Nature Cat

Nature Cat
Genre Children's fiction
Animation
Adventure
Comedy
Created by
Starring
Country of origin United States
Canada
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 24 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)
  • Caroline Bandolik[1]
  • Frances Nankin[1]
  • Jesse McMahon[1]
  • Scott Scornavacco[1]
Running time 28 minutes
Production company(s) Spiffy Pictures[2]
Distributor
Release
Original network
Original release November 25, 2015 (2015-11-25) – present
External links
Website

Nature Cat is an educational American-Canadian children's animated comedy adventure television series. The series premiered on November 25, 2015 on PBS Kids after the Wild Kratts Christmas special, "A Creature Christmas". The series is aimed at children aged 3 to 8 years old,[6][7] following the adventures of four main characters: Nature Cat, Hal the Dog, Daisy the Bunny and Squeeks the Mouse. The series follows Fred, a house cat with dreams of exploring outside. Once his family leaves for the day, he transforms into Nature Cat, who cannot wait for backyard nature excursions. However, Fred has one problem: he has no instincts for nature.[6] Through the learning experiences of the characters, this series intends to encourage children to similarly engage with and develop understanding of nature, a motif which draws inspiration from the book Last Child in the Woods.[7] The show has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program[8]". The series debut in November achieved nearly 3.7 million viewers, and by March it has achieved 69 million video streams across online platforms.[9] As of October 2016, Nature Cat has been renewed for two more seasons.[10]

Cast

With the exception of Kate Micucci, all of the cast members are better known for their work on the hit NBC comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live.

Characters

Nature Cat (Fred)

Nature Cat, 'Fred' (voiced by Taran Killam[6]) - In the absence of his owners, Fred transforms into his alter-ego Nature Cat, narrating himself as such throughout the show. He is the main protagonist in leading a group of three other animals, frequently using the expressions "tally ho!" and "onward and yonward!" when initiating and continuing his adventures, lending to his optimistic and cheerful attitude in encouraging enthusiasm for the natural world. Taran Killam appraises Nature Cat as a positive character for children, describing his handling of adversity as “a great example of when you fall down you get back right up… and try it again[11]”. He will occasionally drop from his ‘Nature Cat’ persona where, much like a regular housecat, he can suddenly become nervous or frightened. This can include having to interact with water, lamenting “why did it have to be water?”, but in these situations he ultimately ends up finding confidence to persist.

Hal

Hal the Dog (voiced by Bobby Moynihan[6]) - Characterised as being happy most of the time and very loyal to his friends, most of all for Nature Cat. He is always willing to partake in Nature Cat's outdoor excursions and share discoveries even if he initially doesn’t understand them. Hal is generally absent minded, becoming a source of comic relief where he may respond to others with non-sequiturs or muddled reasoning thought out loud. He can also become blissfully unaware of when he is taken into a dangerous situation, such as becoming lost in a city. His capabilities as a playful dog is portrayed as him being a character that is uninhibited in approaching messy or unpleasant situations, such as digging in the ground or smelling strong odors. This comes much to the benefit of others, where he is utilised in digging holes or locating in the environment by smell. He is sometimes accompanied by an inanimate chewing toy, “Mr. Chewinsky,” who he converses with when projecting his thoughts.

Squeeks

Squeeks the Mouse (voiced by Kate McKinnon[6]) - The smallest of the main four characters, Kate McKinnon describes her as “a sass… but sweet and so excited at the same time[12]”. At times, Squeeks can act tomboyish while on adventures, but nevertheless, she stays focused at the task at hand.

Daisy

Daisy the Bunny (voiced by Kate Micucci[6]) - She is often carrying a smartphone for use in providing supplementary information when investigating nature. Her role is to act as the voice of reason, but nevertheless, she's mostly co-operative as the rest when venturing with Nature Cat.

Daisy's family

Other characters

Episodes

Season 1 (2015–16)

No.
for series 		No.
overall 		Title Original airdate [14]
11"Heartthrob Hamster/Astronuts"November 25, 2015 (2015-11-25)

Heartthrob Hamster – Nature Cat and the rest are tasked to pet-sit their neighbor’s hamster, ‘Sir Galahad’. Playing on Squeeks's infatuation with him, Galahad insists on briefly coming out of the cage. Galahad escapes after the cage lid is removed by Hal as Daisy insists he won't. Nature Cat leads in tracing the hamster, observing signs animals leave behind.

