[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Wilbur_2175.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:340:Moo![[note]] L-R: [[TheBabyOfTheBunch Libby]], [[{{Bookworm}} Wilbur]] and [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Ray]]. Not pictured: [[CheerfulChild Dasha]] [[/note]]]]
->'''Wilbur:''' Moo moo moo. Is the answer in the book?\\
'''Kids:''' We'll find it, Wilbur! Let's take another look!

''Wilbur'' is a children's television series combining puppetry, animation and live-action segments. The show focuses on the adventures of a group of Wilbur, a calf, and his young barnyard companions Dasha the duck, Libby the lamb and Ray the rooster. In each story, the group deals with basic issues familiar to young children such as learning to take turns, dealing with scary noises at night and learning about the world around them. When Wilbur wiggles, he finds a book which helps him or his friends to solve their problems.

''Wilbur'' was originally created as a pilot in 2001, and based on an earlier property created for direct-to-video by a group of moms, but was commissioned as a full series for Discovery Kids/TLC's Ready Set Learn! block and Kids Creator/{{CBC}} in 2007. The series continued to air as a once-weekly holdover in the wee morning hours of Monday on Creator/TheHub, the network that replaced Discovery Kids, until late June 2012. Two episodes were also released on DVD, as part of the Ready Set Learn! compilation releases. The series also had an official website, though it has not been updated since sometime before Discovery Kids was converted to Creator/TheHub. Sometime after the show's removal from The Hub, the license on the domain expired and was not renewed. The Internet Archive version can be found [[http://web.archive.org/web/20110718051315/http://www.wilburtv.com/ here]].

The series was done by Creator/MercuryFilmworks, in conjunction with Chilco Productions.

Not to be confused with ''Literature/CharlottesWeb'', which also features a non-bovine character named Wilbur.

