subplot featuring a sheep named Wiley (voiced by

), who lives at Raloo Farm with his flock. As the only sheep in the flock who can talk, he believes he is their natural leader, and tries to get the other sheep to do all kinds of different things (singing, racing, playing sports, acting, etc.), with varying degrees of success. He is later assisted by his mate, a female sheep named Shirley (in earlier seasons, Shirley had no lines; also, in the episode "Growing Pains" gave birth to a lamb, later named Little Baa). A running gag on the show is that Wiley's subplot and Piggley's plot would collide (e.g. in "Sheep on the Loose", Wiley runs away and Piggley, as the shepherd, tries to find him). CommonSenseMedia explains that at the end of each episode there is a live-action segment, in which "group of children talk about their own experiences and feelings, reflecting on what the episode has been about".

Present

An elderly Piggley lives with his daughter Ciara and her three children, the twins Seán and Séamus, and their older sister Meg. Whenever the children have an issue, Piggley tells them one of his childhood stories as a moral lesson. The grandchildren are able to identify exaggerations in his stories. The original American accents of Ciara and her children have been dubbed with English accents for broadcast in the

Episodes

Cast

Main

Peadar Lamb Peadar Lamb (1930 – 1 September 2017) was an Irish actor. He was known for his roles in numerous Irish-language stage productions, including playing King Fin Varra in the television series ''Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog,'' and lending his voic ...

as Grandpa Piggley Winks *

Maile Flanagan Maile Flanagan () is an American television, film, and voice actress known for her work in cartoons, anime and video games. Some of her prominent roles include Naruto Uzumaki in the English dub of ''Naruto'', Piggley Winks in ''Jakers! The Adven ...

as Young Piggley Winks and Fergal O'Hopper *

Russi Taylor Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She is best remembered as the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019, and was notably married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, until h ...

as Fernando (Ferny) Toro, Elly Winks (Piggley and Molly's mother), and Ciara (Piggley's daughter) *

Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (née Charendoff; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as '' The New Batman Adventure ...

as Dannan O'Mallard, Molly Winks * Nika Futterman as Seamus and Sean (Ciara's twin sons) *

Melissa Disney Melissa Femling (born November 20, 1970), known professionally as Melissa Disney, is an American voice actress and writer. Her best known role to date was as the voice of the titular character in the Nickelodeon animated series '' As Told by Ging ...

as Meg (Ciara's daughter) *

as Wiley the Sheep *

as Shirley the Sheep (Season 3 only) *

Charlie Adler Charles Michael Adler (born October 2, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director. He is known for his roles as Buster Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Ed and Bev Bighead on '' Rocko's Modern Life'' and Ickis on '' Aaahh!!! Real Mon ...

as Mr. Hornsby, Pádraig Winks (Piggley and Molly's father) *

Neil Ross Neil David Ross is a British-American voice actor and announcer. Noted for his Trans-Atlantic accent, he has provided voices in many American cartoons, most notably ''Voltron'', '' G.I. Joe'', and ''Transformers'', as well as video games, incl ...

as Mr. McGandry, Mr. O'Hopper (Fergal's Father) * Pamela Adlon as Hector McBadger * Fernando Escandon as Don Toro *

Kath Soucie Kath or KATH may refer to: * Kath (city), the historical capital of Khwarezm * Kath (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * KATH-TV, the NBC TV station in Juneau, Alaska * KATH (AM), a radio station in ...

as Millie, Katrina, Lizzie, and Sharon *

Thom Adcox-Hernandez Thom Adcox-Hernandez is an American voice actor, known for his roles as Brian in the prime-time soap opera ''Falcon Crest'' and the voices of Felix the Cat in ''The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat'' and Lexington on '' Gargoyles''. Life and caree ...

as Fergal O'Hopper * Candi Milo as Gosford *

Susan Silo Susan Silo (born July 27, 1942) is an American actress who is known for her work in voice-over roles. Early life Susan Silo was born in New York City. Both her parents were actors. Career Her acting career started in television on the episo ...

as Miss Nanny * Mauri Bernstein as Holly *

Fionnula Flanagan Fionnghuala Manon "Fionnula" Flanagan (born 10 December 1941) is an Irish stage, television, and film actress. For her contributions to the entertainment industry, she was given the IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. Flanagan is known fo ...

as Grandma O'Mallard *

Jessica DiCicco Jessica Sonya DiCicco (; born June 10, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for voicing in animated television series and video games. Her first voice role was the announcer for Nickelodeon's educational channel Noggin. DiCicco has since vo ...

as Gerdie * Cathal Nugent as Angry Old Goat * David Kelly as Captain Cumara * Brendan Gleeson as Older Fernando (Ferny) Toro * Peter Anderson as Finbarr Hornsby

Additional voices

* Charlie Schlatter *

Jennifer Hale Jennifer Hale is a Canadian-American voice actress. She is best known for her work in video game franchises such as ''Baldur's Gate'', '' Mass Effect'', '' Metal Gear Solid'', '' BioShock Infinite'', '' Metroid Prime'', ''Overwatch'', and '' Sta ...

* Jess Harnell *

* Katie Leigh *

Animals

Farm

*Finnegan the

Donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as ...

*Sweets the

Fawn Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindee ...

*The Cow *The

Chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

s **The Chicks **The

Rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

*The

Horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

(He only appears in "A Touch of Spain".) *The

Sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...

Flock **Little Baa the lamb

The Wild

Swan Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Som ...

s (they only appear in the episode "Our Dragon's Egg".) *

Deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

Boars The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species i ...

