Sagwa the Chinese Siamese Cat

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Basic Information

Based on the book by Amy Tan (of "The Joy Luck Club" fame) and Gretchen Schields, and produced by a collaboration between Cinégroupe Canada and Sesame Workshop (previously Childrens Television Workshop, world-renowned for production "Sesame Street"), Sagwa is the story of a young spirited and playful Chinese Siamese kitten named Sagwa, her brother Dongwa, her Sister Sheegwa, and her friend, Fu-Fu; a bat.

Characters

Here is a list of the characters on the show:

    The Animal Characters:
  1. Sagwa Miao - The main star of the show. Kind, curious, quick thinking, creative and often bossy, Sagwa(Who'se name means either "Silly Melon Head", "Fool" or "Stupid" depending on how mature your understanding of Mandarin is or which online translation website you used) was originally pure white in colour, but gained her current Siamese cat look after an accident in which she fell into an ink-pot that was on the Foolish Magistrate's desk1. Sagwa also has the best artistic skills in the family and she is very talented in Calligraphy. She is voiced by Holly Gauthier-Frankel, known for her role as Fern Walters in Marc Brown's Arthur.
  2. Sheegwa Miao - Sagwa's little sister. Curious, friendly, cheerful and full of energy, Sheegwa(Who'se name literally means "Watermelon") always looks to the bright side and tries to befriend every living thing2 in her path. She is pure white in colour and has a folded right ear. Sheegwa is voiced by Jesse Vinet, known for her role as Cailou's baby Sister, Rosie, in newer Caillou episodes.
  3. Dongwa Miao - Sagwa's big Brother. Intelligent, hardheaded and with a preference for Tai-Chi, Dongwa(who'se name literally means "Winter Melon"), spends less time with his sisters and more time playing with the alley cats3 outside the palace premises. He is the only male child of the family. Dongwa is cream coloured and has marks over his face like Sagwa. He is voiced by Oliver Grainger, who played Arthur's sister, D.W., in Marc Brown's Arthur from Season 3 to Season 5.
  4. Fu-Fu - A bat that wears round glasses, and Sagwa's best friend. Clumsy but ever helpful and loyal, Fu-Fu(Who'se name means "Lucky Bat") has helped Sagwa get out of trouble countless of times. Fu-Fu is voiced by Rick Jones, whose other accomplishments include playing evil rat "No-Tail No Goodnik" in HBO's "The Country Mouse and City Mouse Adventures" as well as other bad guys on various other cartoons, writing for Nickelodeon game show "You Can't Do That on Television", and appearing as a guest star in one episode of TV series "The Saint".
  5. Baba Miao @ Win Bao Miao - Sagwa, Sheegwa and Dongwa's father. Baba Miao is strict when duty calls, but playful in the off hours. He and Mama Miao are the official calligraphers of the foolish magistrate. Baba Miao is of the same colour as Dongwa. He is voiced by Arthur Holden, known for his part as Mr. Emil "Nigel" Charles Ratburn in Marc Brown's Arthur. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Baba Miao acts and sounds suspiciously like Mr. Ratburn.
  6. Mama Miao @ Shao Fung Miao - Sagwa, Sheegwa and Dongwa's Mother. She has characteristics similiar to that of Baba Miao, but a little less so. She has a colour scheme similiar to that of Sagwa. Mama Miao is voiced by Ellen David, who is known for her role as Buster's Mom, Bitzi, in Marc Brown's Arthur.
  7. Nai-Nai - Sagwa, Sheegwa and Dongwa's grandmother. Grey in color, she is old-fashioned albeit patient and full of wisdom. She often tells the kits stories and is one of the authoritve figures on the show. Nai-Nai is voiced by Sonja Ball, known for her role as Mrs. Jane Read in Marc Brown's Arthur.
  8. Yeh-Yeh - Sagwa, Sheegwa and Dongwa's grandfather. Like Nai-Nai, he is old-fashioned albeit wise and patient. However, his nose is giving up on him and he tends to enjoy food that tastes good but smells terrible (i.e. iron-plate tofu). He is, however, a good storyteller. Yeh-Yeh is voiced by Neil Shee.
  9. The Mice - Consist of Shei-Hu, his cousin Shei-He, and a couple of others. They are close friends of Sagwa and do no harm to the palace nor it's inhabitants. However, the Foolish Magistrate and his family panic at the sight of them dispite them doing no harm.
  10. The Alley Cats - Cats that're friends of either Sagwa or Dongwa, but does not belong in the palace. Can be divided into two groups: "Annoying" and "pleasant". Chet-Chet and Lick-Lick and a few others falls into the annoying catagory4. Ling, Han-Han, Fan and a couple more falls into the pleasant catagory5.
  11. The Sleeve Dogs - Consists of Ping, Pong and Pang. They are called the sleeve dogs because they live in the sleeve of the Foolish Magistrate's wife's robe. The Sleeve Dogs are annoying, dumb and obnoxiously noisy, and spend much of their time arguing among themselves or wreaking havoc in the palace. They think that they're superior to the cats, but the truth is the other way round. They are easily the least liked characters in the show.
    The Human Characters:
  1. The Foolish Magistrate - A hasty, henpeck and particularly hungry fellow, the Foolish Magistrate spends most of his time writing out rules and eating noodles. Known to jump to conclusions or perform actions without considering the side-effect, possibility or consequences. For the most of the first episode of the show, he is particularly nasty as well, penning down all sorts of dumb rules, mostly backed or conspired by Tai-Tai. But after the ink-pot incident(See footnote 1), he achieves enlightenment, revokes all the no-fun rules, and is now a easy going and fun loving man (although he is still quick to jump to conclusions and sometimes still makes his old mistakes while under pressure from Tai-Tai, but the mistakes are not as severe as the ones in the first episode, and are quickly rectified at the end of the episode). The Foolish Magistrate is voiced by Hiro Kanagawa, who recently appeared as a guest star in a few episodes of Smallville.
  2. Tai-Tai - The Foolish Magistrate's wife. Pompous, arrogant, cocky, old-fashioned and rather irritable, Tai-Tai is also just as hasty as the Foolish Magistrate and often carry out her plans without evaluating the consequences, only to realize the impact it has made on everyone later and corrects it. She keeps the Sleeve Dogs in the sleeves of her robes6. Tai-Tai is voiced by Khaira Ledeyo.
  3. The daughters - Consists of Luk-Do, Huang-Do, and Ba-Do. The three constantly argues among themselves, but they complement each other. Ba-Do is voiced by Kathy Tsoi, Luk-Do is voiced by Leanne Adachi, and Huang-Do is voiced by Rosa Yee.
  4. The Cook - The wisest human character in the show, The cook not only prepares meals (which consists of noodles most of the time), but sometimes also attend to medical emergencies around the palace. He can almost always be seen with The Reader of the Scrolls. The Cook is voiced by Raugi Yu.
  5. The Reader of The Scrolls (a.k.a Reader) - A somewhat childish but wise and quick-thinking character. Often the victim of mishaps that're caused by others in the palace, the Reader has one very important job: to announce the Magistrate's new rules to the public. When he's off duty, he can almost always be found with the Cook. Reader is played by Russell Yuen.
  6. Jun - First arriving at the palace in the episode "Three Graces", Jun is the Magistrate's daughters' private tutor. She is also one of the nicest characters on the show and well-liked by the daughters and the other residents alike, including the cats.

