The Fruitties Explained
The Fruitties (Spanish; Castilian: Los Fruittis) is an animated television series produced in Spain by D'Ocon Film Productions in 1989,[1] created by Antoni D'Ocon and written by Josep Viciana. It originally aired on the Spanish television channel TVE. Originally, 91 episodes were created – each 25 minutes long – but the series was often repackaged as 52 episodes.The series was dubbed into many languages and, in 1991, an English-language version of the show made its debut on British television.
Story
The show features the adventures of anthropomorphic talking fruit, vegetables and various other plants who live in and around a forest island near a volcano. One day, the supposedly extinct volcano the Fruitties live around shows signs of erupting, thus forcing the Fruitties to send three explorers, the show's main characters Roly, Pak, and Thorny, to find them a new home.
Characters
- Roly is a pineapple with a southern Spanish accent. He tends to brag and get the entire team in trouble. However, he is shown to be resourceful when he needs to be. He is also known as Gazpacho in the Spanish version.
- Pak is a knowledgeable banana and carries a backpack which contains an array of handy survival equipment for the team. He tends to bicker with Roly, due to Roly's laziness and bragging nature, yet he admires his sense of humor and his resourcefulness. He also has a rivalry with Monkus, the mad scientist monkey, who, unlike Pak, uses his scientific skills for evil. He is also known as Mochillo in the Spanish version.
- Thorny is a dim-witted cactus, speaking with a southern US accent. His prickly body saves the group from dangerous creatures on many occasions, although it is a pain in the neck to Roly. He is also known as Pincho in the Spanish version.
- Kumba is the only female and human in the group. She joins Roly, Pak and Thorny to guide them around the world. She sports a bikini made of leaves. In some episodes she tries to meet her parents and older brother, Luke.
- Mayor Strawberry is the mayor of the Fruitties' village. He is very strict and no-nonsense, caring and reasonable.
- Monkus is the main antagonist of the series and the Fruitties' arch-nemesis. He is a mad scientist monkey who seeks to conquer the world and impose his own rules. Unfortunately for him, his plans are always thwarted by the Fruitties. He is known as Monus in the Spanish version.
- Bruce is a gorilla and Monkus' henchman who tries to help him to conquer the world. He is also known as Gluttonus.
- Boss is a wild boar who speaks with a Bronx-style accent and is determined to capture and eat the Fruitties but always ends up failing.
- Brute is a wild boar who helps Boss to capture and eat the Fruitties even though he always fails. He is also known as Issac or Barry in some episodes.
- Thistle is a prankster who loves to pull pranks on the others.
- Artichoke the Pirate (or Pirate Artichoko) is a pirate who was an enemy of the main characters at first, but later befriended them.
Song
The show is fondly remembered for its songs featured during both its opening and closing credits sequences.
In late 2014, a downloadable CD was released on iTunes. Though it does not include all the major instrumental tracks used in the show, such as Monkus's theme, it does contain all the major vocal tracks from the series and they are issued in two languages, both Spanish and English. The following URL hosts the CD:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/docon-singers/id906798318
Track List Spanish Album ITunes Release (Fruittis):
1) Intro de Los Fruittis
2) El Bosque de los Fruittis
3) Gazpacho el Campeón
4) Safari Fotográfico
5) El Pirata Alcachofo
6) Viva el Sol
7) Vaya Trio
8) Canción del Agua
9) Canción del Ahorro
10) Viva la Nieve
11) Viajando en Globo
12) Kumba
Track List UK Album ITunes Release (Fruitties):
1) The Fruitties Theme Song (Original Version)
2) The Fruitties' Forest (Original Version)
3) Roly, The Champion (Original Version)
4) Picture Taking (Original Version)
5) Artichoke, the Pirate (Original Version)
6) Tuttie Fruttie (Original Version)
7) Trio (Original Version)
8) Water (Original Version)
9) Saving (Original Version)
10) Live (Original Version)
11) Ballooning (Original Version)
12) Kumba (Original Version)
TV Series Episodes
- The Fruitties' Volcano
- The Enigma of the Giants
- The Floating Bottle
- Turtle Swamp
- The Flower Rebellion
- Voyage to Canada
- Terror Mountain
- Springtime Fever
- Journey to China
- The Fruittilympics
- The Fruitties in America
- Baby Wolf
- Prankster Thistle
- Airborne Adventures
- Voyage to Mexico
- The Smart Little Duck
- The Magical Lamp
- A Scary Night
- An Ice Island
- Voyage to Paris
- The Magical Feathers
- Lost in the Arctic
- Eastward Bound
- The Thief of Paris
- The Flower Thief
- The Rain of Dissension
- The Marine Ghost
- The Painting Contest
- Arizona Fruitty
- The Mermaid's Singing
- The Forest In Flames
- Rigoletto's Book
- One Quiet Day
- The Rugby Match
- The Seafaring Adventures
- Operation Rescue
- The Wild Boar Jinx
- Searching for Thistle
- The Dickpea from Outer Space
- Journey to the Himalayas
- The Wicked Wizard
- The Floating Island
- The Mountain of the Spirits
- The Mysterious Drought
- The Great Pyramid
- The Endangered Jungle
- Vocationing in the Canaries
- Thorny’s Birthday
- The Conceited King
- The Magic Frog
- Cactus Desert
- Polar Adventure
DVD
A DVD of the Spanish version was issued in 2006.A DVD of the English version has yet to be released; however, the Spanish DVDs of the show have optional English audio tracks.In Bulgaria, the entire series was released by A-Design over 9 discs. The DVDs feature Bulgarian audio track only that is newly produced and is different from the dub from the show's original airing in the 90s.
External links
- http://www.docon.es/
- http://www.docon.es/fruittis/inicio.htm
- http://www.planete-jeunesse.com/sources/series.php3?cle=1385
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtJi1tw7fGk
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0856136/
- http://www.zonadvd.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7342
Notes and References
- Web site: Coming soon . D´Ocon Films – official website . 11 November 2021.
