Eureeka's Castle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Eureeka's Castle |
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Title card
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| Genre | Children's Fantasy |
| Created by | Judy Katschke |
| Written by | R. L. Stine (head writer) |
| Creative director(s) | Eli Noyes |
| Starring |
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| Composer(s) | Peter Lurye |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 90 52 (season 3) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Kit Laybourne |
| Producer(s) |
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| Production location(s) | Nickelodeon Studios (1991) |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time |
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| Production company(s) | Noyes & Laybourne Enterprises |
| Distributor | MTV Networks |
| Release | |
| Original network | Nickelodeon |
| Original release | September 4, 1989 – November 10, 1991 |
Eureeka's Castle was a fun American children's television show. It aired on Nick Jr. from September 4, 1989, to September 4, 1991. The show featured many puppet characters. They all lived inside a giant's wind-up music box.
Nickelodeon helped create the show. Animators Kit Laybourne and Eli Noyes also worked on it. The talented puppeteers at 3/Design Studio brought the characters to life. Famous children's author R. L. Stine created the characters. He was also the main writer for all the episodes.
Contents
Meet the Castle Friends
The show was like Sesame Street but with its own special magic. It followed many puppet characters. The main character was Eureeka, a sorceress who was still learning her spells.
Eureeka and her friends lived in a wind-up castle. This castle was owned by a friendly giant. Other main characters included Magellan the dragon. There were also twin moat dwellers named Bogge and Quagmire. Batly the bat and Mr. Knack the handyman were also part of the group.
Many other creatures appeared too. These included mice and singing fish statues called the Fishtones. Magellan had pets named Cooey and the Slurms. Batly had a pet spider named Webster.
Each episode also showed animated shorts. These were often based on popular children's books. The show also featured shorter animated and live-action films. Sometimes, they even showed cartoons from Europe. Some of these included Roobarb, The Shoe People, and Barbapapa.
Main Characters of Eureeka's Castle
Let's meet the amazing characters who lived in the castle:
Eureeka, the Sorceress-in-Training
- Eureeka (played by Cheryl Blaylock) is the main character. She is a friendly sorceress. Her magic spells often don't work perfectly at first. But she always keeps trying until she gets them right!
Magellan, the Baby Dragon
- Magellan (played by Noel MacNeal) is a big green baby dragon. His tail has a mind of its own! He sometimes has trouble understanding new ideas. When Magellan gets upset, he lets out huge sneezes. These sneezes can shake the whole castle! Eureeka cares for him like a mother. Magellan often tries to stay awake past his bedtime.
- Cooey (played by Lynn Hippen) is Magellan's pet. No one is quite sure what kind of animal Cooey is!
- Slurms are Magellan's pet worm-like creatures. They were brought to life using clay animation.
- Blanketeers are living blue dots found on Magellan's blanket.
Batly, the Clumsy Bat
- Batly (played by Jim Kroupa) is a blue bat. He wears glasses because he can't see very well. Batly thinks he's very important, but he's often clumsy. He and Magellan are good friends, even though they are very different. When he flies, he usually crash-lands. He always says, "I meant to do that!" Batly spends most of his time in the castle's bell tower. He also has a large collection of bugs. R. L. Stine once said that Batly's face was based on his own son.
- Webster (played by Noel MacNeal) is Batly's pet spider.
- Fred is Batly's lightning bug. Batly sleeps with Fred.
Bogge and Quagmire, the Moat Twins
- Bogge and Quagmire (played by Brian Muehl and Pam Arciero) are brother and sister. They are known as the Moat Twins. They love swimming in the castle moat. They also enjoy eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You can often find them playing in the basement. Bogge is orange, and Quagmire is pink. They argue a lot, but they work together when they want to cause mischief. They often try to steal Magellan's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but they never succeed!
Mr. Knack, the Handyman
- Mr. Knack (played by Brian Muehl) is the castle's handyman. He loves to tinker and fix things. He uses many unusual ways to repair things around the castle. He also loves to trade his inventions from his pushcart. Mr. Knack always gets postcards, which he reads to the viewers.
Other Castle Residents
- Sir Klank (played by Jim Kroupa) is a blue mouse. He has a long gray beard and lives inside a suit of armor.
- Kate (played by Lynn Hippen) is a pink mouse. She often tells everyone what is happening in the castle.
- Emma (played by Pam Arciero) is an orange mouse who loves to eat.
- Fishtones are three singing fish. They are part of a stone fountain. They spray water when they are not singing.
- The Giant (played by Jim Kroupa) is a friendly, full-bodied giant. He has a long nose. He owns the wind-up castle music box where the show takes place.
Who Played the Puppets?
Many talented puppeteers brought the characters of Eureeka's Castle to life.
Main Puppeteers
- Pam Arciero played Quagmire and Emma.
- Cheryl Blaylock played Eureeka.
- Lynn Hippen played Cooey and Kate.
- Jim Kroupa played Batley, Sir Klank, and the Giant.
- Noel MacNeal played Magellan and Webster.
- Brian Muehl played Bogge and Mr. Knack.
How the Show Was Made
The idea for Eureeka's Castle came from Debby Beece and Judy Katschke. In 1988, Nickelodeon began developing the show. Animators Eli Noyes and Kit Laybourne were also involved. Kit Laybourne's wife, Geraldine Laybourne, was the Head of Programming for Nickelodeon at the time.
R. L. Stine, famous for his "Goosebumps" books, was hired as the head writer. He helped create the show's ideas, characters, and scripts. The puppets were designed and built at 3/Design Studio. Puppeteers like Jim Kroupa, John Orberg, Kip Rathke, and Matt Stoddart built them.
Nickelodeon ordered 65 episodes of the show. They called it a very important show for young children. The first episode aired on August 27, 1989. It then officially debuted on Nick Jr. on September 4. In May 1990, the show was renewed for a second season.
Later, from 1990 to 1991, Nickelodeon made 52 shorter episodes. These were made from clips of the first two seasons. They were used for schools and for showing the series in other countries. Production for Eureeka's Castle ended in 1991. Some of the crew later worked on another show called Gullah Gullah Island.
Episodes Overview
The show had several seasons and special episodes. Here is a quick look at how many episodes there were:
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
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| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 65 | September 4, 1989 | December 1, 1989 | |
| 2 | 22 | September 2, 1991 | Fall 1991 | |
| 3 | 52 | July 1990 | September 4, 1991 | |
| Specials | 3 | November 27, 1990 | November 10, 1991 | |
Where and When it Aired
The series first aired on September 4, 1989, on Nick Jr.. Reruns of the show continued on Nick Jr. until September 6, 1996. They also aired again for a short time from November 16, 1998, to February 5, 1999. The show was also shown on Noggin from 1999 to 2002.
Home Videos and Awards
Some Eureeka's Castle specials were released on video. These included "Sing Along With Eureeka" and "Wide Awake at Eureeka's Castle" in 1990. The "Christmas at Eureeka's Castle" special was also released. These videos came out in 1995 and 1997. As of now, the series has not been released on DVD, Blu-ray, or streaming services.
In 1990, Eureeka's Castle won an Ace Award. This award was for being the best children's program.
