64 Zoo Lane



64 Zoo Lane is a British-French children's cartoon created by An Vrombaut. It was shown on It's Itsy Bitsy Time, Noggin and Universal Kids. It is produced by the company Millimages in association with Zoo Lane Productions.

Summary


The cartoon features a 7 year-old girl named Lucy who lives at 64 Zoo Lane, the next door at the zoo. Every night, Lucy is told the story by the animals present there. The animals include Georgina the Giraffe, Boris the Bear, Giggles and Tickles the Monkeys, Molly the Hippo and Nelson the Elephant.

In the other episodes, Lucy is greeted by the other animals in the zoo besides the other 11. They range from Victor the Crocodile (the first Victor the Crocodile), Ribbit the Frog and the other animals from the other regions (such as, The Snip Snip Bird, Adam the Armadillo, Herbert the Warthog, Audrey the Ostrich, Dennis the Dromedary, Snowbert the Polar Bear, Casper the Chameleon, Mr. Platypus and Annie the Anaconda (the last Annie the Anaconda.).

The cartoon emphasises friendship, responsibility and the other social skills (such as science, morals and respect.). At the end of the story, the animals give out morals to Lucy. When the bedtime is declared, Georgina the Giraffe deposits Lucy in the bed in the bedroom window. Later of the episodes show Lucy yawning then sleeping soundly in the bed. Sometimes, Lucy would be lulled to sleep by the storytelling itself. Each of the episode featuring Lucy ready for bed is different.

Main Characters

 * Lucy, a human girl who lives in the house near the zoo. She’s 7 years old and has animal friends near the house. She speaks with an American accent in the American English version by Lobster Films. Voiced by Ciara Janson with an American accent in the US.


 * Lucy's Mother, as the name suggests, is the mother of Lucy. Though we never see her appearance, we only hear the voice in the starting of the episode. She also speaks with an American accent in the American version by Lobster Films. Voiced by Dian Perry in the US.


 * Georgina, a giraffe consider to be the last neighbor to have a tall height. She’s seen knocking on the window of Lucy's house at the beginning of each episode. In Season 2, It’s revealed that Georgina has a Grandmother. She also speaks with an American accent in the US version by Lobster Films. Voiced by Dian Perry in the US.


 * Boris, a brown bear who’s the wisest neighbor from The North America. In The North America, his bed is made out of grass. He also uses honey for his tea. He has a cousin named Snowbert the Polar Bear. He speaks with an Russian accent. Voiced by Lewis McCloud with an Russian accent.


 * Giggles and Tickles, the 2 silly monkeys known for mischief. They also can be very curious. They had a uncle named Doctor Gordon Gorilla and a cousin named Chuckles the Monkey. They also speak with an American accents in the American English version by Lobster Films. Voiced by Lorelei King and Emma Tate in the US.


 * Molly, a blue hippo and the wisest animal friend of Lucy. She has a hairy hippo cousin named Henrietta, a best friend antelope named Nathalie and a hippo calf nephew named Eddie. It’s reveal that Molly loves those beautiful eyelashes in Season 1. Voiced by Anna Bentinck.


 * Nelson, a green elephant and a wise storyteller. Voiced by Keith Wickham.


 * Narrators, who tell the story. The narrators who tell many stories are all the animals. Voiced by various actors (Dian Perry, Keith Wickham, Lewis McCloud, Anna Bentinck, Lorelei King, Emma Tate, Bob Saker and Megg Nicol).

The Resident of 64 Zoo Lane

 * Mr. Spider, a spider that scare Lucy. He has no lines.

The Residents of Africa

 * Nathalie, an antelope fulfill with the attitudes of being curious. She’s a gazelle. She loves to dance like a ballerina. She has a zebra friend named Zed and had a best friend was Molly. She also speaks with an American accent in the US version by Lobster Films. Voiced by Megg Nicol in the US.


 * Audrey, an agony ostrich known to be a mother. She’s the mother of the 2 baby ostrich chicks. She also speaks with an American accent in the US version by Lobster Films. Voiced by Megg Nicol in the US.


 * Reginald, a lion who seems to be very grumpy. He’s known for hating the other animals for disturbing his nap. It’s revealed that he has a Mother in Season 2. He speaks with an Deep African accent. Voiced by Keith Wickham with an Deep African accent.


