The Littl' Bits - Nick Knacks Episode

[@andrewpowers9443]

My older brother passed a few years ago, and we used to talk about early 90s tv. we never mentioned this show, but watching/listening to the intro definitely unlocked some old memories from the deep deep subconscious... forgot this thing existed, and i wish i had my brother to talk about this with (his birthday is tomorrow.) I love you, Tim.

[@bluebaron6858]

Beautiful

[@Panthersoup]

The Nick Knacks episodes about Nick Jr. anime are my absolute favorites, they're just so cozy and rewatchable. I put them on to fall asleep to or to help calm me down when I'm anxious. I'm so excited to add this one to my rotation lol

[@Jeff-gj7ko]

We all know Snoozabit's real name is Drunkabit.

[@Captain_Subpar]

As a kid, I never had cable TV. Nickelodeon was this mythical channel to me that I only got brief glimpses of when visiting my aunt and uncle. So while I don't have any of the fond memories for these shows, I still love this channel because it gives me an in depth look at everything that I was missing. Plus, it's made me actively seek out some of these shows. Even though they don't hold nostalgia value for me, finally seeing them along with the Nick bumpers helps takes me back to what it was like to be a kid without a care in the world. Thank you.

[@CjBanks-q3b]

Those first Nicktoons Nick Knacks videos are gonna be generational

[@paradactyl3729]

*me reccomending the show to my friends*: Imagine if Moomins but also Nausicaa.

[@hannamarine2396]

This unlocked some DEEP core memories. I feel fundamentally changed. I was Ratatouille-flashback’d to my earliest self.

[@rosiemcdamsel]

I've watched a Japanese rip of this show and it doesn't have the weird framing issue you mention. The version you've got here is just zoomed in--maybe the edges of the film were damaged at some point and they did that to hide it?

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

I was 8 or 9 when this aired, so just a little older than the main Nick Jr demographic, but I honestly loved watching it on I was days when I was home sick. It was such a warm and cozy programming block, and this, Mapletown, and David the Gnome were my favorites

[@EmperorSeth]

Also, wow, that Video Power reference out of nowhere. It also famously had a animated adventure series between the reviews and such. it was basically Captain N with whatever Nintendo characters they could scrounge up. It was pretty dire, but I was an easily amused kid, so hey, I enjoyed it.

[@jaggerguth4391]

Why does it that most of Nick Jr.'s imported-kid shows lineup have such dark and heart-breaking finale endings?

[@pennysanchez7656]

Let's be real, Tatsunoko were not f**king around when it come to being dark and mature when it comes to their anime from the 80's. And yes, I know that David the Gnome is a Spanish cartoon and has that infamous finale that is more depressing than the finale from Jim Henson's Dinosaurs, but I feel a trend there.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

​@@pennysanchez7656Tatsunoko produced similar shows like Hutch the Honeybee and Demetan Croker involving dramatic, dark situations.

[@LeoHightower]

Agreed. 😢

[@ChrisG667]

Oh my god, hearing this show’s theme was like a sleeper agent. That melody has been in the back of my head for 30 years and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out where it was from until today. Maan this show is a throwback the cradle.

[@ronh4658]

I had always remembered the episode with the warning "if you are trapped in the temple you will surely die, because while there is water to drink there is no food to eat," or whatever the wording was, and realizing truly at that moment that one could starve to death in a dungeon. Fun!

[@forest_green]

I love your videos because you're clear about your values, and even if i didn't watch the shows you talk about, they give me new shows to expose my kids to in order to give them strange memories when they're older.

[@bluebaron6858]

It's an innocent show

[@bkwrm]

Through your videos I have learned that I started watching anime much earlier than I thought😂 The theme song unlocked a long buried memory. Loved the video.

[@Feelthefelt]

i had forgotten about this one, but then you played that theme song and I immediately singing along. Recovered memory.

