The Koala Brothers

The Koala Brothers
Genre	Children Preschool Stop-motion
Created by	David Johnson
Voices of	Keith Wickham Rob Rackstraw Janet James Lucinda Cowden
Narrated by	Jonathan Coleman
Theme music composer	Kick Production
Opening theme	"Call the Koala Brothers"
Ending theme	"Call the Koala Brothers" (instrumental)
Composer	Kick Production
Country of origin	Australia United Kingdom
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	79
Production
Running time	10 minutes
Production companies	Famous Flying Films Spellbound Entertainment
Original release
Network	CBeebies ABC Kids
Release	1 September 2003 (2003-09-01) – 31 October 2007 (2007-10-31)

The Koala Brothers is a stop-motion animated children's television series originally provided by Spellbound Entertainment.

A notable quality of the show is that there are no villains or antagonistic characters. Rather, the focus is on helping and being a good friend. Despite this, characters can have different opinions and some instances of anti-social or unthoughtful behaviour.

Characters

All the characters are anthropomorphic native Australian animals mainly speaking with correct accents. Notable exceptions are Archie, who speaks with a British accent, and Penny, who only communicates by chattering.

Main

• Frank (voiced by Keith Wickham) is a koala who is the pilot of the aeroplane. He has showed excellent skills in tennis and was the only member of the community able to defeat Archie, though Frank admitted it was probably just luck. He also wanted to make pottery at one point but did not have any great artistic skills.
• Buster (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) is another koala who usually sits behind Frank in the aeroplane. He uses his telescope to spot friends in need from the air. Buster is always willing to provide a pep talk or a hug to his friends. Buster speaks more softly than Frank, and he has a small tuft of hair on the top of his head. Buster loves to bake, especially butter cookies.
• Jonathan Coleman is the narrator.

Supporting

• Mitzi (voiced by Lucinda Cowden) is a possum who wears thongs and thick-rimmed glasses. Mitzi lives in part of the Koala Brothers' homestead made over as her living quarters. She is young and impressionable, often needing the Koala Brothers for her perfection-seeking impulses. Mitzi can get bossy and upset her friends at times, but she means no harm and her friends always forgive her as she is still working out her limits. A recurring sight-gag shows Mitzi slipping out of one or both her thongs due to being constantly on the go.
• Ned (voiced by Janet James) is a wombat. He is one of the youngest members of the local community behind Mitzi, and lives in a caravan next door to the Koala brothers's homestead. Ned is often not sure of himself, but he dreams of adventure and longs to be a hero like Frank and Buster. Ned is very determined and easily fixated on an idea, and often will come through with prompting.
• George (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) is a turtle who is the outback's local post carrier. George has no established residence, but he is always seen delivering the post with his leather satchel. George is very proud of being a post carrier, and tells the best campfire stories in the outback. He also has an interest in stamp collecting.
• Sammy (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) is an echidna. He lives in town and owns the local general store, which sells foods and fuel. His only employee is Josie. As one of the more senior citizens, Sammy has the fewest problems after the Koala Brothers.
• Josie (voiced by Janet James) is a kangaroo. She is Sammy's only assistant who often works at the outback's general store. Josie wears white shoes and a blue skirt with a deep pocket. She and Mitzi are still the best of friends. Although Josie is shy, she is always seen with her tummy showing, she wears a small red and white striped shirt.
• Alice (voiced by Lucinda Cowden) is a platypus. She works at the local café and appears to be the lone employee, though it is unclear if Alice owns the café. Alice is very forgetful. She rides a green motor scooter around, which has engine problems. Alice loves to bake, and is good at following recipes. Alice is also good at reading maps.
• Archie (voiced by Keith Wickham) is a crocodile who lives in a well-decorated cottage near the local water hole. Archie is very cheerful and friendly, and is always exercising, stretching, or playing tennis, and is also renowned at being the best at almost every sport. Archie is British and speaks in a memorable rich accent.
• Penny (voiced by Janet James) is a penguin who lives in Antarctica. She has visited the outback on certain occasions and keeps up a regular written correspondence with the Koala brothers. Penny communicates by chattering and sang "The Helping Song".
• Lolly (voiced by Lucinda Cowden) is an emu. She is the Outback's local ice cream seller and can often be seen driving her ice cream truck around. Lolly often greets people by saying "How can I cool you down?" to them.

Other websites

• The Koala Brothers at BBC Programmes
• The Koala Brothers on IMDb