Ox Tales

1 9 8 7 – 1 9 8 8 (Netherlands/Japan)
102 x 15 minute episodes

This animated series from the Netherlands – also known as The Tales of Boes’ Gang – was produced by Telecable Benelux BV in association with Saban Entertainment and animated by Telescreen Japan.

The series – featuring Ollie the Ox, who ran ‘Funny Farm’, which housed seemingly every animal ever known – was based on the Dutch comic strip Boes created by Wil Raymakers and Thijs Wilms.

Ollie was usually accompanied by his best friend, Jack Turtleson (a turtle), and his faithful greyhound, Sammy.

Other characters included Edward (an elephant who worked as a fireman), Ellie the elephant, Igor the octopus, Crown (a bald eagle), Gaylord (a mountain gorilla), Audrey (an ostrich), Rodney (a black rhinoceros), Larry (a cheetah), Lenny (a lion), Bruce (a grizzly bear), Buggy (a stork), Horace (a hot-headed and stubborn horse), Moe (a mole who provided comic relief), Harry (a sloth), Hannah (the leader of a gang of chickens), Mr Croack (a frog), Bibbo the owl, Jojo  (a baboon), Samson (a sea lion), Shirley (a lazy Cheviot sheep), Helda (a hippopotamus), Paul (a polar bear), Nessie (a cow), Topsy the aardvark, Tom (a turkey), Tim the orangutan, Patrick the porcupine, a group of storks called the MacDuffs, Snuffles the panda, Zane (a zebra), pigs Peggy and Peter, Jolly (a dolphin), Cecil (a mischievous skunk), Rott (a parrot), Cal (a saltwater crocodile), Morris (a mouse), Calvin the Cat, woodpeckers Walter and Willy, and a kangaroo family comprising Holly, Bob, Weave, Jenny and Teddie.

The episodes were narrated by a sarcastic toucan named Towilla.

The fifteen-minute stories were broadcast as 51 half-hour shows, each containing two episodes each.

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