Stanley is an American animated television series that aired on Playhouse Disney based on the series of children's books written by "Griff" (as indicated on the cover of the original book), also known as Andrew Griffin. It was produced by Cartoon Pizza, and was developed for television by Jim Jinkins (the creator of Doug, PB&J Otter, Allegra's Window, JoJo's Circus and Pinky Dinky Doo) and David Campbell.
Stanley teaches a wide variety of issues preschool children face, including change, growth, rules, and dealing with others. Each episode centers on an animal that deals with or helps explain the issue Stanley is grappling with.
Junkanoo and reggae fusion group Baha Men, known for their hit song "Who Let the Dogs Out", sang the theme song for the series, "My Man Stanley".
Synopsis
Each episode shows Stanley (voiced by Jessica D. Stone) in a situation he does not fully understand. He discusses it with his pet goldfish Dennis (Charles Shaughnessy) before consulting the Great Big Book of Everything, a remarkably complete zoology book aimed at young children or his computer. By observing how an animal copes with the same situation Stanley faces, or how it can overcome a similar difficulty, Stanley learns to deal with the situation himself.
Throughout the show Stanley and all his preschool aged friends are able to talk to his pet cat, Elsie (Hynden Walch) and dog Harry (Rene Mujica) as well as Dennis. Other animals also seem to occasionally respond, but never talk or give a definite indication they truly understood what was said. Stanley and his friends actively try to keep the adults (that is, except Stanley's grandmother), and by extension Stanley's older brother Lionel, from realizing this.
The Great Big Book of Everything appears to be magical in nature, able to either let the animals out of the pages or allow the children to enter, sometimes changing them into animals in the process. This does not appear to be imaginary since occasionally adults do notice the noise, and Stanley works hard to hide the animals. There is also an episode where Stanley's brother sees a T-Rex in the yard, but dismisses the memory when it disappears back into the book.
The Halloween special features Stanley's grandmother who, it is implied, is a witch. She reveals that she too can work the book, and in fact was the one who gave it to Stanley. She was also the one who taught its theme song to Harry and Elsie.
When someone says the "Great Big Book of Everything", hints it out, or even has the book, Elsie and Harry will wake up or find their way into the scene and start singing. This usually annoys Dennis, who after the introductory verse, says something like "Oh not again!".
Broadcast history
In the U.S., the series aired on Disney Channel's daytime preschool block Playhouse Disney since its debut, September 15, 2001. When Playhouse Disney rebranded its on-air presentation in 2007, Stanley was put on a new timeslot at 6:00AM ET on the weekends. As of May 2008, Stanley no longer airs on Playhouse Disney, but DVD's and books are still available. In February 2011, the show was completely removed when Playhouse Disney rebranded as Disney Junior. The show was briefly seen online on DisneyJunior.com as part of "fan favorites" week on the week of June 20, 2011, and it cannot be seen on the internet any more. As of March 23, 2012, the series returned on the U.S. airwaves on Disney Junior.
In Canada, it ran on The Family Channel from 2002 to 2007, and then was moved to Disney Junior, which has been running since 2007. It also aired on the Canadian-French version of Disney Junior since 2010.
- Playhouse Disney (September 15, 2001 â€" May 31, 2008)
- Disney Junior (March 23, 2012 â€" present)
Characters
- Stanley Griff (Jessica D. Stone) is an imaginative young boy. He has several pets: a goldfish named Dennis, a dog named Harry, and a cat named Elsie. He has an older brother named Lionel, who enjoys playing his electric guitar, a father who stays at home and draws cartoons, and a mother who is a dentist (the latter two were revealed in the episode "Double-Duty Dad").
- Dennis the Goldfish (Charles Shaughnessy) is the goldfish of Stanley Griff. In fact, he is Stanley's best friend who gives him education about animals to help him with his everyday problems, which interest him. He also has to point out the flaws in Stanley's ridiculous solutions. He even breaks the fourth wall by either encouraging the audience to do something fun or by asking them questions at the end of almost every episode.
