The History of the Mostly Forgotten “The Littles”
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In the early 1980’s the animation studio DIC was attempting to break into the US market. That began with the development of 2 shows, “Inspector Gadget” and “The Littles”.
One of them went on to great success with movies and merchandise and the other one was “The Littles”.
SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Littles_(TV_series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Littles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Borrowers_(novel)
https://heykidscomics.fandom.com/wiki/The_Littles_(TV_series)
https://www.everything80spodcast.com/the-littles/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Borrowers_(book_series)
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Trivia/TheLittles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_Come_the_Littles
https://www.newspapers.com/image/632285865/?match=1&terms=here%20come%20the%20littles
https://www.newspapers.com/image/395755662/?match=1&terms=here%20come%20the%20littles
https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/948169019/?match=1&terms=squire%20rushnell%20littles
https://variety.com/2006/digital/news/the-animated-life-of-dic-1117951008/
https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2013/09/19/life-still-lived-two-speeds-wow-and-what-was
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@SecretGalaxyTV
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
Check out Zocdoc and stop putting off those doctors appointments. Go to https://www.zodoc.com/secretgalaxyfind and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.
@yszman6478
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
The theme song does like the Punky Brewster cartoon show theme some, though this came first.
@AricDilbeck-c1m
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
Galaxy High was another great, forgotten 80s cartoon. The amount of Cartoons in the 70s/80s was (is) mind-blowing. The only episode of the Littles I remember is the one where they went up in the Space Shuttle.
@thatoldcomicsmell56
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I have a Sci Fi short story digest sized magazine that has a story that I'm 99% sure is where the Idea for the Littles came from
@BrutalDudeist
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
The Littles was never forgotten by me! 🎵 We are the Littles 🎵
@kazecloud2916
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
For the longest time all I had ever seen of the Littles was the movie I didn't even know a TV show existed until a few years ago
@apriltimelady5006
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I had no idea The Borrowers existed and I had no idea about the Littles books.
@Keef_DGAF
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
It was just a remarket of The Borrowers
@Mopki3
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I forgot until now. geeze.
@kimrice394
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
This was an absolutely GREAT cartoon in the 80’s!
@clcl1031
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
Hold on? Did you say Gremlins secret of the mogwai? What was that???!!
@Veretax
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
Wait is that the same bear steer that was made famous during the tarp fiasco? That killed the littles?
@TheDarkThunder
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
Need a Littles x Heathcliff theme mashup.
@schlitzie72
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I absolutely hated that show and especially the theme song when I was a kid. My surname is Little, and heard that sung at me by other kids constantly
@StrawhatOtakuDrew
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
The Littles was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid, and I remember going to see Here Come the Littles in the movie theater when it came out. Thanks for the nostalgia trip! (Bonus points for the mentions of Mysterious Cities of Gold!)
@madcappmikex7733
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I remember getting up early every Saturday with my brother to watch that cartoon, & now I can hear that theme song in my head
@sea-envy3137
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I remember the episode where the Littles gaslight a drug addict mom to make her protect her child and get clean.
The pretended to be talking pill bottles telling her that they own her and they were going to own her kid.
Not as dark as the anti-drug episode of Brave Star but what was?
@janellegirl
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I collect these books so I buy them whenever I see one. Was obsessed
with this cartoon and the jingle didn't help. Sang it all the time.
@rl318
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
The Littles was a good show, and when it came out people probably related more to the Smurfs for apparent reasons. Because I was getting into Dungeons & Dragons and the fantasy genre, I always connected the Littles to the myths about fairies, house elves, and Brownies, which is probably where the author of the books (and the Borrowers) got their inspiration. This channel should make a video about the Smurfs' mutant underwater cousins, the Snorks.
@drewlovelyhell4892
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
This was a cool show.
I mostly remember it because we made fun of our youngest brother Ian by parodying the theme tune; "Ian is little, he's small and runty don't you know?"
@dariusq8894
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I did watch "The Littles" show, but it was my Mom who read the books as a child. She was definitely a bigger fan than me.
@aliasfakename3159
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I got into the cartoon before I found the books and was a little taken aback by how mature the books were in comparison. It wasn't lighthearted and addressed the dangers of being a few inches tall in such a big world.
@crit_cannon1090
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I started showing my kids 80s cartoons and this is one they love a lot
@JohnKrauss-e4m
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
The secret world of arriety by studio ghibli was superior to the littles. I watched the littles once in a while,but it wasn't my fave. Mary Norton's borrowers was what the secret world of arrierty was based upon.
