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
- Sheriff Callie is a calico cat who wears a pink cowboy hat, a yellow sheriff badge and pink neck kerchief on a brown vest, a yellow-buckled brown belt holding up blue jeans, and pink cowboy boots. She is either wearing a white shirt under the vest or her chest fur lacks the markings present on her face and arms. A self-described cowgirl, she serves as the sheriff to Nice and Friendly Corners. She is able to ride a horse, do a front flip, and do a flexed arm hang on a rope carrying a horse between her thighs for over 5 seconds. She sings, writes songs and plays her guitar called "Sweet Strings." Her catchphrases include "Sweet sassafras!", "Leaping lassos!" and "What in whiskers?" In the original Oki's Oasis, she was to be named "Oki". On the opening she claims that some say she is the "best in the west". She always knows just what's right. She is a skilled lassoer, using a magic noodle lasso that can turn into different shapes for different purposes, such as in "Peck's Bent Beak" when she is able to form it into a stairway to help a dangling Peck down, or a hammer to pound in loose nails. It is incredibly strong, as it is able to support the weight of a train traveling across it when a bridge goes out. She has also used it to lasso a cloud, enabling her to move the cloud and also squeeze it to produce rain. She says that someone taught to her many tricks, but does not specify the person's identity. She also described having started with a shorter macaroni lasso as a kitten while encouraging Toby to begin training with one.
- Sparky – Sparky is Sheriff Callie's trusty blue horse.
- Deputy Peck is a woodpecker and the sheriff's deputy of Nice and Friendly Corners. He wears a brown kepi as well as a brown vest with a shiny deputy badge. He is good at whistling, sweeping the jail house, playing horseshoes, and serving as second in command to Sheriff Callie, but he is a bit of a braggart and a perfectionist. Peck calls Toby his best buddy. Peck's favorite food is trail mix, and he tends to end sentences with "...on account of I'm the deputy!" as well as say "Holy jalapeños!"
- Clementine is Deputy Peck's strong and stubborn mule. She is slow and not quite trusty.
- Toby is a friendly 6-year-old saguaro cactus whose full name is Tobias P. Cactus. He is referred to as Peck's best friend. Toby sees the good in everything and is almost always happy. He is able to hang 1-armed for at least 5 seconds. This cactus also is a great dancer and loves to have fun. He wants to learn how to twirl a noodle lasso like Sheriff Callie, and will often tag along on Callie and Peck's adventures while using a barrel for transportation by rolling on it. Toby loves milkshakes and popcorn as well. He also can play the harmonica. Sometimes, when his spines get into trouble, he claims that he's "a pokey cowpoke." In "Toby Braves the Bully," he becomes a newspaper delivering cactus, but gets bullied by a visiting bulldog named Bradley. In the original Oki's Oasis, he was to be named "Kiko".
- Little Prickles is a goat that Toby received as a Christmas present from Santa and Comet in "Toby's Christmas Critter". Toby is later seen riding him in "Sparky Runs Wild" and "Wrong Way Wagon Train."
Recurring
- Governor Groundhog is a groundhog who is the governor of the as-yet-unknown state where Nice and Friendly Corners is located.
- Uncle Bun is a rabbit who owns a general store. He is a bit forgetful sometimes, and dreams of moving to the big city someday. It is hinted in "Peck and Toby's Big Yarn" that he is seven years old.
- Ella is a cow who runs a milk saloon and serves up frosty glasses of milk and delicious milkshakes. Ella also has a talent for juggling milkshakes. Her catchphrase is "Sweet Buttermilk!"
- Priscilla Skunk is a female skunk who loves to look her best. Priscilla, clad in satiny pink frills, loves roses and all sorts of flowers as well as makeup. She, however, one time was jealous of Frida Fox and wanted to ride a horse and do tricks like her. She is Farmer Stinky's cousin and at one time was upset with him for ruining her meeting with the Flower Society and tried to change him into debonair gentleman. Although she is a skunk, it is likely that she had her scent glands surgically removed. This explains why when a pack of jackalopes are running toward her and her friends, Priscilla asks Stinky to stop the approacing herd by using his skunk spray instead of doing so herself.
- Farmer Stinky is a monotone male skunk who is the cousin of Priscilla. While Priscilla is clean and tidy, Farmer Stinky is usually dirty and lives up to his name. He can grow rare prairie peppers.
- Dirty Dan is a peccary miner who is Dusty's younger brother. His hobby is mining like his older brother Dusty.
- Dusty is a peccary miner who is Dirty Dan's older brother. He likes mining just like his younger brother Dirty Dan.
- Baxter Badger is a badger who serves as the town banker. Despite his purpose in town, he doesn't seem to have any effect on any storyline.