Astronuts – Nature Cat wishes to be the first cat to walk on the moon, piquing the interest of the rest. After Nature Cat, Hal and Squeeks unsuccessfully try to catapault themselves into the sky, Daisy designs a rocket ship. They follow her plan, learning the complications and requirements involved in space travel.
22"Muck Amok/Follow Those Footprints"November 27, 2015 (2015-11-27)

Muck Amok – Squeeks’ cousin Marvin and other residents located in the marsh are at risk of or are suffering flooding to their homes. Nature Cat and the rest investigate and eventually resolve the situation by learning how the dynamics of water contribute to the marsh, and how the presence of rubbish obstructs it. After they clean it up, other mice who live there arrive: Buster, Harold, Mary and Zazu. Then Nature Cat and his friends' number one fan, Doggone the poodle, plays a marsh-themed concert with her 3 band-mates.

Follow Those Footprints – On Nature Art Day, Nature Cat unveils a sculpture of himself constructed from acorns, finding that the head is gone. Footprints are found on the ground surrounding the sculpture. They first distinguish the footprints from their own, by size and shape, and follow the trail to find the culprit.
33"Breezy Rider/Swamp Thing"November 30, 2015 (2015-11-30)

Breezy Rider – Nature Cat and the rest are flying kites in the park. A strong gust pulls Squeeks and her kite into a tree on a nearby island. To reach her, Daisy designs a sail raft which she and the others build. They learn to navigate water, while Squeeks becomes increasingly in danger.

Swamp Thing – Daisy learns of the legend of ‘The Swamp Thing’, a monstrous creature which exists in the swamp who is responsible for its sounds, smell and appearance. They venture into the swamp, in spite of Nature Cat’s trepidation which he contains throughout, finding natural phenomena are causing 'The Swamp Thing'.
44"The Treasure of Bad Dog Bart/Pet Sounds"December 7, 2015 (2015-12-07)

The Treasure of Bad Dog Bart – Hal uncovers a treasure map, understood to be attributed to the legend of ‘Bad Dog Bart’, who stole the neighbourhood dogs’ toys and buried them elsewhere. They read and follow the map, learning to reference objects of geography, cardinal directions and size of relative distances against symbols on the map.

Pet Sounds – Nature Cat and his friends are preparing to perform in the band competition ‘Battle of The Pet Bands’, but their instruments become waterlogged by falling into the ocean. They still insist in competing in determination to rival ‘DJ Ronald’, constructing instruments from items in the environment.
55"Cave Conundrum/Daisy's Colossal Fossil"December 14, 2015 (2015-12-14)

Cave Conundrum – Hal loses his flying disc, of considerable sentimental value, named ‘Harold’. It is seen to follow the path of a stream which leads into a cave. Nature Cat and the rest explore the cave, learning of the safety, the geological history, rock formations, and creatures which live in the cave.

Daisy’s Colossal Fossil – While adding to her flower patch, Daisy unearths a mysterious item. With the help of the rest, they fully dig it out and learn it is a fossilised bone. Daisy fantasizes about the bone’s origin, exploring prehistoric life. She and the rest create a salad for a mammoth she meets.
66"There's Gold in Them Thar Hills/Nature Cat and Mr. Hide"December 28, 2015 (2015-12-28)

There's Gold in Them That Hills – Squeeks finds a small piece of gold in the stream, but inadvertently loses it. To cheer her up, Nature Cat and his friends adventure back to the stream to do all they can to try to find another piece for Squeeks.

Nature Cat and Mr. Hide – Nature Cat is hoping to beat Ronald at the Neighborhood Hide and Seek Championship: Cat Edition. He learns what animals in the wild use to conceal themselves: camouflage.
77"Where Have All the Butterflies Gone?!/For The Birdies!"January 11, 2016 (2016-01-11)

Where Have All the Butterflies Gone?! – Daisy starts a playdate with her butterfly friends, but there is a risk because there are no flowers around for the butterflies to feed on. Nature Cat and his pals decide to build a new butterfly garden so that the butterflies don't fly off.

For The Birdies! – Nature Cat's admiration for birds inspires him to help them. He learns that the upcoming winter season poses difficulty for birds to feed. Nature Cat and his friends set out to build bird feeders to give the birds a much needed food boost for the incoming season.
88"Stream and Shout/Hal's Day Off"January 18, 2016 (2016-01-18)[15]

Stream and Shout – Nature Cat investigates where streams begin and end.

