''Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies'' is an animated

educational Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...

children's

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

. The live action footage comes from the

BBC Natural History Unit The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' ...

archives, as well as the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, an ...

. The series originally aired on

CBeebies CBeebies 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 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

in the UK and was created by Douglas Wood, who is also the author of the companion children's picture book ''When Mama Mirabelle Comes Home'', published by National Geographic Books. A total of 53 episodes were produced; in the United States, they were packaged as 26 half-hours. In the American version, all of the animals except Karla and Bo have American voices.

Vanessa Williams Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. She gained recognition as the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. She resign ...

is the voice of Mama Mirabelle in the US, and Floella Benjamin is the voice for Mama Mirabelle in the UK. The series is produced by UK animation studio

King Rollo Films King Rollo Films Ltd, known as King Rollo Films, is an animation production company established in 1978 by David McKee. For over 30 years, the company has been producing cartoons for children's television. Their studios are based in Honiton, Engla ...

, whose other shows include Disney's '' The Adventures of Spot'', Discovery Kids' '' Paz'', Noggin's '' Maisy'', Sprout's '' Poppy Cat'' and '' Mr. Benn''. The show's opening theme was written by Lester Barnes (the composer for '' Horrid Henry'', '' Me Too!'', '' Paz'' and '' Urmel'').

Plot

Set in the African

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

, it focuses on an enthusiastic

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

named Mama Mirabelle, who travels around the world to film real

footage and project them onto a screen of fireflies in front of almost the entire animal kingdom. The "Home Movies" are used for educational purposes not only for the main young characters but for the preschool audience at home.

Characters

*Mama Mirabelle the

; she always wears a beautiful orange hat with blue flowers on it and is the lead mother of the series. Voiced by Floella Benjamin in the United Kingdom and

in the United States. *Max the

, he is voiced by Phillipa Alexander in the United Kingdom,

Teresa Gallagher Teresa Gallagher is an American-born British actress. Career Gallagher is known for her role as Ellen Smith in ''The Bill'', for her appearances on radio in ''No Commitments'', ''Salem's Lot'', and ''Memorials to the Missing''. She playe ...

in the United States, and Josephine Schmidt in Germany, Max is Mama Mirabelle's son. He also loves a bit good muddy fun with his adopted siblings Karla and Bo. *Karla the

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...

, voiced by

in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and Jennifer Wieb in Germany, is a bit of a prim and proper animal but loves mud. Her favourite game is called Nuzzle Tag. She is the adopted daughter of Mama Mirabelle. And the adopted sister of Bo and Max. *Bo the

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

, voiced by

Jules de Jongh Jules de Jongh is an American voice actress. She provided the voices of Yugo and Evangelyne in the first 2 seasons of '' Wakfu: The Animated Series'', the voice of the protagonist Faith from the video game '' Mirror's Edge'', and the voice of s ...

in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and Jesco Spirtgen in Germany, is the adopted son of Mama Mirabelle and adopted brother of Max and Karla, who loves to pounce. * Merlin the

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

– Is voiced by Kuchi Braaso in the United Kingdom and Tajja Isen in the United States. *Kayla the red

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...

– She is friends with Mama Mirabelle and was voiced by

Moya O'Sullivan Moya O'Sullivan Macarthur (8 June 1926 – 16 January 2018) was an Australian-born actress who worked both locally and briefly in the United Kingdom. She was best known for her long-running role as the popular character Marlene Kratz in the soap ...