 * The Snip Snip Bird, a green stork-like bird (or secretary bird) who’s a major resident of Africa. Voiced by Bob Saker.


 * Victor, a green crocodile known for being mean and nasty to the other animals. He’s consider the true antagonist of Africa. Voiced by Keith Wickham.


 * Kevin, another green crocodile. He’s always seen alongside Toby the Tortoise and Doris the Duck. He has a completely actual male voice and speaks with an Southern accent in the American English version by Lobster Films. Voiced by Dan Russell with an Southern accent in the US.


 * Toby, a turquoise tortoise who lives alongside Doris the Duck. Voiced by Bob Saker.


 * Doris, a typical yellow duck whose attitude is a bit cheeky. Voiced by Adrienne Posta.


 * Henrietta, Molly's hairy hippo cousin who got bullied by the other hippos. Voiced by Anna Bentinck.


 * Dennis, a dromedary camel who lives in the desert. He has a nephew dromedary camel named Gary. Voiced by Keith Wickham.


 * Fuzzy, an unnamed red jungle spider who tries to eat Henrietta. He thinks Henrietta is a fly. Voiced by Keith Wickham.


 * Zed, a zebra and the fastest runner of Africa. His stripes are black and purple and his best girl antelope friend was Nathalie. Voiced by Lewis McCloud.


 * Herbert, a warthog who likes to play on a set of the musical rocks. He lives in a muddy burrow and loves to eat watermelons and potatoes with worms. Voiced by Keith Wickham.


 * Harry, a hyena and the husband of Edna. He’s the father of the 2 hyena pups. Voiced by Lewis McCloud.


 * Ronald, a black rhino whose love interest is Rosie. He always has a bird on his back (just like what a real rhino does). Voiced by Keith Wickham.


 * The Tic Tic Bird, an oxpecker and the best rhino friend of Ronald. Voiced by Lewis McCloud (speaking) and Dan Russell (singing).


 * Doctor Gordon, the most famous doctor in Africa. He’s a gorilla and the uncle of the 2 monkeys of Giggles and Tickles. Voiced by Bob Saker.


 * Alan, an aardvark whose occupation is eating Ants. He’s also capable of using his snout as a trumpet. Voiced by Keith Wickham.


 * The Frog Chorus, is a group of the 3 frogs. They communicate by croaking. One of the frogs rarely speak sometimes. Voiced by Bob Saker, Keith Wickham and Lewis McCloud.


 * Seamus, a white stork and an expert fish hunter. He flies in the sky and imitates the sound of an airplane. He’s a brave animal rescuer. Voiced by Keith Wickham.


 * Pauline, a pelican who likes to be one the flamingos. She’s a bit impatient, but she learns how to figure out what’s wrong. She has a flamingo friend named Isabel. Voiced by Adrienne Posta.


 * William, a weaver bird and the majordomo of Africa. Voiced by Lewis McCloud (speaking) and Dan Russell (humming and scatting).


 * King Snake, a purple snake who’s very hard to spot. One can tell his voice in the other episodes is actually him. Voiced by Keith Wickham.


 * Isabel, a pink flamingo who speaks with an Italian accent. Voiced by Adrienne Posta with an Italian accent.


 * Gary, a little dromedary camel who lives in the desert and the nephew of Dennis. Voiced by Lewis McCloud.


 * Esmeralda, a snake whose diet is with the watermelons. She likes to clean her burrow. Voiced by Adrienne Posta.


 * Eddie, a little blue hippo calf and the nephew of Molly. Voiced by Lewis McCloud.


 * Slide, an unnamed python that acts hostile to those who slide on his head. Voiced by Keith Wickham.


 * Maribelle and Annabelle, the 2 pink flamingos and the students of the marsh. They, like Isabel, speak with an Italian accents. Voiced by Anna Bentinck with an Italian accent and Adrienne Posta with an Italian accent.


 * Patsy, also known as Cleopatra. She’s a visitor whose residency is from The Blue Mountain. She is thought to be a lioness, but instead, is a porcupine. Voiced by Anna Bentinck.


 * Rosie, Ronald's love interest. She’s a female rhino. She also has a bird on her back. Voiced by Anna Bentinck.