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!!''Wilbur'' provides examples of the following:
* UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash: Used to animate the book-reading sequences.
* AllThatGlitters: This moral is teached in its namesake episode.
* AnAesop: This is what each of Wilbur's books aims to teach.
* AlliterativeName: Used with the character and {{species surname}}s for everyone except the title character: Dasha the duck, Ray the rooster and Libby the lamb.
** SpeciesSurname is implied in the episode "Getting Into Shape", as Ray, [[ItMakesSenseInContext pretending to be a game commentator]], refers firstly to Libby as "Libby Lamb".
* {{Balloonacy}}: This is how Wilbur ultimately achieves flight in "The Wright Stuff".
* CharacterTitle
* CirclingBirdies: Wilbur Wright sees them in his bovine namesake's book in "The Wright Stuff" when taking a conk on the head after a failed attempt at flying.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Often used to force another reading of the book. Wilbur reads a book that is supposed to teach a lesson, but the character(s) that are supposed to learn it miss the point, often in a comical manner that approaches the point of a SpoofAesop.
* EdutainmentShow
* EveryEpisodeEnding: Wilbur stating, "That's why I always say, books are moovelous!"
* ExpositoryThemeTune, TitleThemeTune and ThemeTuneRollCall: It's more or less to the tune of "Old [=McDonald=] Had a Farm." "Wilbur starts a-giggling, then he starts to laugh! Then he starts a-wiggling, he's such a funny calf..."
* {{Expy}}: The characters seen in the books are generally thinly disguised expies of the main characters and generally have similar names, such as "Lizzy" or "Wilburto".
* FakeInteractivity: Wilbur gets responded by offscreen children whenever he talks to the viewers in his FourthWallObserver moments (see trope below).
* FourthWallObserver: Wilbur, who freely talks to the viewer at the beginning of each episode and when the characters are about to read a book.
* GenderEqualEnsemble: The barnyard buddies are two boys (Wilbur and Ray) and two girls (Dasha and Libby).
* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Ray. A main RunningGag has him boasting off about knowing how to solve the problem of the day only to end up stuck for words when supposedly suggesting it.
* MagicFeather: In the episode "Ray Loses His Crow", Ray loses his weather vane and doesn't want to crow without it. His book {{Expy}} of the episode, Captain Hooray, also has a similar problem: he can't sail his boat without his lucky hat. As expected, both discover that they can still do their thing without those objects.
* OnceAnEpisode: The "Come On Get Up and Move It" StockFootage sequence, done before reading the episode's book.
* OverlyLongGag: In the episode "Growing Pains", as Dasha is struggling to put her foot inside a rainboot, Ray tries to advice her by continuously and supposedly quoting stuff his grandpa Rocky once said. [[BlatantLies It's very obvious he's making those quotes up depending on what happens with Dasha]].
-->''Dasha struggles to fit her foot in the boot.''\\
'''Ray:''' As my grandpa Rocky used to say, (''making a Southern accent'') "If one doesn't fit, start with the other".\\
''Dasha unsuccessfully tries the other rainboot.''\\
'''Ray:''' As my grandpa Rocky used to say, (''making the same Southern accent'') "If they don't fit, stretch 'em".\\
''Dasha and Ray stretch one boot, but it still doesn't fit Dasha. Ray then realizes those boots are from last year.''\\
'''Ray:''' Well, as grandpa Rocky would say, (''with Southern accent'') "Your feet have grown bigger".\\
'''Wilbur:''' Not just your feet Dasha! Your whole body grew bigger!
** This gag later turns into a BrickJoke at the end of the episode:
--->'''Ray:''' Well, like my...\\
'''Dasha:''' Grandpa Rocky used to say?\\
'''Ray:''' No! Like my good pal Wilbur always says...\\
'''Wilbur:''' [[EveryEpisodeEnding Books are moovelous!]]
* ReadingIsCoolAesop: The goal of the program in a nutshell.
* RhymesOnADime: The books are written like this.
* ShoutOut:
** In the episode "The Wright Stuff", the book of the day is about [[UsefulNotes/TheWrightBrothers Wilbur Wright]]. A calf version of him mind you.
** In "Oh Solo Moo", Wilbur and his friends read [[Literature/RobinsonCrusoe "The Adventures of Robinson Mooso"]].
** The book read in "Spring Egg Hunt" is [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom "Indiana Loo and the Temple of Moo"]].
** The book of the day in "Me First, You First" is about [[Myth/RobinHood Will Hood]], who, by the way, lives "in a forest called Shermoo".
** In "Mysterious Sound", the book read by Wilbur and his friends is [[Literature/ChickenLittle "The Sky is Falling"]]. The main character is even named "Rooster Booster".
** After reading "The Sky is Falling", Ray [[ComicallyMissingThePoint misreads the moral of the story]] as "If you're afraid of something, tell a king about it". He then grabs a phone book and searches for a king in it, and the only "King" names he finds are Music/BBKing, Film/KingKong and "Sky King". It doubles as ParentalBonus.
** In the episode "Sheep Shape", the gang reads the story of [[Literature/AesopsFables "The Lion and the Mouse"]].
** In "Wish You Were Here", Ray receives a letter from his traveler cousin UsefulNotes/MarcoPolo.
** Libby and Dasha's book counterparts in "Two Reds Are Better Than One" are respectively dressed as [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} Cinderella and her fairy godmother]].
* SleepAesop: The episode "Sheep Need Sleep" has Libby learning one.
* StrictlyFormula: A character has a problem and Wilbur wiggles, helping him to find a book that has a lesson that will help them solve their problem. Wilbur reads the book, but the character misses the point of the story, forcing another reading of the story, this time by real children. If the character doesn't miss the point, then they either forget it or another character shows up that needs to learn the same lesson, which leads to the re-reading instead. After the re-reading, real kids sing a song about the subject in question and the story ends with everyone happy thanks to the lesson learned. There are occasionally slight variations (like the song appearing before the re-reading or even before the first reading), but the basic formula is always the same.
* SweetSheep: Libby.
* ToTheTuneOf: Most of the songs on the show are based on classic public domain children's songs. For starters, the intro is sung to the tune of "Old Macdonald had a Farm", while the songs featuring real children reinforcing the episode's topic are sung to the tune of songs like "Mary Had a Little Lamb", "Turkey in the Straw" and "A Hunting We Will Go", for example.
* YouNoTakeCandle: Libby speaks like this because she's the youngest of the barnyard buddies - only 2 years old.

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-->"That's why I always say, books are moovelous!"
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