[@christopherbubb2890]

Superbook was the first anime I ever saw and made me fall in love with the anime artstyle, so as a kid who was starting to geek out on Japanese animation, I was super excited to watch the end credits and find out that that same studio made this show (in fact, a number of the same staff worked on both). And yes, I have a lot of nostalgia for that era of Nick as well, though I'm several years older than you. I know you already did a Nick Knacks on one of the episodes, but it'd be great if you could one day do one specifically on the Winter Strawberries episode, which was dubbed but which I don't remember Nickelodeon ever showing (perhaps because it's so dark). One other fun fact - the co-creator of the series, Shigeru Yanagawa, would later go on to be a script writer for Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2, and countless other global favorite anime series.

[@PashPaw]

I've always wished for a proper rerelease of this one. It was always one of my favorite cartoons on Nick Jr. when I was little.

[@Jangobadass]

2:53-3:21 Cracking up at them having a commercial to the tune of Merry Go Round Broke Down AKA Looney Tunes theme! 🤣

[@jonathanstern5537]

Honestly, I always thought the apocalypse at the end was cyclical. Nobody realized it because the study of history didn't seem to be a priority, but every X number of years give or take, there's a cataclysm. It's like our world with pandemics and hurricanes. Every year, there's a number of hurricanes during late summer and early autumn (granted, they're getting worse because of climate change, but they've been there for millennia), Every hundred years or so, for at least the past 4 centuries, there's a massive pandemic. Willabit's grandfather knew because, unlike most of the Littl' Bits, he studied history. He probably didn't know when it would happen, but he did know they lived on a fault that would quake at some point in the future.

[@hpalpha7323]

English localization on 80s/early 90s anime was very different from what it is now. They frequently took for granted most people wouldn't know where it came from, cut and changed tons of details, and removed the original credits entirely. My first anime ever was 1986's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

[@bluebaron6858]

Wow

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Featuring the voices of Lorne Green and "Annie".

[@LittlePixieBot]

They made to Christian anime: Superbook and Flying House. They were commissioned by CBN for Japanese audiences and later dubbed into English.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Yep, Pat Robertson was behind it!

[@shibumi8]

This takes me back. 😊

[@bluebaron6858]

Comfort anime

[@kapiteinfox3142]

I think its lovely that this is your personal nostalgia sweet spot. I've been finding myself getting a little mushy as you approach what's probably mine: Roundhouse.

[@Saintnick90]

All right, we're rolling again! It's nice to see another Nick Knacks so soon after the Pete and Pete video. I wish I had more to say about this show, but this is literally my first exposure to it. Even if I had been watching Nickelodeon when it was on, I would have been 1 when it started airing and 5 when it stopped, and my memories of that period are becoming fuzzier as the years go on. It seems cute though. I liked the Smurfs well enough, so I probably would have liked this too.

[@Flower_Mom]

I remember this show. Or the theme song at least.

[@VicHD]

Even if it shares parallels with The Smurfs, this show was harmless fun despite some dark themes. Also, Dr. Snoozabit was actually a drunk, not lazy and sleepy. But, you know, it was necessary censorship.

[@mightyfilm]

Saban was pretty ride or die with Tatsunoko shows at the time. They also dubbed Tatsunoko's Pinocchio series, as well as having the gall of trying to make an early 90's dub of late 60's Hakushon Daimao (which didn't even air on US TV). Even had their own Gatchaman dub, decades later with Eagle Riders (which featured a then unknown Bryan Cranston). Yet, they did NOT even touch their most long running series, Time Bokan. That said, I'm surprised Nick never picked up Cinar's "The Adventures of Albert and Sydney," which almost seemed to be dubbed with them in mind. We'll all recognize it better as its original Japanese name, Doraemon.

[@bluebaron6858]

@@mightyfilm i can't believe Saban adapted tekkaman blade!

[@IMissBionix]

Bob in the Bottle did air in the U.S. but in a very small regionalized fashion. It ran on PRISM in Philadelphia. Albert & Sidney was produced for TBS, so presumably Cinar could not sell the rights to anyone else.

