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Secret Life of Toys
Genre Children's television series
Written by Jocelyn Stevenson
Voices of
Theme music composer PEEK-A-BOO
Composer(s) Jocelyn Stevenson (Lyrics)
Markus Windt (Sound)
Country of origin Germany
United Kingdom
United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 13
Production
Executive producer(s) Brian Henson
Producer(s) Peter Coogan
Running time 10 minutes
Production company(s) Jim Henson Productions
Distributor The Jim Henson Company
Release
Original network The Disney Channel (U.S.)
BBC (UK)
Picture format 4:3
Original release 5 March (1994-03-05) – 28 May 1994 (1994-05-28)

Secret Life of Toys is a 1994 children's TV series based on the 1986 Christmas TV special The Christmas Toy. Each of the fourteen 30-minute episodes consists of two 15-minute stories. The show was taped in Monheim, Germany (near the Dutch border), and aired on The Disney Channel in the US (beginning on 5 March 1994), the BBC in the United Kingdom, Family Channel, Vrak and TVO in Canada, Spacetoon in the Arab world, Top TV in South Africa, The Kids' Channel in Israel, RTB in Brunei, Armed Forces Network in Germany and Japan, TVP1 in Poland, Channel 55 in Bahrain and on ABC TV in Australia.

Plot

This series depicts the further adventures of Rugby Tiger and his friends in a new playroom with two different children, Penny and Simon. Penny and Simon's playtime affect how the toys' setting and situations are in the children's absence. For the toys' safety, they have a code called a set of No-nos. However one of the toy end up breaking one of those rules by accident. When that happens, they toys have to work together to keep the fact they can move and speak away from the humans.

Characters

Main characters

  • Rugby Tiger (Dave Goelz) is a plucky tiger plush toy who is always looking for an adventure. He was designed by Larry DiFiori and built by Rollie Krewson.
  • Mew (Nigel Plaskitt) is Rugby's good friend who is a catnip mouse toy that belongs to the family cat. He was designed by Larry DiFiori and built by Joann Green.
  • Balthazar (Jerry Nelson) is a really old bear plush toy who is very wise. He functions as a fatherlike leader to the toys, and tells them when it's safe for them to move. He was designed by Larry DiFiori and built by Joann Green.
  • Raisin (Louise Gold) is a tomboyish rag doll.
  • Hortense (Louise Gold) is a worry-prone rocking horse.
  • Ditz (Dave Goelz) is a clown plush toy who can easily get mixed up. He was designed by Larry DiFiori and built by Marian Keating.

Other characters

  • Bratty Rat (Jerry Nelson) is a shifty rat who was purchased at a secondhand store.
  • Bunny Lamp (Mike Quinn) takes care of the lighting in the toy room and warns the toys when people are coming.
  • Bleep (Rob Mills) is a toy robot who sometimes freezes during his speech. He was designed by Larry DiFiori and built by Tom Newby and Norman Tempia.
  • Cruiser (Brian Henson) looks like a Fisher Price Little People figure who drives a taxi. He loves to use cool slang words. His motto is: "A dollar on the drop, and ten cents for any additional miles." He was designed by Larry DiFiori and built by Tom Newby and Norman Tempia.
  • Datz (Jerry Nelson) is a paper bag puppet that looks like his brother Ditz.
  • Dinkybeard (Jerry Nelson) is a wooden toy pirate. He was designed and built by Paul Andrejco.
  • Daffodil (Louise Gold) is a breakable princess doll who lives on the top shelf. Nobody really understands her. Daffodil is arguably the oldest toy in the house, having belonged to a family that previously owned it. After her original owner grew up and moved away, she lived alone in the attic of the house for many childhoods until the current family's children found her and brought her into their playroom. She alone among the toys understands what the attic actually is.
  • Eggie (Mike Quinn) is a dimwitted Humpty Dumpty-like toy egg who thinks eggs are the smartest creatures in the world.
  • Humble Gary (Mike Quinn) is an extremely humble tiger.

Episodes

No. Parts Original airdate
1 "Oops! / Don't Tell Me" 5 March 1994 (1994-03-05)
  • Oops! – Hortense accidentally triggers the children's Goldbergian trap in the playroom and the toys have a hard time trying to fix it.
  • Don't Tell Me – Rugby's curiosity and refusal to listen to others puts him in tight spot when he's locked out of the playroom.
2 "Follow the Leader / Disappearing Ditz" 12 March 1994 (1994-03-12)
  • Follow the Leader –
  • Disappearing Ditz –
3 "I'm Going to Tell... / The Cat Toy That Roared" 19 March 1994 (1994-03-19)
  • I'm Going to Tell... – Raisin accidentally records a conversation on a musical cassette tape and Bratty threatens to tell everyone about it.
  • The Cat Toy That Roared –
4 "Rock-a-Bye Worries / The Magic Fish" 26 March 1994 (1994-03-26)
  • Rock-a-Bye Worries –
  • The Magic Fish –
5 "Climbers / Be Plush" 2 April 1994 (1994-04-02)
  • Climbers – Rugby accidentally discovers the lost toy Felix. Mustering up his courage, Balthazar is able to rescue Felix.
  • Be Plush – Rugby is pretty standoffish believing he is better than the new tiger toy Humble Gary, until Gary ventures to meet the monster under the stairs.
6 "Queen Raisin / Balthazar in Beam Land" 9 April 1994 (1994-04-09)
  • Queen Raisin –
  • Balthazar in Beam Land –
7 "Ditz and Datz / Mummies" 16 April 1994 (1994-04-16)
  • Ditz and Datz –
  • Mummies – Raisin, Balthazar and Ditz dress up like mummies to scare Rugby after he keeps a peculiar stone.
8 "All Washed Up / Bunnochio" 23 April 1994 (1994-04-23)
  • All Washed Up –
  • Bunnochio –
9 "More Than a Mouse / Happy Hortense to You" 30 April 1994 (1994-04-30)
  • More Than a Mouse –
  • Happy Hortense to You –
10 "Down with Dinkybeard / The Sky is Falling!" 7 May 1994 (1994-05-07)
  • Down with Dinkybeard –
  • The Sky is Falling! –
11 "Baby Balthazar / True Mew" 14 May 1994 (1994-05-14)
  • Baby Balthazar –
  • True Mew –
12 "Mr. and Mrs. Rugby / I Spy" 21 May 1994 (1994-05-21)
  • Mr. and Mrs. Rugby –
  • I Spy – A new teddy called Spy Guy doesn't want to be sent back to the toy store, so he impersonates Balthazar and tries to send him away instead.
13 "Who Shares Wins / It's a Giveaway" 28 May 1994 (1994-05-28)
  • Who Shares Wins –
  • It's a Giveaway –
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