Hal's Day Off – After unintentionally boarding a car which drove off, Nature Cat, Squeeks and Daisy goes to find Hal, who's becomes lost in the city. During the search they come across street animals and learn of their feeding behaviour and how the cohabit the urban human environment before finding Hal.

Note: beginning with this episode, the XQ The Super School Project commercial replaced the 23andMe commercial.
99"Tally Ho! A Rainbow/Travelin' Seeds"January 18, 2016 (2016-01-18)[15]

Tally Ho! A Rainbow – Nature Cat and the rest searched for a rainbow, in efforts to do, Nature Cat sets out to prove the brief glimpses of a rainbow he saw to the rest, realising and learning of the conditions that cause a rainbow.

Travelin' Seeds – Daisy questions the origin of a flower in her garden, having not planted a seed for it. The rest observe that seeds can travel from remote locations through natural processes, seeking the origin of flower's seeds. Along the way they further observe the processes of how seeds travel from other flora.

N.b. This is the first episode to use digital ink and paint
1010"Ant's Revolution/Tide Pool Tough"January 19, 2016 (2016-01-19)

Ant's Revolution – Squeeks has a picnic suddenly goes awry when ants steal Squeeks' cheesecake. Nature Cat and his friends try to get the dessert back, but they're out of luck as they watch the ants bring the cheesecake down into their anthole.

Tide Pool Tough – Nature Cat wants to join his friends surfing in the ocean, but he is scared of the water. After getting some help from the tide pool creatures in training to face water by learning about the tide pool creatures, he becomes 'tide pool tough' and joins his friends surfing.
1111"Hooray, It's Arbor Day/Goodnight, Gracie"January 20, 2016 (2016-01-20)

Hooray, It's Arbor Day – Nature Cat and Squeeks help a family of Opossums find a new home after their tree falls during a windstorm.

Good Night Gracie – Nature Cat and company helps Gracie the Toad find a perfect place to hibernate for the winter.
1212"Love You, Michael Bluejáy/Ze Worm Whisperer"January 21, 2016 (2016-01-21)

Love You, Michael Bluejáy – Nature Cat and the rest hear that the singer ‘Michael Bluejáy’ is to appear at a concert. In the excitement of them all, they organise themselves to trail down a hiking path in order to reach the concert, becoming lost and learning how to handle such situations when hiking.

Ze Worm Whisper – Daisy is working on her garden patch. She attributes the poor quality soil to the absence of worms. Hal transforms into ‘Ze Worm Whisperer’, and introduces worms to the garden. Nature Cat is initially averse to handling worms, but by learning of their importance he eventually befriends them.
1313"Happy Halentine's Day!/The Groundhog Way"February 2, 2016 (2016-02-02)

Happy Halentines Day – Hal intends to buy gifts for his friends and mother, but is despaired to find he forgot to buy anything and that Valentine’s Day involves waste harmful to nature. Before Hal gives up, Nature Cat and the rest suggest that instead he makes handmade gifts made from elements of nature.

The Groundhog Way – Hal anticipates snow for his birthday. It is Groundhog Day where the neighborhood animals consult the groundhog whether spring is to come early, but the groundhog’s reclusive and uncertain. Nature Cat, challenged against Ronald, attempts predicting weather by discerning certain myths from truths in what can predict the future climate.
1414"Star Gazers/A Jump to Remember"February 18, 2016 (2016-02-18)

Star Gazers – Nature Cat and the rest go stargazing in anticipation of viewing a meteor shower, learning how to determine astronomical objects in the sky. Nature Cat falls asleep and has a dream, in which he meets a lost alien named ‘Shirley’. Nature Cat suggests using stellar navigation, venturing space and learning the constellations of the sky.

A Jump to Remember – Nature Cat attempts to break a ski jump world record. Ronald intrudes, gloating that he holds the current record and there needs to be snow for the attempt to be valid. Nature Cat insists on bringing about snow, learning the conditions needed and how to artificially produce it by spraying moisture in cold air.
1515"Earth Day Today/Earth Day Every Day"[16]April 25, 2016 (2016-04-25)

Earth Day Today – When Nature Cat and his friends decide to go on a nature hike over to Butterfly Hills, they keep running into plastic bags blowing in the wind. When they see those bags come from local stores, they attempt alerting the store, learning and propose an alternative solution to carry groceries.