[@mightyfilm]

@@IMissBionix Saban also used to have these odd, random weekend blocks that aired in syndication. Not weekly, but just at random points during the year where said syndicated stations would have cheap movies. Mostly near holidays. While I can't confirm if Bob in the Bottle ran on them, I do think they used clips of the series in the opening credits of those blocks. Though it is weird Cinar didn't try to sell the Doraemon dub to Nick, unless they did and it was refused. I'm actually surprised that no one tried to get the American Broadcast rights to Anpanman back then. That seems like something Nick would have had pitched to them. Then again, maybe unassuming, short run anime was much cheaper to get the licenses for.

[@IMissBionix]

@@mightyfilm It appears Cinar did have the rights to Anpanman at one point. Richard Dumont, who is a prolific voice actor/director based out of Montreal, lists the show on his resume as something he worked on for Cinar. There's no further information on that dub and it's not clear if it was ever released. Maybe it wound up like Albert & Sidney and only seen in a few smaller markets?

[@mightyfilm]

@@IMissBionix Interesting. My first exposure to Anpanman was seeing it out of context in a Japanese model home in a children's museum. To think, there could have been an alternate timeline in which I could have gotten the exposure of seeing it in English on TV instead.

[@bluebaron6858]

Tatsunoko!

[@AlexSpalex1]

It's always pretty interesting to see you talk about Saban's pre-Power Rangers offerings.

[@fzerofan3409]

More please. Love the channel

[@Jangobadass]

Ya gotta miss sweet, innocent, wholesome kid's anime like this and the other Nick Jr anime...

[@bluebaron6858]

I can't believe Saban dubbed anime for nick

[@Jangobadass]

@@bluebaron6858 This was the good old days before Power Rangers changed EVERYTHING for them...

[@gojikranz]

You should be pleased I have nostalgia for superbook despite never having seen the show.

[@pannoni1491]

I never was much of a Nick Jr. watcher since I was already six when I started watching regularly, but this seems like an overlooked gem to watch and has a semi-serialistic quality that few animated shows (especially Western-produced) shows provide. Too bad that even in Japan that HD was still years away when it was produced, although I would have loved to of have more cel-animated HD shows. I'm certainly looking forward to Nick's takeoff of Dotto next, and that was probably the first show on the channel that I can remember its premiere first-hand!

[@Hewylewis]

10: 43 From left to right: Masked Rider, Eagle Riders, Samurai Pizza Cats, Power Rangers Zeo, The Why Why Family, Big Bad Beetleborgs, Oliver Twist, X-Men, Dragonball Z, and The Mouse and the Monster. I watched ALL these shows as a kid!

[@pennysanchez7656]

You grew up with a lot of Saban shows, isn't it?

[@Hewylewis]

@@pennysanchez7656 yup!

[@pennysanchez7656]

@@Hewylewis You know, it's kinda a shame that I only saw a fraction of their content when I was a kid.

[@bungiegummie6000]

Always excited to see a new video. Nick Knack is definitely in my Top 5 KZbin Series. Glad to be a patron and continue to help this criminally underrated channel.

[@MSP10julia]

This is way before Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, and Pokemon dominated the english dubbed anime scene of the 1990s

[@mightyfilm]

It was definitely at the time of small companies buying up American rights to whatever anime they can get their hands on and then dumping them as filler for home video or start up cable releases. This would be near the tail end of that, though. Meanwhile, Europe, South America, and other parts of Asia had a solid diet of anime imports since at least the 80's, getting the likes of Dragonball, as well as a decent number of things we'd never even get.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

​@@mightyfilmYeah, America was behind in that race.

[@mightyfilm]

@@ChristopherSobieniak It helps that those other countries, while they did have shows of their own, often relied on a lot of imports. There were quite a few co-productions between Europe and Japan at the time as well. Especially ones based on European comics such as Cubitus/Dommel and Boes, coincidentally, also dubbed into English by Saban (as Wowser and Ox Tales, respectively).

[@GreatMewtwo]

4:22 Spoiler alert! His real arch-nemesis is a mad scientist.

