Norman Picklestripes is an American/British/Canadian animated Preschool Show that debuted in 2019 on Universal Kids. Combining Broadway-inspired musical numbers, British-provided Stop Motion animation, and a Toronto-based Canadian voice cast, the series aims to teach kids important messages about the importance of community and nature.
The show is set in Plywood Forest, which is inhabited by all sorts of animals. When these woodland critters need a problem solved for them, they turn to Norman Picklestripes (voice of Dwayne Hill), a green, sweater-clad bear-like fellow who is none other than the son of Mother Nature Herself. A can-do handyman with a tool in his hand and a song in his heart, Norm readily tackles every problem his often-demanding animal neighbors have for him. Helping him out in his efforts are his circle of friends, which include a neurotic but lovable porcupine named Bob (David Berni), an artistic hairstylist skunk named Bixie (Bryn McAuley), a sassy and fashionable rabbit named Blanche (Stacey DePass), and a young and energetic raccoon named Marco (Alexander Marsh).
Tropes of the series:
- Cartoon Creature: Norman. He's described as being the son of Mother Nature, but he looks like some kind of green bear.
- Cheerful Child: Marco is 8-years-old and known for being active, full of energy, and all about jumping, running, and dancing.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Norman is so eager to help his neighbors that sometimes he gets distracted from a bigger job and delays himself to help someone else instead.
- Friendly Neighborhood Spider: Fred, a small purple spider who lives with Norman and always helps him get his day started.
- Green Thumb: Thanks to being Mother Nature's son, Norman has some degree of nature-based magic at his disposal that often helps him with his problem-solving.
- Informed Species: Bob looks more like a hedgehog than a porcupine; ironically,
Bob was going to look more like an actual porcupine if the original concept art was anything to go by. - Lovable Coward: Bob. He's very neurotic and nervous, but also a pretty lovable guy and Norman's oldest friend. He tends to fire his quills when frightened.
- Mother Nature: She's Norman's mom, presented in the show as a pink version of... whatever Norman is meant to be.
- Mr. Fixit: Norman himself. The forest animals call upon him to help him fix virtually everything — and Norman is always eager to help!
- The Musical: Every episode features a big theatrical musical number, as well as a reprise of the episode's song at the end.
- Neat Freak: The sassy and fashionable Blanche likes everything to be clean around Plywood Forest.
- The Pollyanna: Norman. The eccentricity and frequent demands from his animals neighbors would probably drive most handymen crazy, but Norman approaches every problem his friends and neighbors have with a song to sing and a positive attitude.
- Those Two Guys: Norman's assistants the Gophers, whose duties include chanting behind Norman as he does his work and calling for the musical reprise at the end of every episode, as well as occasionally providing commentary and guiding the episode along.
- Woodland Creatures: The inhabitants of Plywood Forest are all various kinds of woodland animals like skunks, porcupines, rabbits, raccoons, gophers, possums, frogs, gophers, etc.
- World of Funny Animals: The animals of Plywood Forest are all anthropomorphic to varying degrees, with Norman and Mother Nature also possessing significantly animal-like appearances.
