Cro (TV series) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cro
Opening title to Cro
Based on	The Way Things Work by David Macaulay
Developed by	Mark Zaslove
Starring	Max Casella as Cro
Voices of	Charlie Adler Ruth Buzzi Jim Cummings Tress MacNeille Candi Milo Laurie O'Brien April Ortiz Jane Singer Jussie Smollett Frank Welker
Composer(s)	Stacy Widelistz
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	20 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Phil Roman Jeffrey Nelson Franklin Getchell Marjorie Kalins Joan Ganz Cooney Mark Zaslove
Producer(s)	Bob Richardson
Running time	approx. 23 mins
Production company(s)	Children's Television Workshop Film Roman
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	September 18, 1993 (1993-09-18) – October 22, 1994 (1994-10-22)

Cro is a fun animated TV show from the United States. It was made by the Children's Television Workshop and Film Roman. The show first aired on September 18, 1993, on ABC. It was part of their Saturday morning cartoons.

Cro ran for about one and a half seasons. It continued to show reruns until the summer of 1995. The series was all about learning! It taught kids basic ideas of physics, mechanical engineering, and technology. It was inspired by David Macaulay's book The Way Things Work. Macaulay even helped write for the show. The very last episode, "They Move Mammoths, Don't They?", aired on October 22, 1994. You could also find the show on VHS tapes, with nine different volumes.

What the Show is About

The story starts with a scientist named Dr. C and her helper, Mike. They go to the Arctic to study old things. There, they discover a woolly mammoth frozen in ice! His name is Phil. When they thaw him out, they are amazed to find that he can talk!

Whenever something happens in their modern world that involves science, Phil remembers a similar event. These memories take him back to a prehistoric valley called Woollyville. There, he lived with other mammoths and his human friend, Cro. Cro was a Cro-Magnon boy who lived with a family of Neanderthals. In each episode, Phil tells a story about how a problem was solved using simple engineering.

The show's name, "Cro," comes from an old word meaning "cave." It's a nod to Cro-Magnon, a place in France. This is where the earliest modern humans were found.

Meet the Characters

Cavepeople

• Cro (voiced by Max Casella) – Cro is an 11-year-old boy. He is smart and lives with a tribe of Neanderthals who adopted him. He has long, red hair and wears a yellow armband. Many of the Neanderthals are a bit jealous of how clever he is. Unlike them, Cro speaks in full sentences.
• Ogg (voiced by Jim Cummings) – Ogg is the bossy and often selfish leader of Cro's Neanderthal tribe. He can be hard to get along with. But he also gets scared easily when there's danger.
• Gogg (voiced by Frank Welker) – Gogg is a kind Neanderthal. He often helps Bobb by translating his noises into words.
• Bobb (voiced by Frank Welker) – Bobb is another adopted member of the tribe. He doesn't speak like the others. Instead, he makes ape-like sounds that Gogg usually understands. Bobb was once part of a different group. He woke up one day to find them all gone. This made him afraid of being alone.
• Nandy (voiced by Ruth Buzzi) – Nandy is the wise mother figure of the Neanderthal tribe. She loves telling old stories and legends. She often argues with Ogg and usually wins because she knows his fears. Nandy is very protective of Cro and caring towards everyone.

Woolly Mammoths

• Phil (voiced by Jim Cummings) – Phil is a clever but funny woolly mammoth. He has orange and reddish fur. He is kind to both humans and other mammoths. During the Ice Age, Phil fell into a glacier while saving Cro. He was frozen for 45,000 years! Dr. C and Mike thawed him out. Now, he tells them stories from his past in Woollyville.
• Ivanna (voiced by Laurie O'Brien) – Ivanna is a stylish woolly mammoth with yellow fur. She is Phil's special friend. She is the second oldest female mammoth in Phil's group. She sometimes uses Phil for her own ideas and experiments.
• Pakka (voiced by Candi Milo) – Pakka is a young woolly mammoth with light orange fur. She is a close friend of Cro's. They met after Cro faced Selene, a big cat. Pakka is the third oldest female mammoth. She sometimes shares interesting facts about mammoths with Cro.
• Steamer (voiced by Charlie Adler) – Steamer is the youngest mammoth in Phil's group. He has maroon fur. He is very energetic and loves to cause mischief. This often gets him into trouble.
• Esmeralda (voiced by Tress MacNeille) – Esmeralda is the oldest female mammoth and the leader of Phil's group. She has light yellow fur. She makes sure everything runs smoothly and that rules are followed. She has mixed feelings about Cro's tribe living in Woollyville.
• Earle (voiced by Frank Welker) – Earle is an old woolly mammoth with gray fur. He doesn't like humans and prefers old ways of doing things over new ideas.
• Mojo (voiced by Charlie Adler) – Mojo is Earle's younger brother. Like Earle, he doesn't like humans and prefers traditions.

Villains

• Big Red (voiced by Charlie Adler) – Big Red is the tricky leader of a group of clumsy dire wolves. He uses threats to make his followers do what he wants. The wolves often try to catch Cro's tribe or the younger mammoths.
  • Murray (voiced by Jim Cummings) – Murray is one of Big Red's wolf followers. He often says silly things, which Big Red doesn't like.
• Selene (voiced by Jane Singer) – Selene is a purple, yellow-eyed Smilodon (saber-toothed cat). She first appears in "Lever in a Million Years." She is always very hungry for anything that moves, including the cavepeople. The show's opening song says that she and Phil were fighting on a cliff. The cliff broke, and she landed on a lower part. Phil fell into a glacier and was frozen for thousands of years.

Other Characters

• Dr. Cecilia (voiced by April Ortiz) – Dr. Cecilia is a scientist in modern times. She and Mike found Phil and thawed him out. She tells Phil's stories. Dr. C has a unique accent and sometimes uses Spanish words. She looks a bit like Cro, and might even be related to him!
• Mike (voiced by Jussie Smollett) – Mike is a young friend of Dr. C. He wears big glasses and likes to play basketball. He and Dr. C were the ones who thawed out Phil.
• Teddie (voiced by Bill Daber) – Teddie is a friend of Cro's. He appears in one episode where he invents the first ever Rap music!
• Sooli (voiced by Cree Summer) – Sooli is another Cro-Magnon girl. She got separated from her tribe. Cro and Pakka help her find her favorite horse. Sooli only appears in one episode.

Episodes

Season 1 (1993)

Season 2 (1994)