[@Cameroo]

I was *way* too old for this show but man, did I love it. It was so cozy and fun. Really miss this era of Japanese Animation

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Not sure if my posts are coming through, but wanted to mention checking out "Mrs. Pepperpot", that's very much in the vain of cozy & fun Japanese animation.

[@Cameroo]

@@ChristopherSobieniak Thanks for the recommendation! Really enjoyed the 1990s Moomin anime also.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@@Cameroo I came to realize there were a lot of shows America missed out on for not being on Nick 30-40 years ago. Stuff like Dogtanian, Willy Fog, Vicky the Viking, etc. It's always fascinating looking back on these classics.

[@kriswright]

We’re getting to the end of my nostalgia-era with Nickelodeon. Great to hear your personal memories of the Littl Bits. I remember this show as one of the last of the old late 80s Nick style and it’s cool to see how it affected you as a young kid.

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

9:33 🎶Sandy Frank, Sandy Frank, he's the source of all our pain!!🎶

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Gads about the house all day!

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

​@@ChristopherSobieniak he still is, apparently, at the grand old age of 95.

[@amethystfrost]

Don't remember this one at all, and I was the target age to be watching Nick Jr. as a 3 year old in 1991. But glad to see another Nick Knacks and hear about your own personal nostalgia for the show! ❤

[@lonedragon3261]

Again wondering what order these are going to be in. I'm eagerly awaiting Welcome Freshmen, which, from what I can tell, premiered before all of the shows that have been Nick-Knacked recently. I can continue to wait, just want to make sure it wasn't forgotten accidentally or skipped deliberately for some reason.

[@poparena]

@@lonedragon3261 I don't stick to the strictest chronology for pacing reasons. Welcome Freshmen is scheduled to be episode #107

[@lonedragon3261]

@@poparena Thank you so much! I loved that show and you never hear anything about it anymore. I was a little afraid it was delayed because you were having trouble finding information about it. I can't even find out if Mike Speller is still with us. There's not much on his imbd, he has a youtube channel but only a few videos from years ago, and I can't tell if his website is current or not. I really enjoy the history with what was going on with the network and TV in general back then. Another reason I thought the order would be stricter. 😅

[@mblack713]

I wonder if Grumpabit, Willibit's father, was based on Victor French from "Little House on the Prairie."

[@bluebaron6858]

Interesting

[@sayonarakid]

The visuais are crazy beautiful

[@meltdownremix1996]

I never saw this show, but for some weird reason it makes me think about Toad Patrol (the one where if baby toads left to their own devices don't reach a certain place in time, they'll die and turn into mushrooms). Must just be the forest setting though.

[@vgtrp]

Tatsunoko Productions may not have been the biggest anime production companies out there, it was definitely one of the most influential. I don’t know if The Littl’ Bits inspired anyone, but it was an enjoyable little show that may get a physical release in the states at some point. Besides, just because Discotek Media hasn’t picked it up yet doesn’t mean they won’t in the future. Also, Samurai Pizza Cats was released a few years after The Littl’ Bits finished its run.

[@mariolover2222]

We love a new Nick Knacks. I gotta say now that we're in the years that are often used for nostalgia. it's weird to see the "forgotten" shows from this era

[@LittlePixieBot]

That's not a mountain lion. That's a lynx.

[@timmierz]

This is a show I know only from half-remembered pieces of the theme song, but I often prefer those Nick Knack episodes. Getting the greater context of Nickelodeon at this time, rather than the overplayed greatest hits. Love the video as always!

[@MSP10julia]

This has some strong similarities to the Smurfs

[@pennysanchez7656]

To be fair, this anime came out a year before the Smurfs series debuted. Though, the Smurfs comic came out before the show, so I figured that it was all a coincidence.

[@Vraptor140]

What I find it very interesting about this era, right before I was born, is seeing what shows persisted to become part of my childhood. On one side I have fond memories of Eureka's Castle, Clarissa and Pete & Pete, while on the other this is the first time I've ever heard of the Littl' Bits.