- The Prairie Dogs sometimes recap events through song. There are three. One is male and plays guitar and wears a red cowboy hat, another is also male and plays banjo and wears a straw hillbilly type hat, and another is female and does not play any instruments but wears a sunbonnet. In the episode "Here Comes the Sun," the Prairie Dog trio wore night shirts, night caps and a nightgown in the night sequences.
- Abigail is a tall white crane and the town's newspaper writer and editor-in-chief who sometimes exaggerates her stories. She is also an accomplished figure skater.
- Rita Rattler – A rattlesnake who lives outside of town. She wears a straw bonnet with a feather on it.
- Frida Fox is a fox and stunt rider. She is good at riding and roping, making Priscilla jealous. She made appearances in "Sparky's Lucky Day", "The Pesky Kangaroo Rat", "Peck's Bent Beak", and "Homestead Alone".
- *Sampson is Frida's horse.
- Pecos Pug – Pecos Pug is the stagecoach driver for the stagecoach line that goes through Nice and Friendly Corners. He was once jailed for eating Sheriff Callie's cookies without asking.
- Dr. Wolf is a dentist. Everyone, at first, thought because of his appearance that he look like a big scary wolf looking to cause harm to Deputy Peck. He soon revealed that his true identity was just a dentist looking to cure Peck's bent beak. He likes cactus juice with extra thorns.
- Doc Quackers is a duck who is the town's doctor.
- Cody – A roadrunner who serves as the town's mailman.
- Tio Tortuga is a wise old tortoise of Hispanic descent. He owns a purple top hat with a blue feather plume on it that he calls his "lucky hat". He is also revealed to be "El Yo-Yo".
- Mr. Dillo is an armadillo who is the town's blacksmith. He creates the horseshoes that Sparky wears.
- Mr. Engineer is a fussy raccoon who's the locomotive engineer for the railroad that goes by Nice and Friendly Corners. He brags that his "Iron Horse" can move faster than any horse, which upsets Sparky.
Minor
- Parroting Pedro is a green parakeet who has a problem in repeating and drove Peck crazy with antics.
- Polly May Porcupine is a female porcupine that shows in "The Prickly Pair" and becomes Toby's buddy, making Peck think he lost Toby as his friend.
- Batty Belfry is a bat that appears in the cave during "Crystal Cave Caper".
- Calamity Caleb is a calico cat who is Callie's father and head of his ranch.
- Slick Eddie is a traveling salesman lizard who tried to convince Peck to trade Clementine for a horse named Lickety Split.
- Ray Jay and Jay Jay are blue jay farmer brothers who had to resorted to steal Farmer Stinky's corn crop after their corn crop withered due to a severe drought that plagued their farm.
- Ol' Big Fins is a monster fish that appears in "The Prickly Pair".
- Sheriff Barker is the sheriff of Red Gap.
Bandits and outlaws
- Tricky Travis is a scrawny con artist coyote who almost scammed Peck and Toby out of their prized belongings by selling fake "Make You Strong Shirts" to them.
- Oswald is a large slightly oafish bear who was Tricky Travis's assistant. He puts on a squirrel costume so that he could look like a puny little squirrel in front of Peck and Toby.
- The Train Bandits are a trio of train bandit coyotes named Grey and Red and "The Boss" who attempted to steal the Golden Star trophy.
- The Milk Bandit is a wildcat who robs Ella's milk saloon, but is stalled by Priscilla.
- Billy Goat the Kid is a goat that appears in this episode "Jail Crazy". His name is a spoof of Billy the Kid.
- Kit Cactus is a cactus that appears in the episode "Bandit Toby." Kit impersonates Toby and causes havoc and steals things. None of the townsfolk can tell him apart from Toby, despite his being a different shade of green, having a black hat instead of an orange hat, having black thorns instead of yellow thorns, and having a different voice. As such, they accuse Toby of being the one who is committing all the crimes.
- Animal Rustlers are a group of dog bandits who often attempt to kidnap animals.
- The Silverado Brothers are a duo of speedy stoat bandits who only appear in the winter. They always wear ice skates and have their sights set on anything made of silver.
- Phineas Foolery is a rooster who is a card shark and is known to trick people to make his getaway. He even fooled Peck three times.
- Johnny Strum is an anthropomorphic horse who is a musician and can put people into a trance with his singing. He is usually known for original theft and owns a horse named Memphis.
- Wildcat McGraw is a dangerous and elusive outlaw.
- Jolene and Jefro Beaver are two mischievous beaver siblings who appear in "How the Water Was Won". They built a dam in the creek to blackmail Sheriff Callie.
- Barney the Barnstorming Bandit is a buzzard who uses a biplane to steal cows.
- The Buzzard Clan Dingus Fink, Durwood Fink, and Ma Fink are the family of Barney the Barnstorming Bandit.
Episodes
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
- Sheriff Callie's Wild Day
- Sheriff Callie : Deputy for a Day