- Lionel Griff (Shawn Pyfrom) is the older brother of Stanley. He likes rock and roll music a lot and always wears headphones on his ears, but still loves his younger brother very much by giving him advice, helping out with his homework, and looking out for him.
- Mark Griff (David Landsberg) is the father of Stanley and Lionel. He is a stay-at-home father, but works anyway. He wears glasses, a dark brown beard, and has very little strands of hair.
- Joyce Griff (Ari Meyers) is the sweet and caring mother of Stanley and Lionel. She is a working mother and loves her family very much. However, she does have ophidiophobia, which is the fear of snakes. She has red hair.
- Lester Goldberg (Philece Sampler) is one of Stanley's friends. He has a father who is referred to as Mr. Goldberg (Wallace Shawn)
- Mini & Marci (Khylan Jones) are identical twin sisters who are very good friends with Stanley. They both have black hair, but Mimi's hair is long and Marci's hair is shaped in a ponytail.
Cast
- Charles Shaughnessy - Dennis the Goldfish
- Jessica D. Stone - Stanley Griff
- David Landsberg - Mark Griff
- Ari Meyers - Joyce Griff
- Rene Mujica - Harry the Dog
- Shawn Pyfrom - Lionel Griff
- Hynden Walch - Elsie the Cat
- Philece Sampler - Lester Goldberg
- Khylan Jones - Mimi & Marci
- Candi Milo - Ms. Diaz
- Wallace Shawn - Mr. Goldberg
Awards and nominations
Emmy Award
- 2002 â€" Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program â€" Charles Shaughnessy For playing "Dennis" (won)
Film
On January 3, 2006, Walt Disney Home Entertainment and Cartoon Pizza released a full-length direct-to-video movie based on Stanley. Entitled Stanley's Dinosaur Round-Up, the film centers on the titular character as he, along with Elsie, Dennis, Harry, Mimi, Lester and Marci, team up to save his Great Uncle Stew (John Ritter, who completed his work for the film before he died)'s dude ranch from the greedy Rockin' Rory (an uncredited Randy Quaid) who intends to buy the ranch and turn it into an amusement park.
Episodes
Season 1
1. "Up the Apple Tree / Kangaroo Clean-Up"
- Giraffe
- Kangaroo
2. "Daddy Pride / Show-and-Tell Shark"
- Lion
- Shark
3. "Bearly Awake / The Eagle Has Landed"
- Grizzly bear
- Bald eagle
4. "Watch Out for Lionels / Growing Pains"
- Armadillo
- Hermit crab
5. "Frog Legs / Whoo's Afraid of the Dark?"
- Frog
- Owl
6. "Tiger Hunt / Monkey Bar Business"
- Tiger
- Chimpanzee
7. "Camel Commotion / There's Snow Place Like Home"
- Camel
- Polar bear
8. "A Whale of a Song / Sloth for a Day"
- Humpback whale
- Sloth
9. "Busy Busy Octopus / Honest Ostrich"
- Octopus
- Ostrich
10. "Dolphin Talk / Whole Lotta Snakin' Going On"
- Dolphin
- Python
11. "Platypus Problems / Rabbit Habit"
- Platypus
- Rabbit
12. "Savanna-Speeders! / Tyrannosaurus Wrecks"
- Cheetah
- Tyrannosaurus rex
13. "Hippo Helpers / Where's Stanley?"
- Hippopotamus
- Zebra/Flounder/Gecko
14. "Penguin Party / Leave it to Beavers"
- Penguin
- Beaver
15. "The Joker / Baby Pictures"
- Kookaburra
- Puppy/Kitten/Goldfish
16. "You've Got Pigeon Mail / It's a Prairie Dog's Life"
- Pigeon
- Prairie dog
17. "Remembering with Elephants / Garbage Can Bandit"
- Elephant
- Raccoon
18. "Snow Monkey See, Snow Monkey Do / Sick Day Stanley"
- Japanese macaque
- Impala
19. "The Big Spill" / Peekaboo Parrot"
- Anteater
- Parrot
20. "Gorilla Sleepover / Sea Lion Slip-Up"
- Gorilla
- Sea lion
21. "Worms at Work / Caterpillar Countdown"
- Earthworm
- Monarch butterfly
22. "In a While, Crocodile / The Color of Stanley"
- Crocodile
- Chameleon
23. "Searching for Spring / Save the Bluebird!"