[@Moder_20]

9:58 Superbook 😥 The nostalgia (first watched in 2014?)

[@johnbakasmoothhotchocolate]

I still got that damn song in my head, even at 41. 😂

[@Kolbatsu]

Man I didn't think we'd still be having Saban dubbed Nick Jr anime in the 90s

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Well there was, another Saban effort Nick picked up was Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics.

[@lainiwakura1776]

I have no specific memories of the show, but I know I did watch it and most of the Nick Jr. lineup.

[@bluebaron6858]

Interesting still

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

I'm in the same age group as "Poparena," since we both discovered Nickelodeon around the same time...

[@EmperorSeth]

There seemed to be a lot of kid's anime with apocalyptic themes in those days. Linkara did a review of one about Moomins, I think, a few months ago.

[@wheeledjustice7381]

I've never watched this show before but something within me subconsciously remembers those ads. I would have been really young when they aired but I definitely know them.

[@VahanNisanian]

Mayumi Tanaka (Japanese voice of Krillin) was one of the cast members in the original Japanese version.

[@bluebaron6858]

Saban learning their terrible dubbing process in the 80s

[@XavierZara]

Learning Lil' Bits every step

[@ChairmanChico]

Half of it was terrible writing 😊

[@bluebaron6858]

@@ChairmanChico why did they add random live action segments to the maple town dub arghhh Saban lol

[@pennysanchez7656]

@@bluebaron6858 Because.....they saw Shining Time Station did this before they show the Thomas segments and thought, "Let's do that!"

[@ChairmanChico]

@@bluebaron6858 you just answered your own question 😜

[@bladeobrian2144]

9:25 My father was a kid in the 60s, and he remembers watching Astro Boy, Kimba, and Speed Racer back then, He had no idea they were Japanese until I told him 45 years later. He was also genuinely surprised to find this out. Also, I think I might’ve had a Super Book VHS way back when. Long before I even knew what Japan was

[@TwoPairSA]

I was in the perfect age range for this show at the right time and somehow I totally missed it. A shame, since it seems like it would have been exactly my jam. Thanks for another great video!

[@codyssmith73]

Was not expecting a Super Book callback. Nice.

[@bluebaron6858]

Oh superbook

[@Bob78550]

you did a great job on the pete and pete vid about a week ago. 2. i was glad to hear you so nostalgic in this vid. 3. i just now realized you are older than me. i always watched rug rats with my grandma and grandpa

[@darktetsuya]

the random sonic the hedgehog reference, haha. IDK if I remember this one in particular but definitely remember seeing the ads all over nick jr.! seemed like a decently solid show!

[@bradleygiven5193]

The Nick Junior to Right Stuff to Crunchyroll anime fan timeline.

[@bluebaron6858]

Nah that started from pokemon/DBZ/moon era

[@2dskillz]

I was older than this shows demographic, but just hearing it channel surfing this theme has lived in my head for decades.

[@Moder_20]

I swear I watched this before but I don't know when...

[@Moder_20]

23:20 uhh...

[@radd1865]

gosh, I miss this animation style so much. it's so soft, the character designs are so round and charming.

[@amwfan88]

The Littl' Bits was definitely a show I remember watching when I first found Nickelodeon in 1992, but weirdly, I remember no specific episodes. That theme song is amazing though!

[@angelmarie2281]

😂 The theme song took me back.

[@genemelendez368]

Between Noozles and Littl’ Bits, there’s a lot of apocalyptic doomsdays on Nick Jr. How is it that preschoolers got that, but the older kids got a show about literal babies learning about the world?

[@entransify]

this show was and still is awesome to watch.

[@lancejackson8286]

You freakin rock, let's go PopArena

[@googamp32]

Yes! We're back on schedule!

[@IsaaMation]

We're almost to 93 and 94. Nick Jr.'s worst and best years.

[@bluebaron6858]

Does anyone know why Saban shifted away from these Canadian actors post pizza cats? Crazy to see the digimon voice actor pool being paid way less than the Canadian actors, if that's the case.

