Sheriff Callie's Wild West


Sheriff Callie's Wild West is an animated children's television series created by the combined efforts of George Evelyn, Holly Huckins and Denis Morella and produced by WildBrain Entertainment. It first aired on Disney Junior on January 20, 2014 with an 11-minute episode preview aired in the "Magical Holidays on Disney Channel" programming event on December 13, 2013. The series borrows elements from the Western genre with the theme of the series revolving around "Getting along with each other". It also had a preview on Disney Junior in Canada on January 25, 2014, at 7:25 p.m. EST and officially premiered on February 2, 2014 and ended on February 13, 2017 with two seasons.

Plot

In the Wild West town of Nice and Friendly Corners, everyone is an anthropomorphic and cute animal. They all get along and are friendly to each other. However, there are times when the townsfolk get into problems or don't get along with each other. The series follows Sheriff Callie, a female calico cat and the sheriff alongside her friends Deputy Peck, a male red woodpecker and keeper of the town jail and Toby, a male saguaro cactus. Together they all solve problems and teach the townsfolk to get along with each other while working hard to make the town the friendliest in the west.

Characters

Main

Unlike most TV shows, the episode titles are sung, rather than spoken.

Series overview

Season 1 (2014)

Season 2 (2015–17)

DJ Melodies (created by Disney Junior)

Development

The series was announced in 2011 under the working name "Oki's Oasis" during the Summer Television Critics Association with Mandy Moore voicing the main character, depicted as a white and gray tabby cat. It was announced to be released at the end of 2013 but got pushed back to January 20, 2014 due to several changes to the name and characters. The name changes possibly had to do with the fact that "Oki" and "Kiko," the original names of Sheriff Callie and Toby, were Japanese names that would not be very fitting in a show set in the Old West. On November 18, the official website was launched with the character information and minigames.
In an interview with Holly Huckins, George Evelyn and Denis Morella in TV Guide, Huckins stated that "We've had so much fun taking all those classic cowboy devices – from tornadoes and cattle stampedes to train robberies and the High Noon shootout – and making them kid-appropriate in order to teach lessons about sharing and forgiveness and good manners,". Morella also stated that "There's even a saloon! "But there is no liquor and no rowdy, scary drunks." She also stated that "Ella the cow, who runs the establishment, serves up milkshakes, fruit juice and other healthy drinks – but we still slide those drinks down the bar like in the old western movies!" The team also stated that the series takes inspiration from several Western movies and series like The Andy Griffith Show, Green Acres, Quick Draw McGraw and the classic 1950s Disney series Davy Crockett. "We did our research and found that the real Wild West wasn't anywhere near as wild and frightening as Hollywood's ultra-violent, gun-slinging mythology would have us believe," Evelyn says. "The West was settled primarily by people who were intent on obeying the rules, people who went the distance to help each other out – and that's the town of Nice and Friendly Corners!"
Lucas Grabeel, the voice of Deputy Peck stated in an interview that "Sheriff Callie always comes in at the last minute and saves the day and teaches everyone a really valuable lesson and that's the other great part of it." He also said that "The kids who watch the show will not only hear an original country song every episode, but they'll also learn a very simple but very valuable lesson." Grabeel also said that "I've always loved doing silly voices." and that "This is my first series regular position on any show, so that was definitely a change. Even though I had done in the past, I was still a little nervous about how it was going to go. But the family that surrounds Sheriff Callie's Wild West is such a warm, welcoming group of veterans and very experienced people in the voice over world. They welcomed me in and said, 'You're good, just trust yourself.' They were right. It was really great to be a part of it."

Music

The series features a lot of western music and songs inspired from country pop to Appalachian. The opening song of the series is performed by Mandy Moore. Evelyn said that "Mandy Moore did such a great job for Disney in Tangled and we're thrilled to have her with us. She's the perfect voice for Callie – sweet when she needs to be but she can quickly pull out that spunk and attitude when necessary."

Reception

The series received positive reviews on its launch. Carey Bryson of About.com said that "A Western for preschoolers – such a perfect genre to get kids excited and teach them about good ol' manners, friendship and fairness. The visual style of this series is cute, but not exceptional. The strength of the series lies in Old West flavor, including awesome Western style music and all the folksy characters we would think of in a Western show – the milkshake saloon owner, the wise old tortoise, the javelina miners Dirty Dan and Dusty, the roadrunner mailman...the list of adorable Old West characters goes on and on." and that "Sheriff Callie's bringing Western back, and preschoolers, as well as their parents, will appreciate this friendly and flavorful show." Common Sense Media gave the series a 4 out of 5 Stars, praising on how Disney handled the Wild West setting in order to teach good manners and saying that "Catchy songs and the show's cute incorporation of its Old West theme give this show real flair, and the fact that it casts a pink boots-wearing girl as the town sheriff goes a long way to bridge the gender gap as well."
The series' premiere received impressive ratings. On Disney Junior, it received a total viewer record of 1.35 million in 5:00 p.m. It was also the 4th series telecasted to attract a 4.3 rating, making the #1 telecasted to appeal on all preschool demographics. The series also received more viewers in 5:30 p.m., with a total number of 1.42 million viewers and rating scores of 4.7 for kids 2–5, 5.0 for boys 2–5, and 4.3 for girls 2–5, making it the #1 series broadcast in the half-hour to appeal to the core demographics. The series also ranked at the number 1 spot in the Watch Disney Junior App in November, with a total of 23 million video views in its launch.

Video games

  1. Sheriff Callie's Wild Day
  2. Sheriff Callie : Deputy for a Day