''Curious Buddies'' is a series of

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

specials narrated by

Cathy Richardson Catherine E. Richardson (born February 21, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and narrator from the Chicago suburbs in Illinois. She is the lead singer for the band Jefferson Starship Additional , December 3, 2011 and her own C ...

. It was produced by Spiffy Pictures for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

. The series was released across seven videos from August 31, 2004, to April 12, 2005. The series is aimed at babies and toddlers. It was made to compete with the ''

Baby Einstein Baby Einstein (stylized as baby einstein) is an American franchise and line of multimedia products, including home video programs, CDs, books, flashcards, toys, and baby gear that specialize in interactive activities for infants and toddlers ...

'' line. Every video was written with the supervision of developmental psychologist

Rachel Barr Rachel Barr is a professor at Georgetown University. She is currently the co-director of graduate studies in the Department of Psychology at Georgetown University. Her research focuses on understanding the learning and memory mechanisms that devel ...

, and the DVDs feature a voiceover from Barr. The main characters are five animal

puppets A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move ...

that were built by

Rollie Krewson Rollie Krewson (sometimes credited as "Rollin Krewson") is a puppet designer and builder known for her work on various Muppet productions. She interned with Jim Henson's company in the mid-1970s. Although she now works primarily as a designer/build ...

(known for her work with

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses te ...

). One of the DVDs, "Helping at Home", was the recipient of a Spring 2005

Parents' Choice Award The Parents' Choice Award was an award presented by the non-profit Parents' Choice Foundation to recognize "the very best products for children of different ages and backgrounds, and of varied skill and interest levels." It was considered a "prest ...

Summary

Dog, Cat, Bear, Pig and Elephant are the Curious Buddies, a group of five animal puppets who have fun exploring the world around them. Every episode features real-life kids helping the puppets and original music clips. According to a ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' article, ''Curious Buddies'' was designed as an alternative to the successful ''

'' series. To differentiate itself, ''Curious Buddies'' features a pop song soundtrack (instead of the classical music found in ''Baby Einstein'') and videos of real-life situations rather than indoor close-ups of toys.

Episodes

Nine episodes were made.

References

External links

Official website
*{{IMDb title, tt4850560 Direct-to-video television series American television shows featuring puppetry Television series about bears Television series about cats Television shows about dogs Television series about elephants Television series about pigs