Beneath the Bark, an Actor
Graham Greene played Mr. Crabby Tree for some 13 episodes. At the time he was best known for his work in Dances With Wolves, for which he was nominated Best Supporting Actor in the Oscars in 1990. In 1992’s Thunderheart, Greene played—oddly enough—a gruff cop on an Indian reservation. He played a Rambo-type soldier named […]
A Goof in a Tree Costume
Sesame Street had Oscar the Grouch. Dudley the Dragon had Mr. Crabby Tree. Yes, this unhappy crabapple tree had good reason to be unhappy: He was the only apple tree in the forest. A nearby orchard had been cut down to make room for a highway. Those trees were his friends! Not only that, but […]
Dudley Comes to America
The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon premiered in Canada on October 2, 1993, some ten years after Dudley’s debut in The Conserving Kingdom. But Breakthrough Films and Television Inc. wanted him to be seen south of the border. For that, they signed with PBS affiliate WEDU in Tampa, Florida. WEDU would co-sponsor the show, distribute […]
A Dragon’s Crusade
In 1992, Levy and Williamson purchased the rights for Dudley the Dragon from the Ontario Ministry of Energy. Together with Dudley’s performer, Alex Galatis, they created a series, The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon. Funding came from a slew of sources: the Canadian Parks Service, Environment Canada; Energy, Mines and Resources Canada; Environment Canada—Environmental Citizenship […]
A Star is Hatched
Once upon a time—the year 1983, in fact—the Ontario Ministry of Energy wanted to educate youngsters on energy conservation. Karen Waterman wrote a play called The Conserving Kingdom. In it, King Kilojoule of Saver City doesn’t want his daughter, Princess Penny Wise, to marry Prince Wantnot of Wasterville. Why? Wasterville is polluted and cluttered with […]