Location and Timeline

The show is set near the end of the 19th century, at a village that's by the sea and a mountain range. The village is believed to be on the east coast of China, and rather close to Hong-Kong (Since the Foolish Magistrate actually sailed down to Kowloon in an episode).

Seasons and current status

Only one season of the show is produced at the moment, with 40 episodes in the season. No new episodes of the show are being produced at the moment, and the future of the show, sadly, is in limbo as Sesame Workshop is trying to cut down on costs and focus on their main product, Sesame Street. However, there is still a chance that it might go back into production, seeing that another Sesame Workshop production, Dragon Tales, went back into production and resulted in a third season.

TV Channels carrying the show

Below is a list of TV channels known to be airing or used to air the show. If you know of other stations airing the show, please let me know.

  • U.S.: PBSKids, PBS satellite service, and PBS affiliates
  • Canada: CBC, TVOntario, and The Knowledge Network
  • Malaysia: RTM/TV2 (Dropped: December 2003)
  • Singapore: TCS Central (Dropped: March 2003)
  • Asia-wide: Disney Channel Asia (Dropped: April 2003)
  • Asia-wide: Playhouse Disney Asia

More Information

1. The incident also changed one of the Foolish Magistrate's dumb rules, in which it caused the people of his village to rejoice, and ultimately, brought the Foolish Magistrate enlightenment and led to him retracting all the foolish rules2Including butterflies3See entry "The Alley Cats"4Mainly because they're known to pick on or redicule Sagwa, Sheegwa or Dongwa one time too many5This because they didn't redicule but instead help Sagwa, Sheegwa or Dongwa6Although why anyone would want 3 annoying, yapping and squirming pekinese under their sleeves, I don't know

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