As parent to a toddler, I have developed a great appreciation for certain kids' shows: Bluey has amazing family relationship models, complete with mistakes; Gabby's Dollhouse shows great imagination and friendships (and has THE BEST songwriting I've ever heard in a kids' show); Daniel Tiger continues the work of Fred Rogers; Spirit Rangers is an indigenous-led show that mixes indigenous culture with life lessons and adventure; Number Blocks is sneakily teaching math; Peep and the Big Wide World is just cute; Little Einsteins and that Luna show are cultural BONANZAS.
Sarah and Duck is my favorite, though; it is soooo calming, in addition to being the most AuDHD show ever (which as an AuDHD dad with an AuDHD daughter, I REALLY appreciate).
watching Sarah and Duck rn like i used to when i was a little child… sarah has a red guy chair. and lesley and scarf lady would be friends. i should make a sarah and duck dhmis crossover actually…
Behold, crossovers! And all with the same show, at that.
First up is Greg and JF with Sarah and Duck. Two cute, funny little kids and their green pets (though one pet seems a little perplexed). Greg and Sarah would be best friends and nobody can change my mind. (Also, fun rock fact, this was the first OTGW pic I drew!)
The next two are connected. See, the instant I saw Adelaide, my brain went "evil Scarf Lady". So of course, I had to draw a crossover.
Part One is Adelaide and Scarf Lady just meeting up and looking suspiciously at one another, with strands of wool in their hands.
Part Two is their respective small sarcastic blue characters that have connections to them, Beatrice and Bag. While Bag is just looking confused, Beatrice just goes "Yeah, your Adelaide's way better than mine..."
(Probably my worst Beatrice though, sorry)
Also, "Sarah & Duck" is this one BBC kid show my siblings used to watch. It's a little like OTGW in its oddity and coziness, but less American than British and without the spookiness and drama. It's rather lovely.
You should watch Sarah & Duck. Vox thought it was for babies to sleep so he never put hell propaganda in it, which means it's free game!
-🐑
🍎I just watched some of it, and it reminds me of a show I can’t remember the name nor the plot of. I’ve only watched two minutes, but I think Duck is my favorite character.🍎
I really think that the character of Duck in Sarah and Duck is rather a glorious technical achievement.
He’s the second lead, tied with the Narrator. He is funny and charming and sweet and irritating and frequently steals the show. He has a definite and determined personality. We watch it, and we know him.
And every time I watch the cast list at the end of each episode it looks wrong because Duck isn’t in it. Because of course he isn’t, he is an animated duck, whose voice is made of... actual duck noises. Not a human imitating a duck so that you get the “right” reaction noises. Actual duck noises. Not just that, he’s an animated duck: no wings-that-are-actually-hands, his body language is mostly pretty duck-like, he uses his beak to move objects and his wings to fly or make gestures. His facial expressions use his very big cartoony eyes to good effect, but he has a beak not a mouth. And so on.
So we have Duck’s eyes, the exquisitely well-chosen and well-timed duck sounds, incredibly clever animation that does a lot with relatively little, and the reactions that both Sarah and the Narrator have to him: how much Sarah loves him, how fond the Narrator has become of him. We have his room, the toys he plays with, the quantity of bread he consumes. ;-)
I adore Sarah and Duck on an awful lot of levels, but one is that in its very unassuming way it is a work of fricking genius, and the creation and portrayal of Duck as a character is a big part of that. Good work, chap. :-)
[ID: a still from Sarah and Duck, a 2d animation aimed at small children. Sarah and Duck sit together on the bus looking out of the window. Sarah is a 7 year old girl with pale skin, short black hair, enormous eyes, a green woolly hat, a pink striped hoodie, pink skirt, black tights, brown shoes. Duck is a duck, vaguely mallard-y, with a green head and white body, and also very big eyes. They are both looking out of the window.]