- Groundhog
- Bluebird
24. "The Pond Couple / Who's Afraid of Walter Wolf?"
- Musk turtle
- Wolf
25. "A Little Squirrel Music / A Boy's Best Friend is His Fish"
- Squirrel
- Goldfish
Season 2
1. "Ant Picnic / The Tooth About Teeth"
- Ant
- Walrus
2. "Eel-ectricity / Roller Rhino"
- Electric eel
- Rhinoceros
3. "Keep 'Em Flying / Guess What's Coming For Dinner"
- Flying fish
- Giant panda
4. "The Really Real Dragon / A Billy Goat for Dad"
- Komodo dragon
- Goat
5. "Bloodhound Blues / Clock-a-Doodle-Doo!"
- Bloodhound
- Rooster
6. "Mistaken Mermaid / It Pays to Be a Pelican"
- Manatee
- Pelican
7. "Woodpecker Woes / P.U. Pup"
- Woodpecker
- Skunk
8. "Mockingbird Scat / Horsepower"
- Mockingbird
- Horse
9. "Proud as a Peacock / Dances with Flamingos"
- Peacock
- Flamingo
10. "Sunburn Stanley / Time for Toolfish"
- Lobster
- Hammerhead shark/Sawfish
11. "Web Weavers / Muddy Buddies"
- Spider
- Pig
12. "The Robbing Raven / Flashlight Fireflies"
- Raven
- Firefly
13. "Mysterious Moe / Spelling Bee Situation"
- Orangutan
- Bee
14. "Follow the Lemur / Zebra Jigsaw"
- Ring-tailed lemur
- Zebra
15. "Hummingbird Humdinger / Koala Cuddle"
- Hummingbird
- Koala
16. "Double-Duty Dad / Look Who's Helping"
- Seahorse
- Capuchin monkey
17. "Tasmanian Tantrum / Sea Otter Safety"
- Tasmanian devil
- Sea otter
18. "Gowing-Away Goose / Time to Climb!"
- Canada goose
- Yak
19. "Stanley's Super Spectacles / The Ugly Griffling"
- Dragonfly
- Swan
20. "Doing Like Ducks / Speedy Does It"
- Duck
- Roadrunner
21. "X-Ray X-tra! / Under the Umbrella Bird"
- X-ray fish
- Umbrella bird
22. "I Scream for Ice Cream / Snack Savers"
- Cow
- Vole
23. "A Little Nightingale Music / Super Squirrel"
- Nightingale
- Flying squirrel
24. "Outfoxing Lionel / Jackrabbit Hide-and-Seek"
- Red fox
- Jackrabbit
25. "Me and My Palfish / At the Zoo!"
- Clownfish
- Mandrill
Season 3
1. "To Catch a Hamster / Pearls of Wisdom"
- Hamster
- Oyster
2. "Living with Leopards / A Chinese New Year"
- Snow leopard
- Chinese zodiac
3. "The Way of the Buffalo / Follow That Falcon"
- Bison
- Peregrine falcon
4. "Shell Game / Sheep and a Haircut"
- Painted turtle
- Sheep
5. "No News Like Shoe News / Ladybug, Ladybug"
- Snowshoe hare
- Ladybug
6. "Curse of the Angry Coral / A Little Bird Told Me"
- Coral
- Cedar waxwing
TV specials
1. "Little Dog Lost" (Christmas special)
2. "Grandma Griff's Mystery Guest" (Halloween special)
3. "A Turkey of a Thanksgiving" (Thanksgiving special)
4. "Stanley's Great Big Book of Everything Adventure"
References
External links
Channels
- Stanley on Disney Junior Canada
- Stanley on Disney Junior Quebec
- Stanley on Disney Junior US
- Playhouse Disney Official Site
Others
- Stanley at TV.com
- Stanley at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Stanley at the Internet Movie Database