The Large Family
The Large Family is an animated children's television series based on the book series of the same name written by Jill Murphy and published by Walker Books in the United Kingdom. The series was produced by Coolabi Productions, GO-N Productions, LuxAnimation and DQ Entertainment, with the participation of TF1, Playhouse Disney France and CBeebies, with distribution handled through GO-N Distribution and BBC Worldwide. The series focuses on a family of anthropomorphic elephants, the Larges. It consists of two seasons with 26 episodes of up to 12 minutes each.
Characters
The Large Family
- Mr Larry Large/M. Trompette : The kind-hearted patriarch of the family.
- Mrs Linda Large/Mme Trompette and Emmanuelle Bondeville : The sometimes forgetful matriarch of the family.
- Lester Large/Lester Trompette and Tyger Drew-Honey in the English version, and Florentin Crouzet and Antoine Buchez : The oldest Large child in the family who can occasionally be seen riding an orange and black skateboard. Lester normally acts "cool". He mostly wears an orange hoodie and brown trousers.
- Laura Large/Laura Trompette : The second-oldest Large child who is pretty much in charge of the other three Large children. She is the most sensible and level-headed of the Larges and enjoys painting pictures.
- Luke Large/Luke Trompette : The second-youngest Large child who mostly wears a green shirt and light blue trousers. Excitable and eager, Luke usually goes along with whatever his older siblings are doing.
- Lucy Large/Lucy Trompette : The youngest of the Large children who can only say a few words like "Me" and "Too".
- Grandma/Grand Mère : Grandma is Lester, Laura, Luke and Lucy's maternal grandmother, Linda and Susan's mother and Larry and Harry's mother-in-law.
- Grandpa/Grand Père : Grandpa is Lester, Laura, Luke and Lucy's maternal grandfather, Linda and Susan's father and Larry and Harry's father-in-law.
The Smart Family
- Mr Seymour Smart/M. Smart : The Larges' next-door neighbour. His job is unspecified, but he seems to be reasonably well-off, providing his family with expensive things and holidays.
- Mrs Sheena Smart/Mme Smart : Mr Smart's snobbish, stuck-up wife. She is a full-time busybody who feels the need to interfere in the business of others, whether they want her help or not.
- Sebastian Smart/Sébastien Smart : Mr. and Mrs Smart's slightly mollycoddled son. He is friends with the Large children, and plays the trombone.
- Sarah Smart : Sebastian's cousin, and the object of Lester's affections, which she clearly returns.
Others
- Miss Lovely: The teacher at the Large children's school.
- Simon Short: The owner of the local store.
- Peter Perfect : The boy at school who's good at everything.
- Simon Strong: He is only mentioned in the episode "Dino Disaster".
- Micky Muddle: He is only mentioned in the episode "The Wrong End of the Stick".
- Susan Special : The girl at school who's in fashion.
- Mrs. Gray: One of the Large Family's elderly neighbours. She once took on teaching Lester's class when Miss Lovely was ill in "The Old New Teacher".
- Mr. Grand: Another of the Larges' elderly neighbours.
- Julie: One of Laura's friends.
- Lola: A girl who appears in the episode "Mr Short's Christmas", who also has a crush on Lester Large.
Episodes
Season 1
- 1. "Flour Power"
- 2. "Girls' Stuff"
- 3. "Good as Gold"
- 4. "Sports Day"
- 5. "Elephants Never Forget"
- 6. "Sniffles and Snuffles"
- 7. "The Great Explorer"
- 8. "Easy Peasy"
- 9. "Under the Stars"
- 10. "The Wrong End of the Stick"
- 11. "Fancy That"
- 12. "Queen of the Castle"
- 13. "The Mystery of the Missing Elephant"
- 14. "You Can Do It"
- 15. "Sebastian's Sleepover"
- 16. "Spring Clean"
- 17. "X Marks the Spot"
- 18. "Picture Perfect"
- 19. "Six Go to the Seaside"
- 20. "Baby Chilly"
- 21. "Sebastian's Cousin Sarah"
- 22. "Mr Short Takes a Holiday"
- 23. "Super Elly"
- 24. "Me Too"
- 25. "The Big Race"
- 26. "Not Again"
Season 2
- 1. "The Babysitter"
- 2. "Mrs Large's Birthday Boogie"
- 3. "The School Fete"
- 4. "Roto-whizzers"
- 5. "No Place Like Home"
- 6. "While the Cat's Away"
- 7. "The Blackout"
- 8. "The Play's the Thing"
- 9. "What a Load of Rubbish"
- 10. "Pachyderm Park"
- 11. "Father's Day"
- 12. "A Dino Disaster"
- 13. "Rock Star"
- 14. "Don't Do It Yourself"
- 15. "Trendy Trouble"
- 16. "You Are What You Eat"
- 17. "The E-Factor"
- 18. "Girl Power"
- 19. "Happy Birthday, Luke"
- 20. "Four Go Away Together"
- 21. "Mrs Large's Big Night"
- 22. "A Walk in the Woods"
- 23. "A Relaxing Day"
- 24. "Mr Short's Christmas"
- 25. "The Old New Teacher"
- 26. "My Cousin, Little Luke"
Production
Production of the book series was announced when production company Indie Kids was established in September 2002Broadcast
The series first aired in the United Kingdom on CBeebies on 15 October 2007. The series premiered in France on TF1 on 29 October on the same year, with its pay-TV premiere on Playhouse Disney in October 2008.By October 2008, BBC Worldwide had pre-sold the series in over 22 territories, including Australia, Portugal, Iran and Sweden.