Earth Day Every Day – Continuing from ‘Earth Day Today’ with an alternative in place for the plastic bag, they find a plastic bottle floating in a stream. Nature Cat and his friends try to properly dispose the bottle, discovering more plastic waste elsewhere and in the ocean, eventually learning ‘Earth Day is every day’.
1616"Kingdom of Rotting Log/Can You Dig It?"[17]April 26, 2016 (2016-04-26)

Kingdom of Rotting Log – Nature Cat and his friends want to build their royal castle in the woods, but there is a rotting log obstructing. While attempting removing the log, they’re persistently interrupted. Squeeks goes into the log and finds a habitat of creatures, learning the importance of rotting logs to a forests’ ecosystem.

Can You Dig It? – Nature Cat and his friends are looking to answer ‘number 73’ on ‘Nature Cat's Curiosity List’, ‘if you keep digging a hole deeper and deeper, where will they end up?’ They enter a machine Daisy designed which supposedly drills through the earth, learning about the various layers of the earth.
1717"Mud Love/Call It a Night"[18]April 27, 2016 (2016-04-27)

Mud Love – Hal is having a party for 'mud appreciation day', while finding and learning of various kinds of mud and their properties, to each kind Nature Cat remains obstinate that he “...doesn't like mud at all!”, which he emphatically recites as a rhyme. This episode is similar to Green Eggs and Ham.

Call it a Night – Nature Cat loses his hat and explores the wonders of night.
1818"Woodpecker Picks A Place/Here Comes the Sun"[19]April 28, 2016 (2016-04-28)

Woodpecker Picks A Place – When Nature Cat's band practice keeps getting interrupted by woodpeckers pecking on the roof of Hal's doghouse, the four friends find out more about woodpeckers and what exactly one is looking for.

Here Comes the Sun – Nature Cat leads his friends to go see the Golden Sunstone. However, when Nature Cat accidentally breaks the compass, his friends find other ways to determine which direction to go.
1919"The Great Grasshopper Race/Fall for Hal"[20]May 23, 2016 (2016-05-23)

The Great Grasshopper Race – Hal's grasshopper friend Dustin Hopman is competing in the Great Grasshopper Race. But before the race starts, Dustin suddenly hops off into the woods. Nature Cat and his friends try to look for him before that race starts.

Fall for Hal – The first day of fall is Hal's favorite day of the year. However, the problem is that Hal is sick and can't get out of bed. However, Nature Cat comes up with a great idea to bring fall and all the items on his scavenger list to Hal.
2020"Playground-Palooza/Small But Big"[21]May 24, 2016 (2016-05-24)

Playground-Palooza – Sadie, a dog who lives in the city, reminisces about playing in the woods with Nature Cat and the rest. Nature Cat realizes this, and thus sets out to surprise her by 'bringing the woods to her'. Nature Cat and friends creatively recreates the woods in Sadie's local playground.

Small But Big – Squeeks enters the 'small but big art fair', celebrating the 'tiny things of nature'. She leaves Nature Cat and the rest to go to the art show, providing them directions. They use their orientation and co-ordination skills to navigate to the art show, observing the microscopic life of nature along the way.
2121"Slime Time/Rock Stars"[22]July 11, 2016 (2016-07-11)

Slime Time – While the rest observe snails in fascination, Nature Cat is more concerned of his suspicion that Ronald stole his yarn ball. To retrieve the yarn, Nature Cat and the rest go into his yard while Ronald is absent, incidentally finding slugs. Nature Cat becomes interested in slime, scheming a prank against Ronald.

Rock Stars – Squeeks loses a rock of sentimental value, which she also intended to contend as 'rock start of the month' at a rock collection club. Squeeks and rest goes searching for the rock, along the way the group learns about, finds and collect various other rocks.
2222"Gimme Shelter/Goin' Batty"[23]July 12, 2016 (2016-07-12)

Gimme Shelter – During a hike, Squeeks realises an oncoming change of weather, anticipating rain. This causes Nature Cat to panic, as they are too far to return home. In search of a canopied area, Squeeks and the rest suggests building shelter, learning the requirements and techniques of building a watertight shelter.

