Ella the Elephant
Ella the Elephant is a Canadian animated television preschool series based on the books by the couple Carmela D'Amico and Steven Henry. The series was produced by DHX Cookie Jar Inc., in association with TVOKids and FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment, with animation provided by Atomic Cartoons, with the series' funding provided by The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and The Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit. The series' completion guarantee was provided by Film Finances Canada Ltd.
The series follows the adventures of Ella and her friends on Elephant Island. Ella is a spirited anthropomorphic little girl elephant with a magic hat that can transform into almost anything. Every day, there's a fantastic new adventure as Ella and her friends, Frankie, Belinda, and Tiki, get themselves into some tricky situations.
The first season aired on TVOKids in Canada from July 29, 2013, to January 23, 2014, and on Knowledge Kids from 2013 to 2020 and Télé-Québec in Canada. In the US, it aired on Disney Channel/Disney Junior from February 17, 2014, to December 13, 2014.
It also aired on Tiny Pop, Canal Panda, Doordarshan, ABC Kids, and Hop! Channel.
Premise
The series follows the adventures of Ella and her friends on Elephant Island. Ella is a spirited little girl elephant with a big heart, bigger imagination and a magic hat that can transform into almost anything. Every day, there's a fantastic new adventure as Ella and her friends, Frankie, Belinda and Tiki, get themselves into some tricky situations. With a little determination, teamwork, a few missteps, and a touch of magic, Ella and her friends work to make everything work out in the end.Characters
Main
- Ella is the main character and a young elephant with a red magic hat that her grandma gave to her. Ella is a problem-solver who is nice and kind to all her friends. Her magic hat transforms into different items depending on what she needs it for.
- Belinda is an elephant who is lucky enough to have Elephant Island's mayor for her father, as well as a friend to Ella. Belinda loves to dance and is a total diva.
- Tiki is a smart female elephant who loves reading books and riding her bike. She has a pet monkey named Lola.
- Frankie is a friend of Ella's who is a young elephant as well and is the only male of the group. Frankie's catchphrase is "Great woolly mammoth!"
Recurring
- Lola is a pet monkey who is owned by Tiki.
- Mrs. Briggs is Ella, Belinda, Frankie, Tiki, Ada, and Ida's teacher who likes interpretive dancing.
- Ada and Ida are twin elephants who sometimes say things at the same time. When they do, they high-five and say "Jinx!" followed by a giggle. Ada and Ida are a little hard to tell apart, but they both love to sing.
- Captain Kelp is an elephant who works in a lighthouse.
- Mrs. Grey is Ella's mother who is a baker.
- Captain Shamus Grey is Ella's father who is captain of the sea.
- Mrs. Harriet Melba is Frankie's mother who briefly owned Mrs. Grey’s bakery when she was sick.
- Mr. Mercer is an elephant who sells many items. Ella and her friends visit him often. He is sometimes grumpy.
- Georgie is a little elephant who is Frankie's little brother.
- Mayor Jeremiah Blue is an elephant who is Belinda's father. The mayor of Elephant Island.
- Grandma Grey is an elephant who is Ella's grandma and the original owner of the magic hat. She appeared in the episode "Grandma's Visit".
- Old Lady is a lady elephant with an unknown name who appeared in the episode "Hello Dolly", where Frankie accidentally sold Ella's doll to the lady.
- Jasper is a little mouse who causes trouble with Ella and her friends.
- E.L. Weathers is an elephant who writes books. She appeared in the episode "Tiki's Quest".
- Mrs. Everheart is an elephant who is a librarian. She also appeared in the episode "Tiki's Quest".
- Mrs. Potter is an elephant who carves pumpkins in Halloween time. She appeared in the episode "Frankie's Perfect Pumpkin".
- Sammy is an elephant who does newspaper deliveries in Elephant Island. He appeared in the episode "Ella's Special Delivery".
- Mikey in an elephant who helps Sammy do newspaper deliveries. He also appeared in the episode "Ella's Special Delivery".
- Caretaker is an elephant who operates the museum. He appeared in the episode "Jurassic Sleepover".
- Mayor's Assistant is an elephant who helps Belinda's dad. She appeared in the episode "Mayor Belinda".
- Mrs. Brim is an elephant who works at a hat store. She appeared in the episode "Ella's Haywire Hat".
- Max von Mastodon is an elephant who is a famous filmmaker. He appeared in the episode "Lights, Camera, Ella".
Episodes
All episodes were directed by Larry Jacobs.Production
The series was produced by DHX Cookie Jar Inc. for TVOKids and Disney Junior, with animation provided by Atomic Cartoons. It was distributed by DHX Media in Canada, the United States, Middle East, and India, and FremantleMedia Kids & Family in other markets. The series was partially funded by the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit, with completion guarantee provided by Film Finances Canada Ltd. Carmela D' Amico & Steven D' Amico are the adapters of the series, while Larry Jacobs is the director. Executive producers includes Michael Hirsh, Toper Taylor, and John Vandervelde for DHX Cookie Jar Inc., Sander Schwartz and Alyssa Cooper Sapire for FremantleMedia Kids & Family and Patricia Ellingson for TVOKids. Other staff for the series includes Jonah Stroh as producer and Brad Birch as executive story editor.On February 7, 2012, Chris Arrant, news editor of Cartoon Brew, announced that the series entered production. Toper Taylor, president and COO of Cookie Jar was pleasantly thrilled for the production of Ella the Elephant and said: "Ella is a magical property about an ever ebullient, optimistic, responsible, compassionate little elephant whose kindred spirit will delight our preschool audience." "We are thrilled to be working with both Disney and Fremantle on the series' global launch."
Sander Schwartz, President, Kids & Family Entertainment, FME, said "We are very pleased to be partnered with Cookie Jar on what we believe will be a hugely successful series. Bringing these wonderful books to life is a labour of love for everyone working on this stunning series".
Distribution
Broadcast
Ella the Elephant premiered on TVOKids, Knowledge Kids and Télé-Québec in Canada on September 2, 2013. The series premiered on Disney Channel and Disney Junior in the United States on February 17, 2014. Other broadcasters includes Tiny Pop in the UK, ABC 4 Kids in Australia and RTÉjr in Ireland. Since June 23, 2014, Disney Junior started airing the show. TiJi, Clan, MiniMini+, Minimax, KiKA and MTV3 Juniori had recently acquired the show and will add it to their lineup in 2014.Home media
Episodes of Ella the Elephant are available for digital download through the iTunes Music Store, which are split into two volumes.On August 6, 2014, Shock Entertainment released a 154-minute Region 4 DVD of the show. On September 16, 2014, Warner Home Video released Volume 1 on DVD for Canada and the US. It contains eight full episodes, making sixteen segments altogether.
As of February 28, 2015, the series became available for streaming on the American Netflix.