. *Ronjy the

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

– Seen in Muddy Wonderland. *Kylie, Kayla's daughter. She is voiced by Gabriella Lewis, though she only said one line the each episode she appeared in. *Daddy Stripes the

, Karla, Max, and Bo's father. He is voiced by David Holt in the United Kingdom and

Lucien Dodge Lucien Dodge (born June 24, 1984) is an American voice actor who does work in animation, anime and video games. He is mostly known for his characters in anime such as Waver Velvet in '' Fate/Zero'', Maron and Chili in ''Pokémon'', K1-B0 in '' Da ...

in the United States. *Keisha, Karla's

wombat Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials that are native to Australia. They are about in length with small, stubby tails and weigh between . All three of the extant species are members of the family Vombatidae. They are ada ...

friend. She is voiced by

Emma Tate Emma Tate is a British voice actress. She is known for many roles including the voice of Perfect Peter in '' Horrid Henry'', Harry in ''Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs'', Raggles and Bluebird in ''Everything's Rosie'', Katsuma and Luvli ...

in the United Kingdom and

Katie Leigh Katherine Elizabeth "Katie" Leigh Joseph (born December 16, 1958) is an American voice actress, best known for her roles as Sunni Gummi in ''Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears'', Zuzu in ''Poppy Cat'', Alex in the first two seasons of '' To ...

in the United States. *Benny the

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

– Loves to aid. He is voiced by Lizzie Waterworth. *Winnie the

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

– Is Karla's friend from the cold area. She is voiced by Sarah Williams. *Jacques the

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fami ...

– A fellow traveller of Mama Mirabelle. He is voiced by Alan Marriott. *Mama Bird – Benny's mother, who is voiced by Elly Fairman. *Edna the Echidna – A young

echidna Echidnas (), sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the family Tachyglossidae . The four extant species of echidnas and the platypus are the only living mammals that lay eggs and the ...

who lives in Australia and is voiced by Felicia Hamilton.

Crew

* Susan Blu – Voice Director *Kent Meredith – Voice Director

Episodes

* 01. Elephant Walk * 02. The Sounds Of The Savanna * 03. A Little Help From My Friends * 04. Baby Of A Different Stripe * 05. Hide And Go Seek * 06. Tell Me About It * 07. To Sleep With Wombats * 08. All Creatures Great And Small * 09. Anybody Home? * 10. Healthy Habits * 11. Play's The Thing * 12. Sam Spades Of The Savanna * 13. Gourmet Grazing * 14. Kings And Queens Of The Savanna * 15. I Spy * 16. Eyes, Ears, Noses, And Trunks * 17. The Boy Can Blow * 18. I Don't Like Spiders And Snakes * 19. What's In A Tail * 20. Foot Prints In The Sand * 21. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow * 22. Nobody's Perfect * 23. Things That Go Yip, Howl And Screech In The Night * 24. Cracking The Code * 25. A Savanna Kwanzaa * 26. You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby * 27. Change Is Gonna Come * 28. Trumpet While You Work * 29. Spot The Difference * 30. Hot-And-Cold Running Critters * 31. Why Zebras Can't Fly * 32. Super Duper Savanna Animals * 33. Come Out Of Your Shell * 34. Travels With Mama * 35. Tails Of The Galápagos * 36. Happy Habitats * 37. Savanna Lullaby * 38. It Gives You Paws * 39. Out Of Reach * 40. Family Style * 41. Curtain Up! * 42. Listen Up! * 43. Rainy Day Blues * 44. Take Me To The Water * 45. Find Your Way Home * 46. The Nose Knows * 47. Jumbled Jungle * 48. Alone Together * 49. Muddy Wonderland * 50. Do You See What I See? * 51. Have You Heard? * 52. This Is Mama's World * 53. Bat

References

External links

*
Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies at CBeebies''Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies''
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{Former PBS Kids shows PBS original programming BBC children's television shows 2000s American animated television series 2000s American children's television series 2007 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings 2000s British animated television series 2000s British children's television series 2007 British television series debuts 2008 British television series endings American children's animated adventure television series American flash animated television series American preschool education television series American television series with live action and animation British children's animated adventure television series British flash animated television series British preschool education television series British television series with live action and animation Animated preschool education television series 2000s preschool education television series Animated television series about elephants Nature educational television series English-language television shows PBS Kids shows CBeebies