''Foxy Fables'' (known in Hebrew as משלים שועליים) is a short-lived animated television series produced by the leading Israeli animator

Rony Oren Rony Oren (born in 1953) is an Israeli animator, claymator and academic. In the commercial world he is best known for more than 500 animated short films in clay and over 30 children books which he illustrates or both writes and illustrates. Fil ...

. All the characters were made from moulded

plasticine Plasticine is a putty-like modelling material made from calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids. Though originally a brand name for the British version of the product, it is now applied generically in English as a product category ...

modelling clay on metal armatures, and filmed with

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames ...

clay animation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. T ...

. The plot of the series was based on fables by

Aesop Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales cre ...

La Fontaine Jean de La Fontaine (, , ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''Fables'', which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Eur ...

, and others that feature forest animals acting out the famous stories. The situations are always based on the less strong animal succeeding in outsmarting the stronger one who tries to let him down. Every episode would end with a valuable moral. The program was originally created in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. 13 episodes were produced.

Episode list

* The Crow and the Fox - After Cranium stole a hunk of cheese from Norris, Fox tricks him into singing. * The Stick-Up - While Herman and his family are out of the house, Brixton sneaks in to eat their honey supply, but ended up being mistaken for a living bush. * The Share Out - During the hunting season of rabbits, Elvis commands Herman to give him and Fox rations. * Haute Cuisine or The Fox and the Stork - Fox invites Francine over for dinner as part of his scheme, until he got outsmarted by her. * Unwelcome Guest - After Fox took over Brixton's house, Brixton needs help from Ding, Herman, and Giblet to get it back. * In and Out of the Well - While trying to catch Cranium for his lunch, Fox falls into a well and hatches an escape plan. * Laughing Spot - Brixton brought Fox and Herman to his "laughing spot", which is a wasps' nest. * The Cake - When Crispin and Ding finds a lost cake, they decided to let Fox settle their differences. * Strain the Brain - The gang tells stories about each other via clip show and Brixton challenges Herman to a tug of war. * The Fishing Party - After Brixton refuses to go fishing with Fox, he plans to watch him and steal Fox's fish. * Hang Up - Fox grew a cherry tree to restock his wine cellar, but the cherries keep getting eaten by Brixton and now, he must capture him before they disappear. * Reflections of a Royal Dinner - King Elvis orders Jeremiah to have his subjects bring him food, until Brixton told Elvis a lie about another lion in the forest * The Tar Doll - When Brixton says good morning to all his friends, he meets a doll made out of tar.

The characters

Characters involved in the re-telling included: * Fox the

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

* Giblet 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 adu ...

* Cranium the

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term " raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

* Brixton the

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit s ...

* Herman the

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the N ...

* Crispin the

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

* Ding the

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relativ ...

* Elvis the

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

* Udder 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 ...

* Francine the

stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons a ...

* Tarquine the

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...

* Jeremiah the

jackal Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backe ...

* Hugsley the

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of ...

* Lister the

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus ''Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

* Flash the

tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like ot ...

* Norris the

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

References

1987 Israeli television series debuts 1988 Israeli television series endings 1980s Israeli television series Israeli children's animated television series Clay animation television series {{Israel-tv-stub