(only mentioned by Wiley) *The Angry Old Goat

UK cast

Angeline Ball Angeline Ball (born 28 June 1969) is an Irish actress and singer who resides in London, England. She is known for her roles as Imelda Quirke in Alan Parker's '' The Commitments'' (1991) and as Tina in John Boorman's '' The General'' (1998). She ...

*Gerard Ban Lavery *

Connor Byrne Connor Byrne (born 18 March 1964) is an Irish actor and former dancer, known for his role as Mike Milligan in ''The Story of Tracy Beaker'', ''Tracy Beaker Returns'' and ''The Dumping Ground''. Having played the role from 2002 to 2019, he is t ...

*Julie-Ann Dean *Tracy Keating * Aoife McMahon * Joanna Ruiz

Development

''Jakers!'' was originally conceived by Denise Fitzpatrick based on her experiences on a farm as a young girl in rural Ireland. The original name for her character and the show she planned to adapt him to was originally titled ''Piggley Pooh'', which caused a

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not disc ...

letter by

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

due to the planned show sharing the same name as the

Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

series. Despite countersuing and having the European Court side with the Fitzpatrick's, their lawyer decided that changing the name of the show and chatacter would be better to avoid future copyright issues. Eventually, this led to Piggley Pooh becoming ''Piggley Winks''. After the name change, production on the show began in March 2002, under the title of ''The Curley Tales of Piggley Winks''. Denise's husband, Frances, helped produce the show through his company, Entara, while the show was executively produced by Mike Young and animated by his studio

Mike Young Productions Splash Entertainment, LLC., formerly known as Mike Young Productions, Inc., MoonScoop Entertainment, LLC. and Taffy Entertainment, is an American animation studio that produces children's TV series. Splash also controls the streaming service Kab ...

, which at the time was handling international distribution for the series. Notably, the show was rendered in high definition, being the first cartoon to do so at the time.

Broadcast

''Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks'' was shown on CBeebies and

in United Kingdom from 2004 up until early 2011. It first aired in the United Kingdom on the

Channel on September 6, 2004, and later was repeated on CBeebies from February 13, 2006, on the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

strand at 3:25pm, But it didn't air on the CBeebies Channel until March 19, 2007, when the scheduling of CBeebies was changing, and

, and

, and PBS Kids Sprout in United States.

9 Story Media Group 9 Story Media Group Inc. (formerly known as 9 Story Entertainment) is a Canadian children's media production company and international distributor founded by Vincent "Vince" Commisso, Steve Jarosz, and Blake Tohana on September 1, 2002, and head ...

currently distributes the series. Reruns on PBS Kids continued to air until August 31, 2008. However, PBS Kids Sprout aired this series in 2005, but was taken off after July 3, 2008.

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and include ...

Planeta U ''Planeta U'' (English: ''"Planet U"''), usually referenced as ''Tu Planeta U'' (''"Your Planet U"'') is an American children's programming block that airs on the Spanish language television network Univision, which debuted on September 15, 2001. ...

carried the show as part of the block's inaugural lineup from its launch on April 5, 2008, to August 28, 2010.

DVD releases

US releases

UK releases

Reception

Critical response

CommonSenseMedia gave the show a rating of 4 stars out of 5, commenting "The animation is lovely, the characters are amusing and cute, and the lessons are so gently presented that it really is a pleasure to learn them."

Awards

* Humanitas Award Children's Animation Category for "The Gift", written by Sindy McKay-Swerdlove, Dennis Haley & Marcy Brown (2007) * Humanitas Award in the Children's Animation Category for "Waking Thor" Written by Kelly Ward and Cliff McGillivray (2005) * Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Animated Program (2006) *

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program –

(2006) *

for Outstanding Music Direction & Composition (2005) *

for Outstanding Individual in Animation – Milk Melodrama (2005) *

for Outstanding Individual in Animation – Production Designer (2004) *

for Outstanding Individual in Animation – Storyboard Artist: All Night Long (2004) *

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

for Best Animated Series in the International Category (2005) *

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

Gold Hugo Award in the Animated Series Category (2005) * Chicago International Film Festival Silver Hugo Award in the Animated Series Category (2004) *

Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories includ ...

for PBS/''Jakers!'' Website (2005) * Parents' Choice Silver Honor Award in the Television Category (2004 & 2006) * Genesis Commendation Award from the Humane Society of the United States (2004) * New York Festivals Gold World Medal Award in the Animation Category for Youth/Young Adult Programs (2006) * Prix Jeunesse Web Prize Winner (2004)

References

External links

*
Official Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jakers! The Adventure Of Piggley Winks 2000s American animated television series 2003 American television series debuts 2007 American television series endings 2000s British animated television series 2003 British television series debuts 2007 British television series endings American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American computer-animated television series American preschool education television series American television series with live action and animation British children's animated adventure television series British children's animated comedy television series British computer-animated television series British preschool education television series British television series with live action and animation Irish children's animated adventure television series Irish children's animated comedy television series Irish preschool education television series Television series set in the 1950s Television series set in the 21st century Television shows set in the Republic of Ireland Animated television series about children Animated television series about pigs BBC children's television shows PBS original programming Television series by 9 Story Media Group Television series by Splash Entertainment English-language television shows Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program winners PBS Kids shows The Den (TV programme) 2003 Irish television series debuts 2007 Irish television series endings CBeebies Animated preschool education television series 2000s preschool education television series Television series about pigs Television shows set on farms