 * Edna, the wife hyena of Harry. She is the mother of the 2 hyena pups. Voiced by Adrienne Posta.


 * Holly and Johnnie, the 2 hyena pups who love frolicking around Africa. Voiced by Anna Bentinck and Keith Wickham.


 * Casper, a chameleon who is known to do mischief in changing colors. His Granddad warns him that the skill is not a game. Voiced by Lewis McCloud.


 * Granddad Chameleon, Casper's granddad. Voiced by Keith Wickham.


 * Petula, a green parrot who resembles one of the jungle parrots. Voiced by Adrienne Posta.


 * Chuckles, the cousin monkey of Giggles and Tickles. He doesn't like jokes much like Giggles and Tickles. Voiced by Lewis McCloud.

The Residents of the Australia

 * Ribbit, a green frog who speaks with an Scottish accent. Voiced by Lewis McCloud with an Scottish accent.


 * Joey, a typical kangaroo. As the name suggests, he’s a young kangaroo. He speaks with an Australian accent. Voiced by Keith Wickham with an Australian accent.


 * Janet and Elvis, the kangaroo parents of Joey. They also speak with an Australian accents. Voiced by Adrienne Posta with an Australian accent (Janet) and Bob Saker with an Australian accent (Elvis).


 * Julie, the mother kangaroo of the son Jimmy. She’s a pale gray. She also speaks with an Australian accent. Voiced by Anna Bentinck with an Australian accent.


 * Jimmy, the son kangaroo of the mother Julie. He also speaks with an Australian accent. Voiced by Lewis McCloud with an Australian accent.


 * Janice, the mother kangaroo of the 3 nameless son triplets. She also speaks with an Australian accent. Voiced by Adrienne Posta with an Australian accent.


 * Janice's Triplets, are the 3 kangaroos Joey's that are mothered by their mother Janice. They also speak with an Australian accents. Voiced by Bob Saker with an Australian accent, Keith Wickham with an Australian accent and Lewis McCloud with an Australian accent.


 * Mr. Platypus, as the name suggests, is a brown platypus. He also speaks with an Australian accent. Voiced by Lewis McCloud with an Australian accent.


 * Wally, an elderly shaman. He’s a wombat. He speaks with an English accent. Voiced by Keith Wickham with an English accent.


 * The Unnamed snail, who was picked up by Wally the Wombat in Australia. The slug from it's the shell is never shown. He also speaks with an Australian accent. Voiced by Bob Saker with an Australian accent.


 * Phoebe, a koala and an unlucky resident. She also speaks with an Australian accent too. Voiced by Anna Bentinck with an Australian accent.

The Residents of The North Pole

 * Snowbert, the Arctic cousin of Boris the Bear. He is a polar bear that use to be lonely. He has a best seal friend named Sidney. He speaks with an Deep American accent. Voiced by Bob Saker with an Deep American accent.


 * Sidney, a best animal friend of Snowbert. He is a harp seal. Voiced by Keith Wickham.

The Residents of The South America

 * Adam, an armadillo whose home is native to the mountains. It is reveal he has a Mother in Season 1. He likes to roll into a ball. Voiced by Keith Wickham.


 * Jazz, a mean jaguar who likes to pick on Adam the Armadillo. His most famous relationship is with Leopoldo the Llama. He speaks with an Hispanic accent. Voiced by Dan Russell with an Hispanic accent.


 * Leopoldo, a South American llama and the goofiest of Jazz's group. Voiced by Lewis McCloud.


 * Dudley, a 2-toed sloth who has been shown only once. Voiced by Bob Saker.


 * Taco, a Toco toucan who likes to pick on Adam the Armadillo. This name has no use to the food. He also speaks with an Hispanic accent too. Voiced by Bob Saker with an Hispanic accent.


 * Annie, an anaconda who’s thought to be the monster of the forest. Voiced by Anna Bentinck.


 * Itchy Quatzel, the only mysterious mountain who is able to speak. He has a treasure on the top, which can only be accessed for those who share his treasure. Voiced by Bob Saker.

The Residents of The North America

 * Melanie, the only female moose with antlers. She speaks with an Brummie accent. Voiced by Adrienne Posta with an Brummie accent.