Goin' Batty – Nature Cat and friends are going on a hiking trip to 'Cocono Cave'. Nature Cat's impatience makes him negligent to Daisy's advice on keeping safe and well prepared for long term ventures into Nature. Nature Cat faces various dangers, like being bitten by mosquitoes, sprayed by a skunk and infected by poison ivy. When Nature Cat is stung by a bee, Nature Cat resigns from the adventure feeling his feline instincts were unpremeditated. After leaving his friends behind and intending to be Fred, the indoor cat.Nature Cat soon learns the importance of risk awareness and safe planning in nature.
2323"The Legend of Gold Gardens/Winter Dance Party"[24]July 13, 2016 (2016-07-13)

The Legend of Gold Gardens – The group discovers a map with directions to the fabled Gold Gardens. Ronald joins them, but unbeknownst to them, he intends on taking all the 'gold' for himself; in spite of this, he proves to be too physically unfit to reach the Gold Gardens, which the group attempts to remedy by getting him to exercise. This demonstrated the importance of physical well being when in Nature.

Winter Dance Party – Every year on the day of the winter solstice, Daisy's Granny Bunny celebrates with a winter dance party. Daisy has been caught unprepared for the occasion, however, and must hurry to get everything set up before she arrives with the help of her friends.
2424"Ice is Nice/Bird's Eye View"[25]July 14, 2016 (2016-07-14)

Ice is Nice – During a day of skating at the frozen lake, Nature Cat meets Ronald intruding their skating routine. Nature Cat and Ronald carried hot cocoa in their favorite mugs. Both find it's too hot for them to sip, they put them aside to cool. Nature Cat is horrified to find his favorite hot cocoa mug 'Bug Mug' broke to pieces, and accuses Ronald of breaking it. However, Ronald's also turns out to have broke in a similar manner. The gang sets off to find out who broke the mugs.

Bird's Eye View – When Hal dreams about flying as a bird does, he becomes curious as what it must be like to live in the sky. This inspires him and his friends to build a tree house and discover what goes on way up high.
2525"Runaway Pumpkin/Lady Bug Tough"[26]October 10, 2016 (2016-10-10)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Credits :: Nature Cat". pbskids.com. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Introducing Nature Cat". spiffypictures.com. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "9 Story Entertainment - Nature Cat". 9 Story Entertainment - Program Details. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  4. 1 2 "DHX net catches Nature Cat". tbivision.com. Television Business International. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Nature Cat WTTW". WTTW. WTTW - PBS. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "New PBS Kids Series Nature Cat Will Premiere November 25, 2015". Public Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015.
  7. 1 2 "PBS KIDS on Twitter (@PBSKIDS)". Twitter.
  8. ↑ "PBS and PBS KIDS Receive 44 Daytime Emmy® Nominations". pbskids.org. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "Nature Cat is a new PBS Kids Series Produced by Spiffy Pictures". blog.toonboom.com. Toonboom Blog.
  10. ↑ http://kidscreen.com/2016/10/18/pbs-kids-greenlights-nature-cat-for-two-more-seasons/
  11. ↑ "NATURE CAT Taran Killam Interview". YouTube. PBS KIDS.
  12. ↑ "NATURE CAT Interview with Kate McKinnon". YouTube. PBS Kids.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Nature Cat full cast and crew". Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "Episode guide for Nature Cat". IMDB. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  15. 1 2 "NATURE CAT One-Hour Special". YouTube. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  16. ↑ "Nature Cat Playground Palooza/Small But Big". WTTW Chicago. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  17. ↑ "Nature Cat Kingdom of Rotting Log/Can You Dig It?". WTTW Chicago. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  18. ↑ "Mud Love/Call It a Night". WTTW Chicago. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  19. ↑ "Woodpecker Picks A Place/Here Comes the Sun". WTTW Chicago. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  20. ↑ "The Great Grasshopper Race/Fall for Hal". WTTW Chicago. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  21. ↑ "Playground-Palooza/Small But Big". WTTW Chicago. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  22. ↑ "Slime Time/Rock Stars". WTTW Chicago. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  23. ↑ "Gimme Shelter/Goin' Batty". WTTW Chicago. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  24. ↑ "The Legend of Gold Gardens/Winter Dance Party". WTTW Chicago. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  25. ↑ "Ice is Nice/Bird's Eye View". WTTW Chicago. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  26. ↑ "Runaway Pumpkin/Lady Bug Tough". WTTW Chicago. Retrieved 13 September 2016.

External links

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