''Little Wizards'', also called ''Young Wizards'', is a 1987–1988 American

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

, created by

Len Janson Len Janson is an American writer and director whose career in animated cartoons and live-action motion pictures spanned several decades beginning in the 1960s. He began work as an in-betweener at the Walt Disney cartoon studio. By 1965 he had becom ...

and

Chuck Menville Charles David Menville (April 17, 1940 – June 15, 1992) was an American animator and writer for television. His credits included '' Batman: The Animated Series'', '' Land of the Lost'', ''The Real Ghostbusters'', ''The Smurfs'', '' Star Trek: ...

and produced by

Marvel Productions Marvel Productions Ltd., later known as New World Animation, was an American production company owned by the Fox Entertainment Group subsidiary of News Corporation which was founded in 1981 as the television and film studio subsidiary of the Mar ...

and

New World International New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment, New World Communications Group, Inc., and New World International) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia comp ...

. Ownership of the series passed to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

in 2001 when Disney acquired

Fox Kids Worldwide ABC Family Worldwide is a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company that operates American basic cable channel Freeform (previously known as ''ABC Family'') and manages the programming libraries of BVS E ...

, which also includes

. The series is not available on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Plot

The series follows the fortunes of Dexter, a young prince without a crown, whose father, the old king, is dead. Soon after that, the evil wizard Renvick stole the crown and proclaimed himself king. He ordered his servants to imprison Dexter for fear that he would get in his way. Dexter, however, fled into the woods, where he was found by the good magician Phineas, who rescues him. Phineas lives with a young dragon called Lulu. When preparing a potion, Dexter unwittingly caused an explosion bringing to life three monsters endowed with magical powers – Winkle, Gump and Boo.

Characters

Main

* Dexter is a young prince without a crown, whose father, the former king is dead. He fled into the woods, where he was rescued by the good magician and teacher Phineas. He won a singing sword. * Phineas Willodium is a magician and teacher who saved Dexter from the hands of the evil wizard Renvick. * Lulu is Phineas' dragon. * Three monsters were accidentally created by Dexter: ** Winkle is a cheerful, childlike pink monster who can make herself fly after taking a deep breath. ** Gump is a grumpy orange monster who can shapeshift into other objects, but still retains many of his own features. ** Boo is a timid, cowardly blue monster who can turn invisible, except for his eyes. * Renvick is an evil wizard who stole the crown from the late king and proclaimed himself king. He hates Phineas and the Little Wizards. He wants to defeat them no matter the cost, but he rarely succeeds.

Recurring

* Clovie is a young servant girl. She holds the secret to Renvick and her mother and she helps the Little Wizards. She is probably in love with Dexter. * William is Clovie's pet sparrow.

Production

Len Janson and Check Menville created the show for Marvel Productions and developing it for ABC. ABC had brought in consulting company Q5 Corporation to help develop the show along with other series for the 1987–1988 season. Q5's consultants consist of psychology

PhDs A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

and advertising, marketing and research professionals. The show was promoted as a part of the third annual ABC Family Fun Fair, which brought the voice talent of the characters to perform highlights of their show. The show stopped in Oklahoma City on August 28-30, 1987.

Episodes

References

External links

* {{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1980s 1980s American animated television series 1980s American children's television series 1987 American animated television series debuts 1988 American television series endings American children's animated fantasy television series American English-language television shows Animated television series about children Fictional humanoids Fictional quartets Television series about princes Television series by Disney–ABC Domestic Television Television series by Marvel Productions Television series by Saban Entertainment American Broadcasting Company animated television series