[@Feelthefelt]

Probably labor conditions related. I remember from the Heathcliff episode that Haim Saban was a massive union buster and terrible to voice actors.

[@bluebaron6858]

@@Feelthefelt that's fascinating to see if that's the case. Those Canadian actors were great.

[@Kolbatsu]

Yeah I can imagine because it's cheaper plus you got some of those VAs already voice work for Power Rangers so they can just get them to do more while they're still in the booth

[@sarahlivingston]

Oh crap, that means this is my first anime, not Samurai Pizza Cats.

[@MusicMan32K]

I remember this eventually got bumped to the 5AM time slot, so you'd have to get up super early to see it

[@digamejh]

11:39 "WORLD"? Also, core memory unlocked at 2:52. I still had half of this memorized and I didn't even know it.

[@jamesmoss3424]

I remember watching The Littl' Bits a lot when I was a kid it's still fun to watch today. 😀👍

[@goodwinter85]

I blame this show plus David the Gnome for making me a cottagecore gay

[@Gannooch]

I often remember what Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper once said: “It’s not animated, it’s anime.”

[@flclfan85]

yeah, Saban adapting "Super Sentai" to an American audience.... it'll never last. I give it 6 months.... LOL

[@stephenholloway6893]

Back then no one expect maybe Saban and his team thought that Power Rangers took off but it did.

[@CannotFindServerSA]

On seeing the title of this episode, I figured I'd never seen or even heard of this show, until I heard the theme song which was apparently lying dormant in the deepest recesses of my brain for 30 years.

[@Lynn17]

"The legend has it that the Builderbits didn't respect nature until nature fought back and destroyed everything". Was somebody on the Fire Emblem: Three Houses writers staff a fan of this anime, because that sounds VERY familiar. I never did see the final episode, or I just don't remember it. Or if I even watched the show in order, I mostly remember these episodes: the kids riding the horse, Snagglebit running away because he didn't win Festival King, Browniebit trying to find the magic feather, Chip wanting to be a doctor, mama squirrel getting hurt and the boys looking for ice, and the beach episode. (The feather episode is still one of my favorites.)

[@Isthecakereallyalie]

Yaaaay! New Nick Knacks. Hope things have gotten better.

[@bullmonty764]

I imagine that when this show was on there might’ve been some confusion (mostly from parents, mind you) about what made The Lil’ Bits different from the Smurfs. Well, if those parents are out there, I’m here to tell you straight-up that main difference is that the Lil Bits have a stronger female-to-male ratio. How? Because there’s a lot of characters in pink outfits, and as we all know, the 80s were *very* specific when it came to gender roles 😂

[@katherineperrin4817]

Tbh this feels like it would have been my jam had I seen this show as a kid

[@christopherjudge1138]

The Internet Archive lost the lawsuit! 🤧😓 So, does that mean the streaming videos can STILL be restored online?

[@chellastation]

I saw the characters in Pinterest, and thought they look so cute. I recently saw the Mysterious Cities of Gold, and that show is very good.

[@secretdamon]

FUCK YES I LOVE SEEING A NEW NICK KNACKS ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@Moonbeam143]

If I had a nickel for every time 1991 had blue hedgehog, I would have two. It isn't a lot, but it's strange that it happened twice.

[@kevinfitzgerald8216]

I’ve never heard of this show. I had a feeling it was special to you when I heard how much of the theme song you included at the start of the video. I found it a bit curious that you talk about how the show has this dark-but-hopeful ending, and you talk a out how you loved the show as a kid, but you don’t mention how you felt about the ending as a kid. Do you remember?

[@Montork]

this will be covered in this world.... but not the glowfriends,

[@dragonxblkangelx216]

I can’t believe 1999 will be soon SpongeBob time soon

[@LUVBOTZ]

I graduated high school in 1991. I do remember this being on but I doubt I watched it. Saban's terrible dubs is one of the reasons why I hated anime at that time. Thank goodness other companies with better dubbing came along.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Saban did that to us certainly.

[@bunnysb2587]

I love this show