 * Beverly, a beaver who’s overprotective on the beaver dam. She speaks with an American accent. Voiced by Anna Bentinck with an American accent.


 * Randolph, a raccoon and a mushroom farmer. He speaks with an Southern Drawl accent. Voiced by Dan Russell with an Southern Drawl accent.

The Residents of Mossy Bay Island

 * Hercule Mustache, a very large walrus who migrated from The North Pole. He was very grumpy. He speaks with an French accent. Voiced by Bob Saker with an French accent.


 * Thomas, Sharon, Lewis and Jamie, the 4 puffins who live in Mossy Bay Island. Thomas is the leader, Sharon is the bravest, Lewis is the youngest and Jamie is the smallest. They speak with an Regular Irish accents. Voiced by Keith Wickham with an Regular Irish accent (Thomas), Adrienne Posta with an Regular Irish accent (Sharon), Lewis McCloud with an Regular Irish accent (Lewis) and Anna Bentinck with an Regular Irish accent (Jamie).

Development


Production began in 1993 after Vrombaut won an award for her first 2 shorts. The reason why she picked this series is because of Vrombaut in her interest in the animals and the zoos. The Antwerp zoo in the American was the inspiration of Vrombaut in her childhood.

While in production, Vrombaut decided to inspire the series by the traditional stories. The stories were researched on Aesop's Fables. Other researches range from traditional folk stories, and of course, "Just So Stories" by Rudyard Kipling. They range from the raven from Inuit legends, followed by Anansi and Nogwaja in African legends. This also includes the story of the slowest tortoise in the search.

The books were not only the inspirations to create the series. Some films (such as "The Jungle Book" and "The Lion King") were an inspiration for development. Vrombaut, however, was tired of those traditional stories. She decided to make her own stories instead.

Each series featured a house with the number "64" on it's door near a zoo. The house featured a little girl named Lucy. Vrombaut, however, couldn't write the stories with just one writer. She was at Millimages with a small team of the artists, the animators and the scriptwriters.

Vrombaut decided to write many stories of the animals. These stories range from: a kangaroo that can't jump, a very fast zebra and many others. Some of these episodes were inspired from cultural folk stories. An example includes a stork with it's feathers lost and getting them back (inspired from the African stories).

Seasons 1-2
When Vrombaut was ready to animate the giraffe artwork, The development for the series has begun. The development was done in Millimages in the US. When the development was done, the series had it's premiere on It's Itsy Bitsy Time. The series was renewed for the second series in 2000. When the second series ended, the series continued it's reruns on Noggin and Universal Kids.

U.S. Broadcast
The series was shown in the United States. The series had it's first U.S. premiere on the 3 channels on It's Itsy Bitsy Time, Noggin and Universal Kids in 1999 and 2000. Some of the characters are voiced by voice actors in the American accents. In addition, The word is pronounce by the American people. Seasons 1 and 2 were only broadcast in the U.S. and to date from On Demand, Netflix, RuTube, YouTube, Ru.OK, Vimeo, Internet Archive, Amazon Prime Video and DailyMotion in the Full Screen.

The American voice original was added and fixed by Lobster Films. The original is that Kevin the Crocodile was voiced by Dan Russell in order to make him sound like an actual male voice and speaks with an Southern accent. Lucy was voiced by Ciara Janson with an American accent. Dian Perry and Megg Nicol loves their voices on the 3 characters: Georgina the Giraffe, Nathalie the Antelope and Audrey the Ostrich. Lucy's Mother also has an American accent (Voiced by Dian Perry). Lorelei King and Emma Tate (2 voice actresses) did the voices of Giggles and Tickles the Monkeys in the US version.

Awards

 * During it's first broadcast on It's Itsy Bitsy Time, the TV show has become a popular hit for the best animation, the best character designs and the best original animation.

Reception
The series had it's positive review from some viewer of the United States, Arabic, Brazil, Canadian French, China, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latin America, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia and Sweden.

Trivia

 * This is the first Millimages series that is shown in the Cel Traditional Animation.


 * This is the first Millimages series that is in the Full Screen.


 * This is the first Millimages series to have a separate English version (US). (which was shown on It's Itsy Bitsy Time, Noggin and Universal Kids, exclusively on demand).


 * This is the first animated series by Vrombaut.