| Country | USA |
| Original Air Date: | 1996 |
|---|---|
| Channel: | Cartoon Network |
| Prod. Co. | Cartoon Network and CTW |
| Genre: | Preschool |
Something cool is coming your way,
Full of ideas and ready to play,
Let’s do something fun today,
Big Bag!
Inside CTW’s Big Bag was a variety of cartoons, Muppets, activities, and lessons, all geared toward preschool children. The show was headed up by human Molly and Muppets Chelli and Bag, who had recently moved from the big city to a rural town and opened up a general store. The three were joined by sock puppet stock boys Lyle and Argyle, next-door neighbor Sofie, and veterinarian Doc Furball.
In addition to the segments with Molly and the Muppets, Big Bag ran six animated shorts from around the world. These cartoonies Koki, Samuel and Nina,Slim Pig, Tobias Totz and His Lion, Troubles the Cat, and William’s Wish Wellingtons were continuing adventures, with new shorts each episode. Other Big Bag segments included brief music videos and I Did Something Nice Today, in which kids at home were invited to send in videotapes of their good deeds.
Big Bag was designed as interactive television, and the hosts invited the kids at home to participate in their activities by assembling their own big bags. With simple household items like spoons, socks, or a hat, viewers were able to get involved with the onscreen action.
Running a commercial-free half-hour, Big Bag was the first purely educational program on The Cartoon Network, but the show had a distinguished pedigree. The Children’s Television Workshop (CTW) had been in educational TV since the late 1960’s, producing such long-running institutions as The Electric Company and Sesame Street. Big Bag became another hit for the company, running for several years on The Cartoon Network.