@Vivalarosa45
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I loved this cartoon when I was a kid. Especially the theme song. ❤
@TheFireflyGrave
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
"Superfriends and The Fonz, two different shows…" Alas.
@Wait---What
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
O shoot the theme song was bumpin
@bastien-
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
So The Littles is responsible for the continuation of Reaganomics and decades of regressive fallout!
@kevinwood5317
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
Interesting to hear DIC was developing a Lupin series before The Littles. I say this because from the moment I first discovered the Lupin III character in the 2000s, he reminded me physically and somewhat attitudinally of Dinky Little! They're both kind of gangly, goofy fellows who get mixed up in hijinks, and can be both clownish and boyishly charming. I wonder if Lupin influenced Dinky's design? The Cousin Dinky in the original books was much less clownish and silly.
@tyizzle80
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I loved this show still remember the thme song
@shibumi8
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
Yeah I was in the same boat as you. I didn’t even realize they were connected until the Miyazaki film. I’d never heard of the books and the cartoon and the John Goodman film were different enough from each other that you would only really notice the theme .
@BillyBlabko
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
You can’t stop the little’s cuz the littles wont stop❤🎶
@GhostOnionHead
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
You should check out The Borrowers for the jaw dropping VFX alone. Back when special effects were truly special.
@ianbarrow4087
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I never forgot
@Scott.Sandifer
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
If I was asked what cartoons I watched growing up in the 80's, The Littles wouldn't make the list.
But this video reminded me that I watched the hell out of that show. I may not remember liking it, but I apparently know every single episode by heart. I do remember seeing The Secret World of Arrietty in theaters and thinking: "Oh, this must be based on The Littles."
Keep doing these videos guys. Both for the things we love, and for the things we've forgotten! ❤
@OneColdMonkey
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
Thanks now I want a Super Friends & The Fonz series
@DeadlyChinchilla
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I thought this cartoon was a fever dream for the longest time. Watched it as a child and then no one seemed to know what it was as an adult. It was so fun! Would love to see a modern version actually.
@brandon_leeroy135
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
My sister and I also loved the movie. We watched it multiple times a month. My mom recorded it off tv.
@cryospiral
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I was just thinking about this cartoon about a month ago
@Zachmansd
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
Didn't know there was a series for this one. Only ever saw the pilot movie a few times on my local channel.
Read one of the books(I'm certain it was the first of the series) one year in elementary with the rest of my classmates. We then had to design and build our own interpretation of the Littles' home.
@markplott4820
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
Secret Galaxy- the littles were stolen by DIC, from Secret of Arriety – miyazaki work.
@silverroddo1468
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
1:51 united health”care”, oof.
@adamantium9491
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
🎶WE ARE THE LITTLES, THE FREAKIN LITTLES, SOMETHING SOMETHING, CAN'T STOP THE LITTLES, CUS THE WON'T STOP🎶
@danbauer3669
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
Haha…. voting is for suckers.
Literally no one ever gets what they think they are voting for. Continuing to do a useless, pointless action is the definition of insanity.
As Mark Twain said:
"If voting made any difference then they wouldn't let us do it"
@ValerieMorris-s5v
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I really liked that show. It wasn't on nearly enough.
@brendathorpe6179
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
The very first book that I ever read, when I was 4 was a copy of the littles (the same one you show in the video) I remember being very excited when the cartoon came on and watched it white regularly (despite the differences)
@aman7525
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
my mothers younger brother was the runt of the family. he was small and skinny. he married a tiny woman and they had a tiny daughter. the moved into a tiny apartment above a drugstore in Brooklyn. my mom would tease him mercilessly and call them the littles. she could piss him off like only an older sister could. i remember the laughing and yelling. they are both gone now. but i keep them alive in my memories.
@DrSlumpy
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
Watched The Littles as a kid TV. Never heard of The Borrowers. Saw "The Secret World of Arrietty" last year. Had no idea Arrietty was based on the Borrowers. :O
@rainsounds1
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
I had The Secret Hideout as a kid and loved it, but had forgotten entirely what it was called or who the author was. I sort of knew that the Littles were a thing, but I never read the books and must've been watching something else when it was on.
@KornPop96
December 15, 2025 at 12:19 am
This is the most forgotten because holy crap I forgot all about this cartoon 😂
Comments are closed.